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Somewhere, out in the world, are the people who touched us, or loved us, or ran from us. In that way we will live on.” A big thank you to Marianne Cronin, Harper Perennial, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review. Jennifer Weiner's talent shines like never before in this collection of short stories, following the tender, often hilarious, progress of love and relationships over the course of a lifetime.
I have to drag myself out of there and remember that that is not the type of terminal meant for me. With it's uplifting message, the story is both poignant and also comical." Cosmopolitan (20 Book's You're Going to Want to Read this Summer) The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is a remarkably good novel. That being said, the voice acting of Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson takes the story to a new level. The accents are beautiful, and the emotions are pure. If you are fortunate enough to have a choice, listen to this book. You will want the narrator’s voices speaking Lenni, Margot, and Father Arthurs words. This is one of those cases where the voice actors take the story to an entirely new level. Book Club and Discussion Questions (SPOILERS) Finally, and most importantly, I was bored. The storytelling needed to be sharper. Very little in this book was unique, and it was a chore to read. Cronin’s characters are fully drawn, and chime together to tell a sweet story about connection, loss, and living. Irish TimesThe paintings of Lenni and Margot are accompanied by stories that provide snapshots of their lives. From Lenni we learn of her first and only kiss, her alcoholic mother, and the father she sends away. We learn of Margot's marriage, and her husband's abandonment of her following the death of their infant son; of Meena, the woman who saved her; of Humphrey who fostered Margot's love of the stars and which she passes on to Lenni. One of the most beautiful moments in this book for me was when Margot takes Lenni outside the hospital to look at the stars: Does the Temp and the Homeless Man’s relationship mirror Lenni’s relationship with her father? Margot’s relationship with Johnny?
They meet in the hospital and develop a friendship in art class. They embark on an amazing project, a painting for each year of their lives. Along the way they tell their stories to go along with each painting and we get to know their whole life story. An unlikely but sweet and powerful friendship. It was heartening that she connects with eighty three year old Margot, a heart patient awaiting surgery. A loving relationship develops between them as they join forces in their one hundred years, the total of their ages by taking an art class and painting memories of years in their lives. But it isn’t just the paintings that have meaning, it is the stories behind them that they tell each other sharing memories, joyful and sad, of loss and love. This is how they become a light in each other’s life. Lenni makes other friends as well, including the elderly priest Father Arthur, who really can’t answer Lenni’s questions about life, death and God. But it doesn’t matter as another beautiful friendship is forged with Lenni bringing understanding and joy to Father Arthur. Graceful, intelligent, beautiful writing. Full of wisdom and kindness. It is just the kind of book I adore.” -Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep Lenni and Margot are two of the most wonderful, warm, witty and wise heroines I've ever met. Beautiful and glorious' CLARE POOLEY, author of The Authenticity Project
Member Reviews
Puede que la clave de la felicidad siempre haya estado allí... Una novela de la autora de Yo antes de ti.
When Lenni meets Margot, their connection is immediate, unique, and their new and unlikely friendship is born. During art class Lenni and Margo discover their combined age's equal one-hundred-years. They decide to celebrate their discovery by painting a picture for each year they have lived. I initially felt unsure about the story when I first finished it. I found myself thinking I wanted more from Lenni’s side of the story. But the more I sat with it the more I realized that’s the whole point. Lenni was seventeen when she died, of course we wanted more from her story, we simply couldn’t have it. We all wish to live lives so full we had endless stories to tell, like Margot who got to experience so much, but that’s not everyone’s reality. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin is a heart-warming, funny, and sometimes tear-producing story of a unique friendship. It is a celebration of life and friendship amid the saddest of circumstances. After meeting in the terminal ward’s art class, two women (one 17 and one 83) bond through life, love and friendshipin this Uplifting and heartstring-tugging story." — Parade (Ultimate Summer Reading List) Life is short. No-one knows that better than seventeen year old Lenni living on the terminal ward. But as she is about to learn, it's not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.A life teaching, a story not only moving but real, that's how it felt, real. The author managed to transport me and include me in Lenni and Margot's life, I managed to feel what they felt, I managed to see what they saw, I managed to understand what they understood, about their lives and about life itself. Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” What I mean is, you’re not dying right now. In fact, right now you’re living.’ Margot and I both watched her try to explain. ‘Your heart is beating and your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing. You’re sitting in this room completely alive. And so you’re not dying. You’re living.” We can’t know why we are dying in the same way we can’t know why we are living. Living and dying are both complete mysteries, and toy can’t know either until you have done both.” New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner’s unforgettable story of adjusting to suburbia—and all the surprises hidden behind its doors.
Margot is an 83 year old woman who is terminally ill with a heart condition. She meets Lenni and they decide to complete 100 paintings in the art therapy room at the hospital. Each painting represents one of their combined 100 years. The author presents each year in the form of Margot or Lenni telling the other the story of that year. Through these moments, they relive their lives together. Margot tells her life story – full of loss, reinvention, and all the different types of love she has experienced. With it's uplifting message, the story is both poignant and also comical." — Cosmopolitan (20 Book's You're Going to Want to Read this Summer) Narrator Sheila Reid performs fantastically as Father Arthur. Lenni has questions and concerns, and Father Arthur is earnest in his duties to answer Lenni the best he can. Their exchanges made me giggle and snort while listening. After meeting in the terminal ward’s art class, two women (one 17 and one 83) bond through life, love and friendshipin this Uplifting and heartstring-tugging story." Parade (Ultimate Summer Reading List)Instead of troubling herself and others with a question she couldn’t answer, she embraced her gift for painting and… celebrated the rest of her life exploring that talent… Gather your book club, put the kettle on and use the questions below to get the conversation started. Warning: spoilers ahead... Delightfully funny and bittersweet, heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margotreminds us of the preciousness of life as it considers the legacy we choose to leave, how we influence the lives of others even after we’re gone, and the wonder of a friendship that transcends time. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot: The Book Review
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