I am so very sorry that I have finished listening to the story of Evie Gallagher and what a story it turned out to be.Evie recently widowed makes a very wrong decision in her life and in her grief moves into a care home. Her Son and daughter-in-law believe it is the right place for Evie for after all she is seventy five years of age and they believe she needs to be in care.One day Evie realises that everyone around her has given up on life and decides to leave the care home without telling anyon...

Pure drivel did not laugh once. Did not enjoy this book. Persevered to 40% but it didn’t get any better. Evie was a pain - her adventures were too far fetched and weren’t explained in enough detail. It just jumped along rather than flowed. The son and daughter in law were pathetic. Not recommended. NOT FUNNY AT ALL.

A great affirmation that life can begin at 75!At 75 years of age, Evie has moved into Sheldon Lodge. She was transfixed by the Christmas lights and homeliness of it all as her family were selling her home after she became widowed. But now she’s realized she’s moved in far too early and she’s bored....and when she’s bored she gets mischievous. One morning, taking her purse with drivers licence, cheque card and a mobile her son gave her, Evie is ready for adventure.I really enjoyed Evie and her ex...

I'm in two minds about this book, because I genuinely loved Evie from the very beginning. She's witty and charming but also mischievous. Reading about her exploits for the first several chapters was great fun and I think if the book had carried on a bit more solidly in that vein I would have enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately the side plot with Brenden and Maura felt like it plodded on, and I felt no particular sympathy for either of them. Frankly the villagers that we met later in France seeme...

What a really lovely read, Evie is wonderful character and dare I say on a par with the lovely Eleanor 😍

I have a weakness for stories about naughty elders.... I'd like to be one myself. Evie Gallagher fits the bill perfectly. Realizing that moving into a care home after the death of her husband was a big mistake, she leaves without telling anyone. There follows a series of mad adventures in which she recovers her zest for life, makes friends and finds love. Her son Brendan, who has got into a discontented rut, and his wife Maura, who is desperate to find the "old Brendan", try to track her down. T...

5☆ I Loved Evie... She has a Passion and Zest for life... I want to go travelling with her! At 75 years young Evie has a real zest for life and Sheldon Lodge care home is zapping the life right out of her!Lol i love Evie.... she's quick witted, independent, loveable, sarcastic, clever and had me laughing out loud pretty much the whole way through!Her swearing made me giggle she reminds me so much of my Nan. Speaks her mind, but has a heart of gold and likes the odd tipple! I so want to party wit...

A very enjoyable read! I rarely read this genre, but I was drawn to this book due to working in a care home myself several year's ago. I recall one persistent resident who had managed to drag dustbins to a wall to make his escape. It was surprising how far he managed to travel by buses, considering he had no money. This book certainly had me smiling and is a book that I would happily read again one day. Recommended.My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers. This is my honest review.

I thought id love this book. i liked the blurb and thought of 100 yr old man who climbed out of the window & disappeared/Harold Fry/A man called Ove. I started to read and started to get irtitated and angry re the main characters traits. Family members have dementia and i found the aithor had made the character a very child like personality. Swearing and pulling faces. A ludicrous plot of follow stranger to dodgy betting shop! then this 75 yr old started drinking lots and buying loads of tbongs

‘A Grand Old Time’ appealed to me on so many different levels. Firstly because it is a romantic comedy and secondly because I just love the idea of an elderly lady growing old somewhat disgracefully and rebelling by challenging the stereotype of the nice little old granny in a nursing home. I absolutely loved reading ‘A Grand Old Time’ but more about that in a bit.I have to say that Evie Gallagher sounded like a right old hoot. Life with her would be anything but boring. She has moved into a nur...

This is a lovely warm story of Evie Gallagher, 75 yrs old who rebells at living in a care home and goes off by herself for an adventure, what is not to like ? Evie is fun, brashy and brave and, I imagine is a good tonic if the reader is feeling “old” ! The book is not only about Evie however, it is also about her unhappy son Brendon who appears to be in the throes of a mid life crisis and is desperately unhappy.When I started reading this book I thought “ oh, this is all a bit far-fetched” but I...

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this ARC copy of A Grand Old Time for my honest review.I loved this book! It's a laugh out loud read, and yes I did get some funny looks at the train station when I laughed out loud! This book also left me crying as I really felt for Evie towards the end. I want to be Evie when I'm 75 and if I'm anything different to Evie, someone needs to step up and say something! This was so much fun and such a lighthearted read! I definitely needed something like t...

There are certain standout characters who stay with me for months (maybe even years) after I’ve finished a book – and Evie Gallagher is definitely one of them.The 75-year-old heroine of Judy Leigh’s debut is utterly captivating – she’s warm, funny, brave and real. Evie also gives a refreshing (and much needed) make-over to the image of older women; I want to be like her when I grow up!I find it hard to believe that this is a debut because the story is so accomplished with twists and turns (no sp...

This book is a lot of fun, and is one that I really enjoyed reading. Evie who is 75 has decided that living in a care home isn't really for her, and decides to leave without telling anyone. After a stroke of luck she ends up taking a fabulous road trip through France and meeting loads of great people. Her son Brendan whose marriage seems a bit rocky, decides he needs to set off in pursuit of his mum. So we have a book with two separate road trips going on, which takes in a lot of small villages

A lovely book about an older person finding a new lease on life. Evie’s life seemed to be at its end when she moved into the Sheldon Lodge Care Home. It probably wasn’t a bad care home, as these things go, but it was unbearably boring and lifeless. The books on offer chosen to sedate rather than excite the reader’s mind, (poor) wine restricted to one glass an evening (if that), and most of the residents spending their days staring blankly at a TV screen. So, Evie, at a youngish 75 and still in p...

Evie is bored with her life. She lives in a care home, Sheldon lodge. Every day is the same. She wants some excitement. She doesn't want to live the life everyone expects. It's dull and too predictable. From Ireland to Liverpool and beyond. A little winning can go a long way. She meets some interesting characters and finds a second life. Evie's son Brendan loves his mother. His life has also become something he didn't expect. His wife doesn't look at him the way she once did. Their lives are too...

My mum recommended this book to me, as a real feel-good tale, and I’m glad I read it. It tells the story of Evie who runs away from an old folk’s hold in which she is bored and stagnating, and goes on a road trip adventure in a camper van. There are so many lovely characters and idyllic descriptions of the places she visits so it’s a lovely summer read. Interwoven with Evie’s journey is the story of her son, who is also bored and stagnating in a marriage which has run out of love. The whole book...

There seems to be a growing rebellion among old people.  First The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, and now this.  I received an ARC from Net-Galley for this wonderfully funny and heart-warming (and heart-panging) book.Seventy-five year-old Evie starts her escape unsteadily, and finds herself regaining lost confidence.  That is a truth for many people who have been confined in some way, and then get the courage to say 'no'.  One of the many strengths of this bo...

What a brilliant adventure this proved to be - escaping from a care home, 75 year old Evie Gallagher sets out on a journey that will change her life and, inadvertently, that of her son and daughter-in-law, too! Evie had been depressed and given up on life after the death of her husband but she suddenly realises how boring life is in the care home she initially moved to in the hope of having more company. Unfortunately most of that company spends their lives sleeping! That’s when she packs her ba...

I adored this book! I want to be Evie! Evie is 75 and living in a care home in Dublin, mainly because she is recently widowed and thinks she will get some company by living there. She hates it! So she makes her escape, and has a grand adventure from Ireland to Liverpool and then on to France. Along the way, due to the luck of the Irish, she has a huge win on the horses, so is able to fund her trip comfortably. She shrugs off her old lady clothes, has a make over, makes friends, gets drunk and be...