My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Back to being stereotypes the public love. I think our days of any substantial roles to get our dentures into are well over.

 

‘Is it an older woman you’re after?’ She lifted the hem of her skirt to show a soft round kneecap. ‘There’s always myself if you’re seeking a cougar– there’s life in this auld one yet. I’m eighty-one this autumn and I’d be up for a bit of gadding about in the camper van, especially if you throw in some pub meals and a few jars of ale…’

 

‘I’d like a Buttery Nipple. Three, if you have them. I assume you know how to make a Buttery Nipple?’ The barman stared, amazed, so Vivienne continued. ‘That’s thirty millilitres of Butterscotch Schnapps and fifteen millilitres of Irish Cream liqueur, please.’ ‘I’ll have a Kahlua, Irish Cream and a whisky cocktail,’ Mary piped up. ‘Otherwise known as a Duck’s Fart.’

 

Gwen felt a little uncomfortable in the red tankini, although Mary assured her that she looked ‘the business’, before turning to Vivienne and commenting, ‘That new swimsuit of yours is very skimpy, Vivienne. You look like you’re wearing orange dental floss.’ Vivienne smiled, adjusted her sunglasses and laid back, her skin gleaming with sun oil; Mary’s words were a compliment.

 

‘I’m recovering from a heart attack.’ However, she dug into the sausages with gusto. ‘So, when I’m back in London, I’m starting the 80:20 diet– well, it’s not a diet, it’s more of a way of life.’ Vivienne winked in Gwen’s direction. ‘So, you eat and drink everything you want 80 percent of the time, Mary, and for 20 percent of the time you eat more frugally.’ Mary was puzzled. ‘I thought it was the other way round,’

 

‘Who are you playing?’ ‘A nun.’ Mary brayed with laughter. ‘Are you sure they know what you’re like? What sort of nun will you be? One that wears lipstick and suspenders and drinks like a fish?’

 

Vivienne, who had protested throughout the meal that she’d look a sight the following day if she drank any more, was clearly not in control of her wrists: she kept reaching for the bottle, pouring more and then drinking continuously while she chattered. Mary kept up with her, declaring that she’d start the 50:50 diet when she returned to London, much to Gwen’s amusement: Mary had no idea that she’d changed the numbers.

 

My Review:

 

These storylines alternated between squeezing my heart with the characters’ challenges and poignant regrets, and putting a smirk on my face from the amusingly clever wit and irreverent sass of the three main protagonists as they bond during their adventure. The mature cast of characters was skillfully contrived and their individual story threads were brilliantly plotted and scaffolded into the narrative.

 

I adored them all, a feisty actress who enjoyed her wine and always had a relevant Shakespearean quote, an uptight former opera singer, and a retired pediatric nurse gifted in the use of profanity and creative expletives.   Of course, the latter was my favorite 😉 I plan to be just like her when I grow up.

 

And score, it has been a good while since I’ve had an addition to my British Isles Words and Phrases list and I have a dozy this time with pox bottle – which Mr. Google informed me is Irish slang for an irritating, unwanted person with the addition of the word bottle used for extra venom. I plan to put this one into immediate use.