It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour for One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. It's a fantastic debut novel.
About the Author
Marianne Cronin was born in 1990. She studied English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham. She now spends most of her time writing, with her newly-adopted rescue cat sleeping under her desk. When she's not writing, Marianne can be found performing improv and stand up in the West Midlands, where she lives.
Her debut novel The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is to be published around the world and is being adapted into a feature film by Sony/Columbia Pictures. It has been sold in 25 territories to date.
About the book
Life is short - no one knows that better than 17 year-old Lenni Petterssen. On the Terminal ward, the nurses are offering their condolences already, but Lenni still has plenty of living to do. For a start, she has questions about her fate she needs answers to, and stories yet to uncover.
When she meets 83-year-old Margot, a fellow patient in purple pyjamas offering new friendship and enviable artistic skills, Lenni's life begins to soar in ways she'd never imagined.
As their bond deepens, a world of stories opens up: of wartime love and loss, of misunderstanding and reconciliation, of courage, kindness and joy. Stories that have led them to their combined one hundred years, to the end of their days.
I love finding rare gems like this book. It's so simple in the set-up and yet driven by complex emotional turmoil. No need for loads of characters with backstories, the story is driven predominantly by Lenni and Margot at a perfect pace and conclusion. They are larger than life, which given the storyline, is both poignant and remarkably heartbreaking.
Lenni is a teenager confined to the rooms of her hospital ward and living with the thought of her limited life. Death is soon to be upon her, which other people tend to react to rather strangely. She herself is resigned to her fate, albeit reluctantly at times.
She makes an unlikely connection with another patient, Margot an octogenarian who likes to rummage in rubbish bins. The two are drawn to each other because they share this sense of being alone in a world full of people. Together they find something they both crave.
Part of the story is the way Lenni starts exploring the notion of faith and religion. Of the concept that some higher power could be out there listening or perhaps waiting to embrace her. It never overshadows the rest of the story, but is extremely important when it comes to the expectations after death.
One can only hope that someone will recognise the potential in a visual representation of this story, a story full of love, kindness, loneliness, fear and above all connection and support. It's those small connections and moments that keep us going when it feels like the sky is falling. A truly beautiful read.
Buy One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Transworld Digital; pub date 18 Feb. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.
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