A good neighbour is better than a far friend

Synopsis

It has been a long and lonely year for neighbours Vivienne, Mary and Gwen. All ladies of a ‘certain age’, their lockdown experience has left them feeling isolated and alone. They are in desperate need of a change.

Things start to look up however, when Gwen comes up with a plan to get them out of London by borrowing a motor home. In no time at all the ladies are on the road – away from the city, away from their own four walls, and away from their worries.

The British countryside has never looked more beautiful. As they travel from Stonehenge to Dartmoor, from the Devon and Cornish coasts to the Yorkshire moors, gradually the years fall back, and the three friends start to imagine new futures with no limitations.

And as their journey continues and their friendships deepen, and while the seaside views turn into glorious mountains and moors, Mary, Vivienne and Gwen learn to smile again, to laugh again, and maybe even to love again. Now they can believe that the best is still to come…

My review

Vivienne, Mary and Gwen are all living in the same building. They know each other, and visit each other once in a while. But lockdown has made them feel more and more isolated. So when Gwen has a plan that involves borrowing a motor home and to make a road trip, after the initial hesitation, the three women ‘of a certain age’ decide to take off.
During their road trip through the British countryside, from Stonehenge to Dartmoor, Vivienne, Mary and Gwen realize what real friendship means and their trip makes them dream about what the future still holds for them.
And no matter what your age is, they see that it’s never too late to have fun, to have new dreams, new adventures and maybe even to have love again.

What I truly love about this author, is that she has written books about people that are older than me (no offence, but I am the ‘young’ age of 35, and most of her characters are over 35 and more). But their age doesn’t stop them to go out there and have a whole new adventure, not letting their age stop them.
And this book was even better, because it’s secretly my own dream to take off and discover the same places these lovely women visited!

The story takes off just after that horrible lockdown, and life is slowly (VERY slowly) starting back to get normal.
We get to know Vivienne, Mary and Gwen, and even if they are good neighbours, they couldn’t be more different.

I cannot say who of the three women was my favourite, because they all had that little something that makes you fall in love with them.
They also all have a sad tale, broken hearts and lost opportunities. But even if that past is still making them wonder ‘what if’, they won’t let it dictate their lives.

The adventures these lovely women have are a mix of hilarity, blasts from the past, and a few moments that made me gasp.
But no matter what happened to these women, I loved reading how their relationship shifted from being kind neighbours to real friends.
And the kind of friends that do everything with the best of intentions, even if it doesn’t always result in what they expected.
Sometimes they win, but sometimes they also lose…

I found this a wonderful story to read, about the adventure of a lifetime, friendship and new dreams. I admired the ladies’ sense of adventure, and loved seeing them grasp every new opportunity and seeing how this trip is changing their lives, was heart – warming.

This could be a story about three ladies of any age, but the author choose to make them of a certain age, and while not everything goes smoothly (the usual pains and difficulties), it wasn’t holding them back.
I saw their age more an icing on top of the cake, making me believe that age truly is only a number and that that number shouldn’t be holding you back! And I can only hope that I will have that same sense of adventure when I reach their age!