Mavis and Dot

by Angela Petch

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

 

A warm slice of life, funny, feel-good, yet poignant. Introducing two eccentric ladies who form an unlikely friendship. Meet Mavis and Dot – two colorful, retired ladies who live in Worthington-on-Sea, where there are charity shops galore. Apart from bargain hunting, they manage to tangle themselves in escapades involving illegal immigrants, nightclubs, nude modeling, errant toupees and more. And then there’s Mal, the lovable dog who nobody else wants. A gently humorous, often side-splitting, heart-warming snapshot of two memorable characters with past secrets and passions. Escape for a couple of hours into this snapshot of a faded, British seaside town. You’ll laugh and cry but probably laugh more.

“This book is quirky and individual, and has great pathos…[it] will resonate with a lot of readers.” Gill Kaye – Editor of Ingenu(e).

Written with a light touch in memory of a dear friend who passed away from ovarian cancer, Angela Petch’s seaside tale is a departure from her successful Tuscan novels.

All profits from the sale of the books will go towards research into the cure for cancer.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

They had a good scavenge in the charity shop. Dot found a pair of crotchless tights and held them up to the window to see if there were any ladders. Mavis hurried over and snatched them away. ‘You don’t want those, surely? They’re… you know…’ Dot snatched them back. ‘Yes, I do. Very sensible, comfortable and with draughts in the right places.’ ‘They’re from Ann Summers,’ Mavis said, lowering her voice. ‘Who’s she?’ ‘It’s a brand for – for –’ Mavis searched for an explanation, conscious of the grinning youth rifling through a pile of LPs on a nearby shelf. ‘They’re for entertaining, Dot…’ ‘What are you talking about? I never throw dinner parties these days.’

 

She pouted and twirled, then swept her untidy curls up with a fuchsia hairband from the Pound Shop. It was a little on the tight side but, as well as keeping her hair off her face, it had the same effect as a facelift, pulling her eyebrows up and back into a permanent look of surprise. Why people went to the bother of having painful operations at exorbitant prices to remove wrinkles, when they could buy a cheap hair-band to achieve the same effect was beyond her comprehension.

 

‘I’ve got a gateau here to share – reduced for quick sale.’ He held out a chocolate cake decorated with one half of a bridal couple arranged on top. ‘The Baker’s Dozen let me have this cheap because the bride changed her mind the day before the big event and apparently picked up the marzipan groom and stamped on him in the shop.’

 

She offered him a biscuit and he declined. ‘I have to watch my figure, Mave.’ ‘So do I,’ she said, popping a whole fig roll into her mouth. ‘I watch it grow.’

 

‘Goodie! I could do with a new fornicator,’ Mavis said. Lance snorted. ‘Do what?’ ‘A fornicator,’ repeated Mavis. ‘You know – a sort of frou-frou thingummybob to wear on the head.’ His eyes widened. ‘Well, I’ve not heard about that in all my experience of kinky doings.’ ‘What on earth are you on about, Lance? I’m going to my niece’s wedding after Christmas and I need a fornicator to finish off my outfit. Something in scarlet to go with my new dress.’ ‘Oh!’ laughed Lance. ‘I think you mean a fascinator.

 

Dot tutted and peeled off her cotton gloves. ‘Let’s pretend to be ladylike for one hour at least. Please, Mavis.’ Mavis took a swig of the fizzy wine, making sure to stick out her little finger as she held the glass.

 

My Review:

 

Mavis and Dot was found treasure and I fell right into this delightful and cleverly written tale, laced with witty and wry humor, and featuring two newly acquainted elderly spinsters both recently relocated to their small village.  Mavis was short and rotund while Dot was tall and thin.  Both were penny-pinching skinflints and the only thing they enjoyed more than a good tipple was finding bargains and planned junking jaunt outings to the second-hand rummage stores, church jumbles, and charity shops.  The outfits Mavis put together from her finds were quite colorful although prone to be ill-fitting, haphazardly patched, and rather outlandish, which led to her being mistaken for a drag queen on one of her evening escapades.

Each and every one of Ms. Petch’s quirky characters was deliciously peculiar and colorfully drawn. I adored them to no end.  Yet I loved Mavis the most and without reservation, as she was so fun to envision and had such sass and bravado.  Mavis also had a tendency to muddle her words, which provided me with more than a few giggle-snorts – such as when she confused agoraphobics for aerobics, fornicator for fascinator, tepee for toupee, and anti-backups for antibiotics.

Angela Petch is a new discovery for me and I found her writing to be refreshingly crisp and packed with clever levity and amusing wit.  The storylines were bright and shiny and cunningly crafted.  Her writing was skillfully amusing yet also poignant and keenly insightful.  Her artful narratives were vividly detailed with humorous and revealing observations that had me laughing aloud and kept a near-constant smirk on my face while I soaked up Mavis’ daring antics, rich fantasy life, fuzzy interpretations, and lusty daydreams.  I adored these eccentric yet highly appealing characters as they fascinated me and left me desirous of knowing every little thing about them.

I hit the mother-load for new additions to my Brit vocabulary list with manky (dirty, worthless, or rotten), faff (waste of time or energy), punnet (a small shallow basket often used for fruit and vegetables), and Knickerbocker Glory, which is an ice cream sundae in a tall glass.

Does it need saying that Angela Petch has a new and scarily rabid fangirl?  I sincerely hope she doesn’t startle easily…

 

Author Bio

A prize-winning author, Angela Petch lives half the year in West Sussex and the summer months in a remote valley in the Tuscan Apennines. She recently signed a two-book deal with Bookouture for her Tuscan novels and “Mavis and Dot” is a temporary departure from her usual genre. She has traveled all her life: born in Germany, she spent six years as a child living in Rome, worked in Amsterdam after finishing her degree in Italian, moved to Italy for her job, then to Tanzania for three years. Her head is full of stories and she always carries a pen and notebook to capture more ideas.

In May 2017, Angela Petch won PRIMA’S monthly short story competition and recently had a dozen stories published by The People’s Friend magazine.

“Mavis and Dot” was written in memory of a dear friend who lost her battle with ovarian cancer. All profits from sales of the book will go towards research into a cure for cancer.

 

LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaJaneClarePetch/

Twitter: @Angela_Petch

Website: https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com

TUSCAN NOVELS

    “Tuscan Roots” (to be reissued by Bookouture in 2019) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuscan-Roots-tangle-Italian-Apennines-ebook/dp/B01DDQDMDE/

“Now and Then in Tuscany” – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-Then-Tuscany-Italian-journeys-ebook/dp/B06Y8Y17MG

MAVIS AND DOT

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JM3KJSB

https://mybook.to/MDot