DUELING REVIEW: The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Jennie: I was alerted to the terrific debut The Flatshare by Janine’s review last year, and read it myself earlier this year. Janine gave it an A-, but I liked it so much I gave it a straight A, which is rare for me. When she suggested we review O’Leary’s second book together, I was entirely game.

I was then less sure when I read the synopsis: Leena Cotton and her grandmother Eileen decide to “switch lives” for two months. Leena will stay in Eileen’s cottage in the small British village of Hamle...