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For the holidays, a feel-good novel: “How the penguins saved Veronica” by Hazel Prior, published on November 18, 2021 by Éditions de L'Archipel.
Audrey Escoin, contributor to the
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, recommends
How the penguins saved Veronica
by Hazel Prior, published on November 18, 2021 by Éditions L'Archipel.
Her favorite quote:
“The heart never freezes, even in the midst of icebergs. "
Why this book?
Because Veronica is not the charming and full of life heroine
that you would expect from this kind of novel: we are facing an 84 year old lady, embittered and stilted. She quickly alone, reluctantly accepts the help of Eileen her housekeeper and is passionate about penguins discovered in a TV show. She plans to bequeath her fortune for the protection of these animals, but at the same time begins to look for possible heirs and discovers a grandson: Patrick. But the first meeting with the latter is not really to the taste of the old lady.
Because Veronica decides to leave for an island in Antarctica,
to spend a few days with a team of scientists who observe penguins. At the same time, Patrick will be able to discover more of his grandmother by reading private diaries. Her old granny suddenly seems less surly, and her World War II past seems to be telling about how she was built. These two characters will slowly tame when Patrick goes to join Veronica on the island, while she is in a bad position there.
Because despite a theme already seen and reviewed,
the question of bringing together the generations and the staging of an elderly character, are made here with a lot of freshness.
Our two characters stand out quite a bit, between an unpleasant and unpleasant old lady, and this lost grandson who is absorbing his discomfort with drugs and alcohol.
What if this meeting perhaps allowed us to save each other?
To give meaning to your life, to find your place with someone else?
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot.
In the twilight of her life, 84-year-old Veronica McCreedy goes back to her life to find her heirs.
She finds the trace of Patrick, a 20-year-old grandson abandoned by his father and orphan since the age of 6, after his mother's suicide.
Characters.
Veronica, Patrick her grandson, Eileen, the housewife of Veronica, Terry and the team of scientists who study penguins, characters from Veronica's past.
Places.
Scotland Medallion Island in Antarctica.
The time.
Nowadays with flashbacks to the past via a 1940s diary.
The author.
Hazel Prior lives in Exmoor, in the south west of England.
She is a harpist and divides her time between teaching English as a foreign language and acting.
She won nine awards in national writing competitions and published a number of short stories in literary journals.
This book has been read with
the satisfaction of reading a good feel-good book.
A very beautiful moving and creaking discovery.
I will read with pleasure the next volume of the adventures of Veronica McCreedy.
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