by Clare Pooley
First sentence: “Police Constable Penny Rogers had been right on the bumper of the minibus, siren wailing and lights flashing, for several miles before it finally pulled on to the hard shoulder of the motorway.”
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Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

I’ve been selling this one this way: this book is about what happens when a senior social group and a daycare band together to save the community center both call home. Also: Daphne is absolutely Fabulous. There’s more to it than that: much like all Pooley’s books, it’s about found family, community, and older people, as Pooley herself put it, bossing it.  

And much like Pooley’s other books, I adored this one. There were moments I laughed aloud – Pooley is excellent at writing characters, making them pop off the page, and having them do hilarious things. I love the way she makes misfits – from a teenage dad to a washed-up actor to a bedraggled housewife to a pop-up yarn artist – fit together in a coherent group. Her overall message is that community and friendship matters. It’s lovely to read about.

It’s such a joyous book, one I am very glad I read.