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Os cem anos de Lenni e Margot
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction (2021)Uma amizade extraordinária. Cem anos de histórias prestes a serem contadas... antes que seja tarde demais.
Lenni é uma adolescente de dezessete anos, dona de uma personalidade especial e de muito carisma. Pode-se dizer que é uma garota cheia de vida... exceto que, segundo os médicos, ela está à beira da morte.
Como um modo de preencher seus dias no hospital em que está internada e sozinha - e de cumprir uma aposta feita com o padre da capela -, Lenni começa a frequentar aulas de arte terapêutica. E é então que conhece Margot, uma senhora de oitenta e três anos, doce e de coração rebelde como o de Lenni. A conexão entre elas é intensa e imediata, e as duas percebem uma peculiaridade: juntas, têm um século de vida!
Para celebrar esses cem anos que compartilham, decidem montar uma exposição de cem pinturas. Em cada uma, retratam uma memória importante dos anos que viveram. Histórias de paixão, juventude, amadurecimento, alegria, afeto, de quando se encontra em alguém o amor de sua vida. Histórias que merecem, sempre, ser compartilhadas.
Lenni é uma adolescente de dezessete anos, dona de uma personalidade especial e de muito carisma. Pode-se dizer que é uma garota cheia de vida... exceto que, segundo os médicos, ela está à beira da morte.
Como um modo de preencher seus dias no hospital em que está internada e sozinha - e de cumprir uma aposta feita com o padre da capela -, Lenni começa a frequentar aulas de arte terapêutica. E é então que conhece Margot, uma senhora de oitenta e três anos, doce e de coração rebelde como o de Lenni. A conexão entre elas é intensa e imediata, e as duas percebem uma peculiaridade: juntas, têm um século de vida!
Para celebrar esses cem anos que compartilham, decidem montar uma exposição de cem pinturas. Em cada uma, retratam uma memória importante dos anos que viveram. Histórias de paixão, juventude, amadurecimento, alegria, afeto, de quando se encontra em alguém o amor de sua vida. Histórias que merecem, sempre, ser compartilhadas.
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2021
8028 people are currently reading
150935 people want to read
About the author
Marianne Cronin
6 books1,697 followersMarianne was born in 1990 in Warwickshire, England. After gaining a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, she worked in academia until becoming a full-time writer.
Her debut novel 'The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot' has been published in 30 languages and is being adapted into a feature film by a major Hollywood studio.
Her second novel, 'Eddie Winston is Looking for Love' is scheduled for release in August 2024 in the UK and September 2024 in the USA.
In her spare time, Marianne performs improv comedy and documents the adventures of her giant rescue cat, Puffin, on her Instagram.
Her debut novel 'The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot' has been published in 30 languages and is being adapted into a feature film by a major Hollywood studio.
Her second novel, 'Eddie Winston is Looking for Love' is scheduled for release in August 2024 in the UK and September 2024 in the USA.
In her spare time, Marianne performs improv comedy and documents the adventures of her giant rescue cat, Puffin, on her Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 16,270 reviews
June 1, 2021
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
Seventeen year old Lenni is never going to leave the hospital alive. She has a terminal illness and is on her last legs, fighting not to let go of all that she is, despite the drugs and the ravages of the disease on her body and mind. Lenni is alive and she wants to live, even if living has to be done in a hospital, with it's rule, restrictions, and overworked and uninterested nurses (I'm looking at you, Jackie). But Lenni has friends, people who love the light she brings into their lives.
Eighty three year old Margot is at the same hospital due to heart problems that required surgery and will require more surgery. Lenni and Margot first catch sight of each other as Margot is trying to fish something out of a recycling bin and Lenni distracts the porter and nurse so that Margot can accomplish her rescue effort. Later Lenni gets herself enrolled in the art class for eighty years and up so that she can spend time with Margot. Margot and Lenni decide to record their combined 100 years of life with their artwork. Margot is a talented artist and for her 83 years of life Lenni records the stories that Margot tells with each picture she creates. Lenni's artwork is not of the same artistic talent but I would love to have gotten to see the pictures she made of her 17 years.
This story is so full of life and a lot of the story relates to Margot's journey, a story of a beloved father devastated by war, a young marriage torn apart by the heartache of loss, an unrequited love, another deep and shared love of 30 years, and more. Through Margot's pictures and stories, Lenni is able to live a life she will never have but she also allows Margot to reflect on what has passed and what she wants to do, if she survives her next surgery.
I loved Lenni. She's so smart, so perceptive, so alive, and so grown up. One of her best friends is Father Arthur and he is just as important to her as Margot. She pushes him for answers and won't take trite platitudes from him...she forces him to admit he doesn't know, that he doesn't have answers to her very important questions.
Despite the fact that this story made me cry, I'm so glad that I read it. I was sad that Lenni had to be the adult at the end, when it came to her and her father. I was sad when Lenni would talk of telling her grandchildren about this or that, as if she had that kind of future. I was sad for what would never be for Lenni. But this story made me happy, too. It celebrates the good in people and how they make life worth living.
Publication: June, 2021
Thank you to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and NetGalley for this ARC.
Seventeen year old Lenni is never going to leave the hospital alive. She has a terminal illness and is on her last legs, fighting not to let go of all that she is, despite the drugs and the ravages of the disease on her body and mind. Lenni is alive and she wants to live, even if living has to be done in a hospital, with it's rule, restrictions, and overworked and uninterested nurses (I'm looking at you, Jackie). But Lenni has friends, people who love the light she brings into their lives.
Eighty three year old Margot is at the same hospital due to heart problems that required surgery and will require more surgery. Lenni and Margot first catch sight of each other as Margot is trying to fish something out of a recycling bin and Lenni distracts the porter and nurse so that Margot can accomplish her rescue effort. Later Lenni gets herself enrolled in the art class for eighty years and up so that she can spend time with Margot. Margot and Lenni decide to record their combined 100 years of life with their artwork. Margot is a talented artist and for her 83 years of life Lenni records the stories that Margot tells with each picture she creates. Lenni's artwork is not of the same artistic talent but I would love to have gotten to see the pictures she made of her 17 years.
This story is so full of life and a lot of the story relates to Margot's journey, a story of a beloved father devastated by war, a young marriage torn apart by the heartache of loss, an unrequited love, another deep and shared love of 30 years, and more. Through Margot's pictures and stories, Lenni is able to live a life she will never have but she also allows Margot to reflect on what has passed and what she wants to do, if she survives her next surgery.
I loved Lenni. She's so smart, so perceptive, so alive, and so grown up. One of her best friends is Father Arthur and he is just as important to her as Margot. She pushes him for answers and won't take trite platitudes from him...she forces him to admit he doesn't know, that he doesn't have answers to her very important questions.
Despite the fact that this story made me cry, I'm so glad that I read it. I was sad that Lenni had to be the adult at the end, when it came to her and her father. I was sad when Lenni would talk of telling her grandchildren about this or that, as if she had that kind of future. I was sad for what would never be for Lenni. But this story made me happy, too. It celebrates the good in people and how they make life worth living.
Publication: June, 2021
Thank you to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and NetGalley for this ARC.
September 24, 2023
The night before my heart surgery, I called a family member.
“I’m getting another call. I’ll call you later!”
Click. Dial tone. The phone still in my hand, I looked at it with my mouth agape. What in the world? I could die tomorrow, and this person rushed off the phone?
This type of behavior defines Lenni and Margot. When love gets tough, cut and run! Every single second with your loved ones is a gift. Why in the world would you just ditch your loved one as soon as they get sick? Watch out! If you have a sniffle, you are cutoff.
Nothing about The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot worked for me. The premise sounds incredible: Lenni and Margot have a combined age of 100 years. They will each paint one picture for every year that they have been alive.
First, I think it took too long to get Lenni and Margot together. Secondly, this book bounced around too much where I didn’t connect with any of the characters. The present timeline would go on and interspersed throughout the book were the flashbacks to Lenni and Margot’s lives. However, the glimmers were so short that I couldn’t connect with the characters. I still don’t understand what was so great about Meena or Humphrey besides being just a little eccentric.
Third, I predicted the ending at the outset, entirely predictable.
Finally, and most importantly, I was bored. The storytelling needed to be sharper. Very little in this book was unique, and it was a chore to read.
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“I’m getting another call. I’ll call you later!”
Click. Dial tone. The phone still in my hand, I looked at it with my mouth agape. What in the world? I could die tomorrow, and this person rushed off the phone?
This type of behavior defines Lenni and Margot. When love gets tough, cut and run! Every single second with your loved ones is a gift. Why in the world would you just ditch your loved one as soon as they get sick? Watch out! If you have a sniffle, you are cutoff.
Nothing about The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot worked for me. The premise sounds incredible: Lenni and Margot have a combined age of 100 years. They will each paint one picture for every year that they have been alive.
First, I think it took too long to get Lenni and Margot together. Secondly, this book bounced around too much where I didn’t connect with any of the characters. The present timeline would go on and interspersed throughout the book were the flashbacks to Lenni and Margot’s lives. However, the glimmers were so short that I couldn’t connect with the characters. I still don’t understand what was so great about Meena or Humphrey besides being just a little eccentric.
Third, I predicted the ending at the outset, entirely predictable.
Finally, and most importantly, I was bored. The storytelling needed to be sharper. Very little in this book was unique, and it was a chore to read.
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January 28, 2021
Set in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, Marianne Cronin's debut novel is sprinkled with magic and star dust as it relates the intergenerational friendship and love that develops between the vibrant, full of life, Swedish born, 17 year old Lenni Pettersson and 83 year old Margot Macrae. Lenni is a resident of the May ward, for those with life limiting/terminal illnesses, she goes searching for answers for fundamental philosophical questions of life from Father Arthur, her candour a joy to behold and have a host of characters enter her life, providing her with a family she could hardly have forseen. Whilst her life is to be cruelly cut short at such a young age, she is to metaphorically live a longer one through the experience of the joys, love, losses, and grief of Margot's well lived life, who is in hospital for heart surgery.
It is Lenni who notes that the combined age of her and Margot adds up to 100 years, and comes up with the inspirational idea of them painting a picture for each year of their lives, accompanied with the key stories and events in their lives, ensuring their lives intertwine ever more closely with each other. They are there for each other whenever the need arises, as they paint in the Rose room, for their art therapy classes run by art teacher, Pippa, with Lenni becoming an honorary member of the octogenarians art group. Lenni's curious, kind, irreverent, wise and artful spirit of honesty brings chaos and commotion in her wake, but attracts a circle of friends and 'family' that counters the isolation and loneliness of her life. Apart from Father Arthur and Margot, they include New Nurse, Paul the Porter, Pippa and Sunny, the security guard, although there is one fly in the ointment in the unsympathetic character of Nurse Jacky.
Margot's paintings acquaint us with her first kiss with Johnny, a devastatingly desperate loss that sends her to London, her fateful and key meeting with Meena, her marriage to the offbeat astronomer, Humphrey and so much more. Through Lenni's artwork, we learn of her childhood, the mental health issues of her mother, her move to Glasgow at 7 years old, her continuous outsider status in life that persists through her school life, right up to what is important to her in the present, living under the shadow of death. Cronin's quirky characterisations are stellar in all their complexity, there are tears, heartbreak, grief, loss and drama in this engaging storytelling, but this is skilfully interspersed with the love, friendship, humour and joy, a blend that makes this an unforgettable, heart tugging debut. A read that will melt the hardest of hearts. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.
It is Lenni who notes that the combined age of her and Margot adds up to 100 years, and comes up with the inspirational idea of them painting a picture for each year of their lives, accompanied with the key stories and events in their lives, ensuring their lives intertwine ever more closely with each other. They are there for each other whenever the need arises, as they paint in the Rose room, for their art therapy classes run by art teacher, Pippa, with Lenni becoming an honorary member of the octogenarians art group. Lenni's curious, kind, irreverent, wise and artful spirit of honesty brings chaos and commotion in her wake, but attracts a circle of friends and 'family' that counters the isolation and loneliness of her life. Apart from Father Arthur and Margot, they include New Nurse, Paul the Porter, Pippa and Sunny, the security guard, although there is one fly in the ointment in the unsympathetic character of Nurse Jacky.
Margot's paintings acquaint us with her first kiss with Johnny, a devastatingly desperate loss that sends her to London, her fateful and key meeting with Meena, her marriage to the offbeat astronomer, Humphrey and so much more. Through Lenni's artwork, we learn of her childhood, the mental health issues of her mother, her move to Glasgow at 7 years old, her continuous outsider status in life that persists through her school life, right up to what is important to her in the present, living under the shadow of death. Cronin's quirky characterisations are stellar in all their complexity, there are tears, heartbreak, grief, loss and drama in this engaging storytelling, but this is skilfully interspersed with the love, friendship, humour and joy, a blend that makes this an unforgettable, heart tugging debut. A read that will melt the hardest of hearts. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.
June 2, 2021
***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY***
I’m thankful for my early reviewer friends who loved this book, as it wasn’t really on my radar. Meaningful and wonderfully written books aren’t easy to find!! This debut novel by Ms.Cronin is extraordinary.
Lenni is 17 years old, she is dying. Margot is 83 years old, she is awaiting heart surgery. These two normally would not have had occasion to meet each other. However because of their health status, both find themselves occupants of wards near each other in the “Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital.”
As you will quickly find out, these two bond over a project that they envision. There is a new art therapy room, The Rose Room, which has just opened. It is Lenni who comments that between the two of them they have lived 100 years.
I loved this comment by Margot “Into a room full of octogenarians she strode, with a confidence beyond her years. She was fierce, thin, with that bright blond hair of Nordic children. She had a face full of mischief and a pair of pink pajamas”. Margot and Lenni start to draw, paint and tell stories about the years of their lives.
Lenni will tell us about her first kiss, her alcoholic mother, the father who ultimately leaves her.
Margot will tell us about her first love, her marriage to a wonderful man, Humphrey, and the chickens they treated as their own children! Humphrey was also an astronomer and Margot learned to love the clear country sky.
Margot loves gazing at the stars and on a cold clear night, Margot leads Lenni outside the hospital doors and into a quiet area. There they gaze at the millions of stars. When telling Lenni that the stars “that we see the clearest are already dead” Lenni states “Well that’s depressing”. “No, she said gently, it’s not depressing, it’s beautiful. They’ve been gone for who knows how long, but we can still see them. They live on”.
There are other characters that are also wonderfully described, the New Nurse, who befriends Lenni, sits on her bed and chats as though they are old friends.
Father Arthur, the hospital chaplain, is a kind, thoughtful soul. He struggles at times to answer all of Lenni’s questions with honesty and often finds that he is still searching for answers himself.
There were many times that I laughed out loud and times when I felt really sad. I felt such anger also that Lenni, this lovely, witty, wonderful young woman got so few years to live. I was so glad that her last months were lived as well as they could be, surrounded by new friends and loved by many!
This novel is set to publish on June 1, 2021.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
I’m thankful for my early reviewer friends who loved this book, as it wasn’t really on my radar. Meaningful and wonderfully written books aren’t easy to find!! This debut novel by Ms.Cronin is extraordinary.
Lenni is 17 years old, she is dying. Margot is 83 years old, she is awaiting heart surgery. These two normally would not have had occasion to meet each other. However because of their health status, both find themselves occupants of wards near each other in the “Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital.”
As you will quickly find out, these two bond over a project that they envision. There is a new art therapy room, The Rose Room, which has just opened. It is Lenni who comments that between the two of them they have lived 100 years.
I loved this comment by Margot “Into a room full of octogenarians she strode, with a confidence beyond her years. She was fierce, thin, with that bright blond hair of Nordic children. She had a face full of mischief and a pair of pink pajamas”. Margot and Lenni start to draw, paint and tell stories about the years of their lives.
Lenni will tell us about her first kiss, her alcoholic mother, the father who ultimately leaves her.
Margot will tell us about her first love, her marriage to a wonderful man, Humphrey, and the chickens they treated as their own children! Humphrey was also an astronomer and Margot learned to love the clear country sky.
Margot loves gazing at the stars and on a cold clear night, Margot leads Lenni outside the hospital doors and into a quiet area. There they gaze at the millions of stars. When telling Lenni that the stars “that we see the clearest are already dead” Lenni states “Well that’s depressing”. “No, she said gently, it’s not depressing, it’s beautiful. They’ve been gone for who knows how long, but we can still see them. They live on”.
There are other characters that are also wonderfully described, the New Nurse, who befriends Lenni, sits on her bed and chats as though they are old friends.
Father Arthur, the hospital chaplain, is a kind, thoughtful soul. He struggles at times to answer all of Lenni’s questions with honesty and often finds that he is still searching for answers himself.
There were many times that I laughed out loud and times when I felt really sad. I felt such anger also that Lenni, this lovely, witty, wonderful young woman got so few years to live. I was so glad that her last months were lived as well as they could be, surrounded by new friends and loved by many!
This novel is set to publish on June 1, 2021.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
September 2, 2021
Beautiful.
This book is the ultimate celebration of life, friendship, loss, and love. Yes, those are big topics but this book handles the subject wonderfully. Readers who enjoy books by Ruth Hogan and Fredrik Backman will love this one.
Lenni is seventeen and living on the terminal ward of a hospital, and Margot is 83. The two become acquainted in the art room, and discover that their ages together equal 100 years. They decide to tell stories and do paintings for each year of their lives to honor those 100 years. I adored both Lenni and Margot, and all of the other friends that come in and out of their lives in the past and the present. I appreciated Father Arthur and his gentle spirit, allowing Lenni to ask questions and not feeling like he had to rush in with the answers.
I definitely cried towards the end, but mostly because this book made me really think about the friendships I have had throughout my life and how I can use my life to make a difference in the lives of others, if only in a simple way. If only we could all be a little more like Lenni sometimes.
Highly recommended.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
This book is the ultimate celebration of life, friendship, loss, and love. Yes, those are big topics but this book handles the subject wonderfully. Readers who enjoy books by Ruth Hogan and Fredrik Backman will love this one.
Lenni is seventeen and living on the terminal ward of a hospital, and Margot is 83. The two become acquainted in the art room, and discover that their ages together equal 100 years. They decide to tell stories and do paintings for each year of their lives to honor those 100 years. I adored both Lenni and Margot, and all of the other friends that come in and out of their lives in the past and the present. I appreciated Father Arthur and his gentle spirit, allowing Lenni to ask questions and not feeling like he had to rush in with the answers.
I definitely cried towards the end, but mostly because this book made me really think about the friendships I have had throughout my life and how I can use my life to make a difference in the lives of others, if only in a simple way. If only we could all be a little more like Lenni sometimes.
Highly recommended.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
July 24, 2021
In this moving debut novel, you will find characters with wisdom and heart who care about each other, trust each other. The friendships here are beautiful,the kind we all hope for in our lifetime. Amid the beauty of these friendships at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, you’ll find what exists at any hospital anywhere. There’s sickness and despair, grief and loss and death. Lenni is seventeen and is in the terminal ward, now called “life limiting”, perhaps gentler on the ears, but in reality there’s nothing gentle about dying, not when you’re seventeen with hopes of a lifetime ahead of you. It struck me right from the beginning that she was so lonely, without any visitors. As the novel progresses we discover why.
It was heartening that she connects with eighty three year old Margot, a heart patient awaiting surgery. A loving relationship develops between them as they join forces in their one hundred years, the total of their ages by taking an art class and painting memories of years in their lives. But it isn’t just the paintings that have meaning, it is the stories behind them that they tell each other sharing memories, joyful and sad, of loss and love. This is how they become a light in each other’s life. Lenni makes other friends as well, including the elderly priest Father Arthur, who really can’t answer Lenni’s questions about life, death and God. But it doesn’t matter as another beautiful friendship is forged with Lenni bringing understanding and joy to Father Arthur.
This is a sad story for sure and I shed a few tears, but I also smiled a lot and was so moved by what Lenni and Margot accomplish with their One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. It’s one of those heartbreakingly sad stories that left me with a good feeling. I don’t know as this will win any literary awards (you never know, though), but these characters with their life stories won my heart and I can’t give it less than 5 stars . I will be watching for more by Marianne Cronin.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper Perenial through Edelweiss.
It was heartening that she connects with eighty three year old Margot, a heart patient awaiting surgery. A loving relationship develops between them as they join forces in their one hundred years, the total of their ages by taking an art class and painting memories of years in their lives. But it isn’t just the paintings that have meaning, it is the stories behind them that they tell each other sharing memories, joyful and sad, of loss and love. This is how they become a light in each other’s life. Lenni makes other friends as well, including the elderly priest Father Arthur, who really can’t answer Lenni’s questions about life, death and God. But it doesn’t matter as another beautiful friendship is forged with Lenni bringing understanding and joy to Father Arthur.
This is a sad story for sure and I shed a few tears, but I also smiled a lot and was so moved by what Lenni and Margot accomplish with their One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. It’s one of those heartbreakingly sad stories that left me with a good feeling. I don’t know as this will win any literary awards (you never know, though), but these characters with their life stories won my heart and I can’t give it less than 5 stars . I will be watching for more by Marianne Cronin.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper Perenial through Edelweiss.
May 10, 2022
"The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot" by Marianne Cronin is a story about the power of friendship!
Have you ever wanted to begin a book over again right after you finished it? That's me with this book...
Seventeen-year-old Lenni Petterson lives in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She has tons yet to discover, philosophical questions to ask, and is living with terminal cancer. Lenni is full of life, confident and curious!
Artistic and talented eighty-three-year-old Margot Macrae is in the same hospital with severe heart problems and awaiting a second surgery. Margot is full of living, wisdom and generosity!
When Lenni meets Margot, their connection is immediate, unique, and their new and unlikely friendship is born. During art class Lenni and Margo discover their combined age's equal one-hundred-years. They decide to celebrate their discovery by painting a picture for each year they have lived.
The life stories Lenni and Margot tell are the heart and soul of this book. I dare you not to feel the full impact of the richness and depth of their stories. The humor and tears, joy and heartbreak, the isolation and loneliness of illness, grief through the loss of a loved one, and the power and love of friendship will hit you like a punch to the gut!
The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson and takes you on a memorable one-hundred-year journey during the 11 hours of listening time.
I had no idea this book would be such a touching read. It will be one I recommend over and over again to others who love and are inspired by stories about the power of friendships. I highly recommend!
Have you ever wanted to begin a book over again right after you finished it? That's me with this book...
Seventeen-year-old Lenni Petterson lives in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She has tons yet to discover, philosophical questions to ask, and is living with terminal cancer. Lenni is full of life, confident and curious!
Artistic and talented eighty-three-year-old Margot Macrae is in the same hospital with severe heart problems and awaiting a second surgery. Margot is full of living, wisdom and generosity!
When Lenni meets Margot, their connection is immediate, unique, and their new and unlikely friendship is born. During art class Lenni and Margo discover their combined age's equal one-hundred-years. They decide to celebrate their discovery by painting a picture for each year they have lived.
The life stories Lenni and Margot tell are the heart and soul of this book. I dare you not to feel the full impact of the richness and depth of their stories. The humor and tears, joy and heartbreak, the isolation and loneliness of illness, grief through the loss of a loved one, and the power and love of friendship will hit you like a punch to the gut!
The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson and takes you on a memorable one-hundred-year journey during the 11 hours of listening time.
I had no idea this book would be such a touching read. It will be one I recommend over and over again to others who love and are inspired by stories about the power of friendships. I highly recommend!
December 22, 2020
This is the touching and moving story of seventeen year old Lenni Petterson who is on May Ward of Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital and eighty three year old Margot who is awaiting heart surgery. Lenni is in the ‘terminal lounge’ with a ‘life limiting’ illness and so to commemorate key moments in their lives they set out to create 100 hundred paintings in the art room run by the lovely Pippa. Through the evolution of the paintings we learn the story of their lives.
Where to start with this superb debut? Probably best to begin with the beautiful characters. Lenni is simply wonderful, she’s funny, astutely observant and so clever. She makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time which takes real skill to write. Margot is fabulous and has had a fascinating life, as although she’s experienced tragedy and loss she’s also experienced deep love and friendship through her lovely husband Humphrey and her friend Meena. Their story is beautifully written (no wonder it took six years!) with their lives emerging through the paintings. The growing friendship between Lenni and Margot is a thing of beauty, they are both wonderful in different ways. Margot enriches the last few months of Lenni’s life as does Father Arthur from the hospital chapel. I love how Lenni challenges him with her questions about religion and her out there original thinking but to dying Lenni these are very relevant questions. He deals with her so carefully and thoughtfully and falls under Lenni’s spell too as most characters do apart from the charisma bypass, jobsworth Nurse Jackie. Shame on you Jackie!
This is a wonderful and beautiful story despite the fact that Lenni is dying, she’s living her last months with as much joy as she can. It captivates, grabs you by the heartstrings and makes you laugh out loud at some of a Lenni’s actions and innovative thinking. The ending is a deeply emotional tear jerker and really touches you as you feel as if you have become friends with the characters. Ensure tissues at the ready.
Overall, a remarkable debut showing how age is no barrier to friendship and a connection that grows to love. It takes genuine literary talent to make a reader laugh and cry at the same time. This deserves to be a best seller and I highly recommend it.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK Transworld Publishers/Doubleday and to the author for a beautiful novel.
Where to start with this superb debut? Probably best to begin with the beautiful characters. Lenni is simply wonderful, she’s funny, astutely observant and so clever. She makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time which takes real skill to write. Margot is fabulous and has had a fascinating life, as although she’s experienced tragedy and loss she’s also experienced deep love and friendship through her lovely husband Humphrey and her friend Meena. Their story is beautifully written (no wonder it took six years!) with their lives emerging through the paintings. The growing friendship between Lenni and Margot is a thing of beauty, they are both wonderful in different ways. Margot enriches the last few months of Lenni’s life as does Father Arthur from the hospital chapel. I love how Lenni challenges him with her questions about religion and her out there original thinking but to dying Lenni these are very relevant questions. He deals with her so carefully and thoughtfully and falls under Lenni’s spell too as most characters do apart from the charisma bypass, jobsworth Nurse Jackie. Shame on you Jackie!
This is a wonderful and beautiful story despite the fact that Lenni is dying, she’s living her last months with as much joy as she can. It captivates, grabs you by the heartstrings and makes you laugh out loud at some of a Lenni’s actions and innovative thinking. The ending is a deeply emotional tear jerker and really touches you as you feel as if you have become friends with the characters. Ensure tissues at the ready.
Overall, a remarkable debut showing how age is no barrier to friendship and a connection that grows to love. It takes genuine literary talent to make a reader laugh and cry at the same time. This deserves to be a best seller and I highly recommend it.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK Transworld Publishers/Doubleday and to the author for a beautiful novel.
July 31, 2021
I am a huge fan of the audio production of “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin, narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson. Warning, the last hour you will be crying….ugly crying….you are warned.
Lenni begins the story informing us that she’s in the “terminal” ward, aka the May ward, of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Lenni is 17, and to her, the word terminal reminds her of an airport. Lenni is bored and determined to live her final days/months/moments with adventure. Time to her is irrelevant. When you are stuck in a hospital, and can’t go anywhere unmonitored, one minute seems like a year. Lenni begins her adventure by going into a room she’s never been to, the hospital chapel. There she meets the sweetest Priest known to literature, Father Arthur.
Narrator Sheila Reid performs fantastically as Father Arthur. Lenni has questions and concerns, and Father Arthur is earnest in his duties to answer Lenni the best he can. Their exchanges made me giggle and snort while listening.
Lenni soon notices 83-year-old Margot when she sees Margot dumpster dive into a recycling bin to retrieve a letter. Margot who is spry for her age, wears purple pajamas and is a rebel. She doesn’t intend to go quietly into death. She also has some adventures she wants to accomplish.
Soon after the dumpster diving incident, Margot and Lenni meet each other at the hospital’s art therapy class. Lenni is put into the class with people her age, and she realizes she has more in common with the 80 and over age group. After all, Lenni, like them, are gazing at the end of their lives. At class, Lenni notices that between them, they have lived 100 years. So, they engage in an art project of 100 pictures denoting special times in their collective 100 years of life. From these pictures, we get the back story of Lenni and Margot. As expected, Margot has lived a full and interesting life. Narrator Rebecca Benson does a fabulous job telling Margot’s stories.
This story is billed as charming, tender, and whimsical story of life. Although we know that Lenni is terminal, the story isn’t drab and depressing. Lenni’s antics keeps the story alive and fresh. Margot’s stories keep the story contemplative. These two unlikely friends create a narrative that made me ache and chuckle.
This has been compared to stories from JoJo Moyes, and I agree. I was moved by the story and enjoyed every second. It’s not literature, per say, but it’s a beautiful story.
Lenni begins the story informing us that she’s in the “terminal” ward, aka the May ward, of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Lenni is 17, and to her, the word terminal reminds her of an airport. Lenni is bored and determined to live her final days/months/moments with adventure. Time to her is irrelevant. When you are stuck in a hospital, and can’t go anywhere unmonitored, one minute seems like a year. Lenni begins her adventure by going into a room she’s never been to, the hospital chapel. There she meets the sweetest Priest known to literature, Father Arthur.
Narrator Sheila Reid performs fantastically as Father Arthur. Lenni has questions and concerns, and Father Arthur is earnest in his duties to answer Lenni the best he can. Their exchanges made me giggle and snort while listening.
Lenni soon notices 83-year-old Margot when she sees Margot dumpster dive into a recycling bin to retrieve a letter. Margot who is spry for her age, wears purple pajamas and is a rebel. She doesn’t intend to go quietly into death. She also has some adventures she wants to accomplish.
Soon after the dumpster diving incident, Margot and Lenni meet each other at the hospital’s art therapy class. Lenni is put into the class with people her age, and she realizes she has more in common with the 80 and over age group. After all, Lenni, like them, are gazing at the end of their lives. At class, Lenni notices that between them, they have lived 100 years. So, they engage in an art project of 100 pictures denoting special times in their collective 100 years of life. From these pictures, we get the back story of Lenni and Margot. As expected, Margot has lived a full and interesting life. Narrator Rebecca Benson does a fabulous job telling Margot’s stories.
This story is billed as charming, tender, and whimsical story of life. Although we know that Lenni is terminal, the story isn’t drab and depressing. Lenni’s antics keeps the story alive and fresh. Margot’s stories keep the story contemplative. These two unlikely friends create a narrative that made me ache and chuckle.
This has been compared to stories from JoJo Moyes, and I agree. I was moved by the story and enjoyed every second. It’s not literature, per say, but it’s a beautiful story.
March 12, 2021
i picked this one up because i was really interested in reading about a friendship that forms between two women of entirely different generations, but unfortunately the book didn't turn out to be all that i'd hoped. for one, the majority of the novel is spent looking back on Margot's life which, while fairly interesting, wasn't anything particularly special and also meant that hardly any time was spent exploring Lenni and Margot's friendship (how it came about, the kinds of conversations they have, how it develops, etc etc) in the present day. the whole narrative also just felt a bit unbalanced - we hear all about Margot's past but see hardly anything of her in the present, while we're stuck in Lenni's head in the present but don't get a great deal of insight into her past at all beyond a number of flashbacks. I found Lenni as a character to be very annoying at times too, largely because the author makes her sound like a child rather than a 17 year old. i thought the ending was really touching and i enjoyed some of the book's messages, but overall it turned out to be a bit disappointing and won't be one that sticks with me.
July 8, 2021
5 get the Kleenex stars
This one has two amazing characters as you might guess from the title -- and both are terminally ill. Lenni is only 17 but her heart is giving out and Margot is 83, together they have 100 years of life!
They meet in the hospital and develop a friendship in art class. They embark on an amazing project, a painting for each year of their lives. Along the way they tell their stories to go along with each painting and we get to know their whole life story. An unlikely but sweet and powerful friendship.
Lenni also befriends the priest at the hospital and I loved their interactions. She has some hilarious questions and challenging conversations for him. I love how she wants to start a marketing campaign to drum up more business for him.
This one was a quiet build and by the end I was ugly crying, yes, for what you might think, but also for this beautiful friendship.
Thank you to my generous local library for the copy of this one to read.
This one has two amazing characters as you might guess from the title -- and both are terminally ill. Lenni is only 17 but her heart is giving out and Margot is 83, together they have 100 years of life!
They meet in the hospital and develop a friendship in art class. They embark on an amazing project, a painting for each year of their lives. Along the way they tell their stories to go along with each painting and we get to know their whole life story. An unlikely but sweet and powerful friendship.
Lenni also befriends the priest at the hospital and I loved their interactions. She has some hilarious questions and challenging conversations for him. I love how she wants to start a marketing campaign to drum up more business for him.
This one was a quiet build and by the end I was ugly crying, yes, for what you might think, but also for this beautiful friendship.
Thank you to my generous local library for the copy of this one to read.
March 3, 2021
5★
“‘Am I in it?’ she asked.
‘If you were, would you want to read it?’
‘Of course!’
‘Then no, you’re not in it.’
‘I am in it, really, aren’t I?’
‘Who can say?’ I said.
She got off my bed and slipped her shoes back on.
‘If I’m in it, can you make me taller?’
I just gave her a look.
‘Goodnight, Lenni,’ she said. And she left me alone with my diary. To write about her.”
“New Nurse” has been visiting Lenni in the May Ward. She is Lenni’s favourite nurse, a flamboyant woman whom Lenni met when New Nurse escorted her to the chapel. She had
“cherry red hair, which clashed with her blue uniform like there was no tomorrow. She’d only been on the May Ward a matter of days and she was nervous, especially around the airport children …
I loved this one! I wouldn’t change a thing.
Lenni is 17 and is in the May Ward of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital because she has a terminal disease. Ooops, sorry. Lenni tells us staff are supposed to say “life-limiting” now instead of terminal – and anyway, terminal makes her think of an airport terminal. Note her reference to the airport children, above. She is bright and funny and openly questioning of everything.
Her interactions with the hospital chaplain, the gentle Father Arthur, are both amusing and thought-provoking for both of them. She visits the chapel only because she has discovered they have to let her go there if she wants to – religious reasons, and all that. A brief escape from the May Ward.
“‘So tell me, Lenni, what brings you to the chapel today?’
‘I’m thinking about buying a second-hand BMW.’
He didn’t know what to do with that, so he picked up the Bible from the pew beside him, thumbed through it without looking at the pages, and put it down again.”
Poor, lovely Father Arthur. He is a delight. Then there is The Temp. The story is told from Lenni’s point of view, except she tells us about The Temp from the third person point of view, and for some reason, it works.
The Temp plays an important role because she wants to open an Art Room for the patients, and this is where Lenni meets 83-year-old Margot.
Their combined age of 100 inspires a plan to produce 100 pieces of art to celebrate each year, and as they paint, they share stories from their past. Lenni’s are of her early childhood in Sweden, while Margot’s cover a much longer life history.
Some memories come easily, but some are difficult, especially one of Margot’s.
“‘Why don’t you skip it?’ I asked.
She looked at me from a faraway place.
‘You know,’ I said, ‘move on to the next year?’
She stared down at her paper mirror. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because everything that happens next . . .’
She stopped. She seemed so small that I wanted to scoop her up and lay her down in a pile of soft toys and cushions, and cover her in a warm blanket.”
I read a preview sample from BuzzBooks, so I knew to expect good writing and humour, but I didn’t expect such a detailed and thorough history of Margot’s long and interesting life. She tells Lenni stories with each of her paintings, and Lenni sometimes describes how the painting shows, for example, the stars.
Margot had fallen in love with a star-gazer who was fond of quoting poetry to her, particularly “The Old Astronomer to His Pupil” by Sarah Williams that ends with this wonderful stanza.
“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
It is perfect for this story of love and friendship and the understandable nervousness about “the night” that faces us all, not just Lenni and Margot. Do not be afraid - read it!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.
“‘Am I in it?’ she asked.
‘If you were, would you want to read it?’
‘Of course!’
‘Then no, you’re not in it.’
‘I am in it, really, aren’t I?’
‘Who can say?’ I said.
She got off my bed and slipped her shoes back on.
‘If I’m in it, can you make me taller?’
I just gave her a look.
‘Goodnight, Lenni,’ she said. And she left me alone with my diary. To write about her.”
“New Nurse” has been visiting Lenni in the May Ward. She is Lenni’s favourite nurse, a flamboyant woman whom Lenni met when New Nurse escorted her to the chapel. She had
“cherry red hair, which clashed with her blue uniform like there was no tomorrow. She’d only been on the May Ward a matter of days and she was nervous, especially around the airport children …
I loved this one! I wouldn’t change a thing.
Lenni is 17 and is in the May Ward of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital because she has a terminal disease. Ooops, sorry. Lenni tells us staff are supposed to say “life-limiting” now instead of terminal – and anyway, terminal makes her think of an airport terminal. Note her reference to the airport children, above. She is bright and funny and openly questioning of everything.
Her interactions with the hospital chaplain, the gentle Father Arthur, are both amusing and thought-provoking for both of them. She visits the chapel only because she has discovered they have to let her go there if she wants to – religious reasons, and all that. A brief escape from the May Ward.
“‘So tell me, Lenni, what brings you to the chapel today?’
‘I’m thinking about buying a second-hand BMW.’
He didn’t know what to do with that, so he picked up the Bible from the pew beside him, thumbed through it without looking at the pages, and put it down again.”
Poor, lovely Father Arthur. He is a delight. Then there is The Temp. The story is told from Lenni’s point of view, except she tells us about The Temp from the third person point of view, and for some reason, it works.
The Temp plays an important role because she wants to open an Art Room for the patients, and this is where Lenni meets 83-year-old Margot.
Their combined age of 100 inspires a plan to produce 100 pieces of art to celebrate each year, and as they paint, they share stories from their past. Lenni’s are of her early childhood in Sweden, while Margot’s cover a much longer life history.
Some memories come easily, but some are difficult, especially one of Margot’s.
“‘Why don’t you skip it?’ I asked.
She looked at me from a faraway place.
‘You know,’ I said, ‘move on to the next year?’
She stared down at her paper mirror. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because everything that happens next . . .’
She stopped. She seemed so small that I wanted to scoop her up and lay her down in a pile of soft toys and cushions, and cover her in a warm blanket.”
I read a preview sample from BuzzBooks, so I knew to expect good writing and humour, but I didn’t expect such a detailed and thorough history of Margot’s long and interesting life. She tells Lenni stories with each of her paintings, and Lenni sometimes describes how the painting shows, for example, the stars.
Margot had fallen in love with a star-gazer who was fond of quoting poetry to her, particularly “The Old Astronomer to His Pupil” by Sarah Williams that ends with this wonderful stanza.
“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
It is perfect for this story of love and friendship and the understandable nervousness about “the night” that faces us all, not just Lenni and Margot. Do not be afraid - read it!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.
dnf
August 14, 2021DNF @ 10%
I love snark and wit, but I’m not a fan of teenagers whose every utterance out of their mouth is snarky and witty. Especially not to an adult, let alone a priest.
She may be dying, but I have no interest in continuing.
I love snark and wit, but I’m not a fan of teenagers whose every utterance out of their mouth is snarky and witty. Especially not to an adult, let alone a priest.
She may be dying, but I have no interest in continuing.
July 7, 2021
A beautiful story!
Lenni 17, is in the hospital with a terminal illness.
Margot is 82, also in the hospital for a prolonged stay.
They end up in a new art class the hospital started for patients and they become friendly.
Lenni realizes that their combined ages will soon be 100.
They paint pictures for the years of their lives and during these times.. they tell each other the stories of their lives so far.
I just loved this book and Lenni’s relationship with Margot and also with the hospital chaplain.
Story of friendship and how friends become family.. a story of love ❤️
Lenni 17, is in the hospital with a terminal illness.
Margot is 82, also in the hospital for a prolonged stay.
They end up in a new art class the hospital started for patients and they become friendly.
Lenni realizes that their combined ages will soon be 100.
They paint pictures for the years of their lives and during these times.. they tell each other the stories of their lives so far.
I just loved this book and Lenni’s relationship with Margot and also with the hospital chaplain.
Story of friendship and how friends become family.. a story of love ❤️
July 25, 2021
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin is a heart-warming, funny, and sometimes tear-producing story of a unique friendship. It is a celebration of life and friendship amid the saddest of circumstances.
Lenni, age 17, has a “life-limiting” cancer and is staying in what she calls the terminal lounge of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She has been left there by strangely absent parents. The head nurse in her ward is uncaring and sometimes cruel. Lenni has little in common with the other patients who are her age. She finds companionship with the hospital Chaplin, Father Arthur. Lenni is quick-witted and her conversations with him about death are often humorous. Father Arthur is unruffled by her questions and is always honest in his answers. However, he is about to retire and be replaced by a less tolerant priest.
Margot, age 83, has a serious heart condition. She had one surgery and is staying in the hospital until she is strong enough for a second surgery. Margot is a talented artist, so when the new Rose Room art studio opens in the hospital, she is one of the first to sign up for the over 80 class. She is very surprised when the young Lenni confidently marches into this octogenarian class and makes herself at home. When Lenni realizes that she and Margot have been alive a combined 100 years, they embark on a journey to make 100 paintings to celebrate their lives.
The two begin telling each other the stories of their lives as they paint. We learn where Lenni’s parents are, her childhood traumas, about her first kiss, etc. Margot has lead an interesting life with two marriages, but neither to the love of her life. As Lenni’s inevitable death draws near, she is comforted by Margot’s stories and the knowledge that their paintings will help them be remembered.
I was a bit perplexed by the Scottish hospital system where a heart patient is allowed to stay over 4 months between surgeries. Other than that, I found this story endearing. These characters will stay with me for a long while.
4.5-Stars. Book club recommended. I listened to the Harper Audio production which is beautifully narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson. (I am a sucker for Scottish accents). It was 10 hours and 53 minutes. The paperback is 352 pages. The book was first published on June 1, 2021.
Lenni, age 17, has a “life-limiting” cancer and is staying in what she calls the terminal lounge of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She has been left there by strangely absent parents. The head nurse in her ward is uncaring and sometimes cruel. Lenni has little in common with the other patients who are her age. She finds companionship with the hospital Chaplin, Father Arthur. Lenni is quick-witted and her conversations with him about death are often humorous. Father Arthur is unruffled by her questions and is always honest in his answers. However, he is about to retire and be replaced by a less tolerant priest.
Margot, age 83, has a serious heart condition. She had one surgery and is staying in the hospital until she is strong enough for a second surgery. Margot is a talented artist, so when the new Rose Room art studio opens in the hospital, she is one of the first to sign up for the over 80 class. She is very surprised when the young Lenni confidently marches into this octogenarian class and makes herself at home. When Lenni realizes that she and Margot have been alive a combined 100 years, they embark on a journey to make 100 paintings to celebrate their lives.
The two begin telling each other the stories of their lives as they paint. We learn where Lenni’s parents are, her childhood traumas, about her first kiss, etc. Margot has lead an interesting life with two marriages, but neither to the love of her life. As Lenni’s inevitable death draws near, she is comforted by Margot’s stories and the knowledge that their paintings will help them be remembered.
I was a bit perplexed by the Scottish hospital system where a heart patient is allowed to stay over 4 months between surgeries. Other than that, I found this story endearing. These characters will stay with me for a long while.
4.5-Stars. Book club recommended. I listened to the Harper Audio production which is beautifully narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson. (I am a sucker for Scottish accents). It was 10 hours and 53 minutes. The paperback is 352 pages. The book was first published on June 1, 2021.
May 20, 2022
“Somewhere, out in the world, are the people who touched us, or loved us, or ran from us. In that way we will live on. If you go to the places we have been, you might meet someone who passed us once in a corridor but forgot us before we were even gone. We are in the back of hundreds of people’s photographs—moving, talking, blurring into the background of a picture two strangers have framed on their living room mantelpiece. And in that way, we will live on too. But it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough to have been a particle in the great extant of existence. I want, we want, more. We want for people to know us, to know our story, to know who we are and who we will be. And after we’ve gone, to know who we were.”
At the onset we are introduced to seventeen year old Lenni Pettersson, a terminally ill patient in the May Ward of Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She is smart, spirited and curious inspite of her “life-limiting” illness and takes every opportunity to engage with people around her including the nurses who are in charge of her care, fellow patients and the hospital chaplain Father Arthur who is often rendered speechless in the face of Lenni’s questions on faith and life. Eighty three year old Margot Macrae is a patient with a heart condition in the same hospital recovering from major surgery. She and Lenni become friends in an art class taught by the kind and friendly Pippa organized in the Rose room of the hospital. Realizing that they have lived for one hundred years between themselves they decide to share those one hundred years of life experiences through art and stories. As they share their stories while creating art that would represent those stories, we get know intimate details of Margot’s and Lenni’s lives. Margot has lived an eventful life and her narrative is laced with wit and wisdom and a touch of regret. With her, Lenni gets to experience much more than she could have expected in her seventeen years. Lenni, a straight shooter and not one to mince words, motivates Margot to look beyond whatever is holding her back to enjoy her remaining life to the fullest. Lenni’s mother abandoned her years ago and her father’s palpable grief at Lenni’s prognosis prompted her to limit his painful visits. Her friendship with Margot and interactions with Father Arthur, New Nurse , Pippa, Paul , Sunny and even the not so likeable Nurse Jacky fill her days and give her a sense of ‘family’ in her final days.
While there are moments of extreme sorrow , loss and grief, the beautiful moments of camaraderie and friendship will have you smiling through your tears. With a wonderful cast of characters , thought provoking dialogue and an engaging narrative, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin is a moving and emotional story that will stay with me for a long time. The author’s skillful storytelling turns what could have been a morbid tale of imminent death into a heart touching celebration of life with wit, wisdom and humor.
“We can’t know why you are dying in the same way that we can’t know why you are living. Living and dying are both complete mysteries, and you can’t know either until you have done both.”
At the onset we are introduced to seventeen year old Lenni Pettersson, a terminally ill patient in the May Ward of Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. She is smart, spirited and curious inspite of her “life-limiting” illness and takes every opportunity to engage with people around her including the nurses who are in charge of her care, fellow patients and the hospital chaplain Father Arthur who is often rendered speechless in the face of Lenni’s questions on faith and life. Eighty three year old Margot Macrae is a patient with a heart condition in the same hospital recovering from major surgery. She and Lenni become friends in an art class taught by the kind and friendly Pippa organized in the Rose room of the hospital. Realizing that they have lived for one hundred years between themselves they decide to share those one hundred years of life experiences through art and stories. As they share their stories while creating art that would represent those stories, we get know intimate details of Margot’s and Lenni’s lives. Margot has lived an eventful life and her narrative is laced with wit and wisdom and a touch of regret. With her, Lenni gets to experience much more than she could have expected in her seventeen years. Lenni, a straight shooter and not one to mince words, motivates Margot to look beyond whatever is holding her back to enjoy her remaining life to the fullest. Lenni’s mother abandoned her years ago and her father’s palpable grief at Lenni’s prognosis prompted her to limit his painful visits. Her friendship with Margot and interactions with Father Arthur, New Nurse , Pippa, Paul , Sunny and even the not so likeable Nurse Jacky fill her days and give her a sense of ‘family’ in her final days.
While there are moments of extreme sorrow , loss and grief, the beautiful moments of camaraderie and friendship will have you smiling through your tears. With a wonderful cast of characters , thought provoking dialogue and an engaging narrative, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin is a moving and emotional story that will stay with me for a long time. The author’s skillful storytelling turns what could have been a morbid tale of imminent death into a heart touching celebration of life with wit, wisdom and humor.
“We can’t know why you are dying in the same way that we can’t know why you are living. Living and dying are both complete mysteries, and you can’t know either until you have done both.”
July 14, 2021
The introspective ‘questions’ about living and dying is what I found most compelling.
I especially enjoyed the dialogue conversations between Lenni and Reverend Author about ‘why’ was Lenni dying — at age 17.
Reverend Author said he was better with ‘what’, ‘who’ , and ‘how’ questions, more than ‘why’ questions.
But their conversation about life and death was interesting without being religious.
Yet…in other parts of this novel, I felt there was more reference to Jesus and God than I prefer.
I appreciate the themes explored — and the connection between Lenni and Margot (their friendship)— both dying—
but for some reason I was often emotionally removed from the deeper feelings of death.
Intellectually, I’m aware this was a tearjerker novel…
but I felt “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot”, could have been 100-less pages.
That said… this was still a tender story.
Lenni was adorable-inquisitive- and ‘funny’….
It’s a sad beautiful story….
I liked it enough.
Ok…. one more thing: and not the books fault — but I’ve read a few books recently that I soooo passionately loved, [“The Paper Palace”, and a few others], that I find myself still wishing for that ‘gut-exciting’ rush-read.
Most readers have absolutely loved this story.
As I said - Iiked it — ‘nough’ said.
I especially enjoyed the dialogue conversations between Lenni and Reverend Author about ‘why’ was Lenni dying — at age 17.
Reverend Author said he was better with ‘what’, ‘who’ , and ‘how’ questions, more than ‘why’ questions.
But their conversation about life and death was interesting without being religious.
Yet…in other parts of this novel, I felt there was more reference to Jesus and God than I prefer.
I appreciate the themes explored — and the connection between Lenni and Margot (their friendship)— both dying—
but for some reason I was often emotionally removed from the deeper feelings of death.
Intellectually, I’m aware this was a tearjerker novel…
but I felt “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot”, could have been 100-less pages.
That said… this was still a tender story.
Lenni was adorable-inquisitive- and ‘funny’….
It’s a sad beautiful story….
I liked it enough.
Ok…. one more thing: and not the books fault — but I’ve read a few books recently that I soooo passionately loved, [“The Paper Palace”, and a few others], that I find myself still wishing for that ‘gut-exciting’ rush-read.
Most readers have absolutely loved this story.
As I said - Iiked it — ‘nough’ said.
June 15, 2021
Lenni is a teenager with a terminal illness. She’s living in the hospital where she meets Margot, who is in her 80s and also at the hospital awaiting surgery. They each share their life stories - full and beautiful life stories. As they share, their friendship grows.
Lenni and Margot’s story definitely made me cry a few times, and the journey was worth every tear. This book isn’t just about Lenni’s terminal illness. It’s about the depth of friendship and love, overcoming immense grief, and the beauty in humanity.
I received a gifted copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Lenni and Margot’s story definitely made me cry a few times, and the journey was worth every tear. This book isn’t just about Lenni’s terminal illness. It’s about the depth of friendship and love, overcoming immense grief, and the beauty in humanity.
I received a gifted copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
January 1, 2022
EXCERPT: I peeped through the small window in the Rose Room door, and saw Pippa holding a piece of paper up to an elderly audience of three. She pointed her finger to the edge of the canvas and swooped her hand down in a sweeping motion. When she had finished talking, she put down the paper, and it was then she waved and beckoned for me to go in.
I shuffled in, feeling the eyes of the room on me and my pink pyjamas. I should have gone for my Sunday best slippers.
'Lenni, hi!'
'Hi, Pippa.'
'What brings you here?'
I struggled to think how to phrase exactly what had brought me here. A long dead man and his unequally loved sons. A fish. A priest. An itching to do anything other than mind white water rafting. . . None of those made enough sense to verbalize in front of a geriatric audience.
'Fancy doing some painting?' she asked.
I nodded.
'Pull up a seat and I'll bring you some paper. The theme this week is stars.'
I turned to find somewhere to sit and there she was. Sitting all alone on the table at the back. Her hair catching the sunlight and shining like a ten pence piece, her cardigan a deep shade of purple and her eyes set on the paper in front of her, on which she was sketching with a nubbin of charcoal. The mauve miscreant, the periwinkle perpetrator. The old lady who stole something from the bin.
'It's you!' I said.
She looked up from her drawing and stared at me for the briefest of moments, letting me come into focus. Then, with recognition and delight, said, 'It's you!'
ABOUT 'THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT': Life is short. No-one knows that better than seventeen year old Lenni living on the terminal ward. But as she is about to learn, it's not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.
Dodging doctor's orders, she joins an art class where she bumps into fellow patient Margot, a rebel-hearted eighty three year old from the next ward. Their bond is instant as they realize that together they have lived an astonishing one hundred years.
To celebrate their shared century, they decide to paint their life stories: of growing old and staying young, of giving joy, of receiving kindness, of losing love, of finding the person who is everything.
As their extraordinary friendship deepens, it becomes vividly clear that life is not done with Lenni and Margot yet.
MY THOUGHTS: "Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” - Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer to his Pupil.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot melted my heart. For a book about death and dying, it is full of love, life and joy. I cried buckets. I laughed - snorting coffee laughter.
The paintings of Lenni and Margot are accompanied by stories that provide snapshots of their lives. From Lenni we learn of her first and only kiss, her alcoholic mother, and the father she sends away. We learn of Margot's marriage, and her husband's abandonment of her following the death of their infant son; of Meena, the woman who saved her; of Humphrey who fostered Margot's love of the stars and which she passes on to Lenni. One of the most beautiful moments in this book for me was when Margot takes Lenni outside the hospital to look at the stars:
'I find it so peaceful,' Margot told me after a while.
'Me too.'
'Do you know,' she said slowly, 'that the stars that we see the clearest are already dead?'
'Well, that's depressing.' I took my hand from hers.
'No,' she said gently, linking her arm through mine, 'it's not depressing, it's beautiful. They've been gone for who knows how long, but we can still see them. They live on.'
They live on.
I am not going to say anything else about this wonderful book other than it you haven't yet read it, then please do. It is funny, and sad, and tragically beautiful. A book that is going on my 'forever' shelf. A book that contains lessons for us all, ones that most of us never knew we needed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#TheOneHundredYearsofLenniandMargot
I: @itsmariannecronin @randomhouseuk
T: @itsmcronin @RandomHouseUK
#fivestarread #contemporaryfiction #deathanddying #sliceoflife
THE AUTHOR: Marianne was born in 1990 in Warwickshire, England. 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 rescue cat, Puffin, sleeping under her desk.
Her debut novel 'The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot' took seven years to write. It is to be published in over twenty languages and is being adapted into a feature film by a major Hollywood studio.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
I shuffled in, feeling the eyes of the room on me and my pink pyjamas. I should have gone for my Sunday best slippers.
'Lenni, hi!'
'Hi, Pippa.'
'What brings you here?'
I struggled to think how to phrase exactly what had brought me here. A long dead man and his unequally loved sons. A fish. A priest. An itching to do anything other than mind white water rafting. . . None of those made enough sense to verbalize in front of a geriatric audience.
'Fancy doing some painting?' she asked.
I nodded.
'Pull up a seat and I'll bring you some paper. The theme this week is stars.'
I turned to find somewhere to sit and there she was. Sitting all alone on the table at the back. Her hair catching the sunlight and shining like a ten pence piece, her cardigan a deep shade of purple and her eyes set on the paper in front of her, on which she was sketching with a nubbin of charcoal. The mauve miscreant, the periwinkle perpetrator. The old lady who stole something from the bin.
'It's you!' I said.
She looked up from her drawing and stared at me for the briefest of moments, letting me come into focus. Then, with recognition and delight, said, 'It's you!'
ABOUT 'THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT': Life is short. No-one knows that better than seventeen year old Lenni living on the terminal ward. But as she is about to learn, it's not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.
Dodging doctor's orders, she joins an art class where she bumps into fellow patient Margot, a rebel-hearted eighty three year old from the next ward. Their bond is instant as they realize that together they have lived an astonishing one hundred years.
To celebrate their shared century, they decide to paint their life stories: of growing old and staying young, of giving joy, of receiving kindness, of losing love, of finding the person who is everything.
As their extraordinary friendship deepens, it becomes vividly clear that life is not done with Lenni and Margot yet.
MY THOUGHTS: "Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” - Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer to his Pupil.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot melted my heart. For a book about death and dying, it is full of love, life and joy. I cried buckets. I laughed - snorting coffee laughter.
The paintings of Lenni and Margot are accompanied by stories that provide snapshots of their lives. From Lenni we learn of her first and only kiss, her alcoholic mother, and the father she sends away. We learn of Margot's marriage, and her husband's abandonment of her following the death of their infant son; of Meena, the woman who saved her; of Humphrey who fostered Margot's love of the stars and which she passes on to Lenni. One of the most beautiful moments in this book for me was when Margot takes Lenni outside the hospital to look at the stars:
'I find it so peaceful,' Margot told me after a while.
'Me too.'
'Do you know,' she said slowly, 'that the stars that we see the clearest are already dead?'
'Well, that's depressing.' I took my hand from hers.
'No,' she said gently, linking her arm through mine, 'it's not depressing, it's beautiful. They've been gone for who knows how long, but we can still see them. They live on.'
They live on.
I am not going to say anything else about this wonderful book other than it you haven't yet read it, then please do. It is funny, and sad, and tragically beautiful. A book that is going on my 'forever' shelf. A book that contains lessons for us all, ones that most of us never knew we needed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#TheOneHundredYearsofLenniandMargot
I: @itsmariannecronin @randomhouseuk
T: @itsmcronin @RandomHouseUK
#fivestarread #contemporaryfiction #deathanddying #sliceoflife
THE AUTHOR: Marianne was born in 1990 in Warwickshire, England. 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 rescue cat, Puffin, sleeping under her desk.
Her debut novel 'The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot' took seven years to write. It is to be published in over twenty languages and is being adapted into a feature film by a major Hollywood studio.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
August 26, 2021
A Pergunta
Lenni tem 17 anos, adora rosa, está prestes a morrer e … deseja ardentemente compreender! Não a sua exagerada predileção pelo rosa, que suspeita ser inata, mas… porque raio é que, alguém tão jovem, que ainda nem completou um quarto da previsão de vida para um ser humano, já sente a morte a acenar-lhe?!
Alguém lhe deve uma explicação. Esperançada que esse alguém seja Deus, vai ter com o Padre Arthur que lhe responde com mais perguntas:
— Já alguma vez reflectiste sobre a vida? Porque será que existes? Qual o objetivo da vida?
— Não faço ideia, padre! Não sei!
— Pois quando deslindares uma razão para a Vida também encontrarás uma resposta para a Morte…
Lenni, já te aconteceu perder algo importante como as chaves de casa, os óculos ou o telemóvel e… procurares, procurares, procurares… até que… já frustrada e esgotada… finalmente desistes?!
Confesso que já passei por tal experiência inúmeras vezes e… regra geral… algum tempo depois, já ocupada com outra atividade, eis que o objeto perdido surge mesmo ali, bem à frente dos meus olhos…
Porém, não há regra sem exceção, e… por vezes… nunca chego a encontrar o que perdi. Contudo, quando tal acontece, chego, invariavelmente, à conclusão que o dito objeto era perfeitamente dispensável!…
Pergunto-me se a mesma lógica não se aplicará às perguntas por responder — se forem realmente importantes, a resposta há-de chegar algum dia, senão… serão impiedosamente arremessadas para a pilha WFA reticências (Waiting For an Answer, dot, dot, dot)!…
Não sendo eu uma personagem deste livro, Lenni não acompanhou a minha analogia. Porém, agiu exatamente como se tivesse escutado as minhas palavras: deixou para trás as perguntas importunas e… desatou a pintar, recuperando um talento que se manifestara quando tinha apenas 5 anos. Na companhia da sua amiga Margot e mais alguns celebrou a Vida que lhe restava explorando o seu Talento… até legar a sua Marca ao Universo. E foi assim que Lenni deu com a resposta à pergunta que tanto a inquietara …
Chegámos ao Planeta Azul com uma Impressão Digital que nos identifica única e inequivocamente. Pergunto-me se haverá algo mais a fazer depois de a legarmos ao Universo?!
Os Cem Anos de Lenni e Margot é uma homenagem à Vida — tem humor, poesia e muito calor humano!
Pela parte que me toca são 5 calorosas estrelas 💖🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💖
Lenni tem 17 anos, adora rosa, está prestes a morrer e … deseja ardentemente compreender! Não a sua exagerada predileção pelo rosa, que suspeita ser inata, mas… porque raio é que, alguém tão jovem, que ainda nem completou um quarto da previsão de vida para um ser humano, já sente a morte a acenar-lhe?!
Alguém lhe deve uma explicação. Esperançada que esse alguém seja Deus, vai ter com o Padre Arthur que lhe responde com mais perguntas:
— Já alguma vez reflectiste sobre a vida? Porque será que existes? Qual o objetivo da vida?
— Não faço ideia, padre! Não sei!
— Pois quando deslindares uma razão para a Vida também encontrarás uma resposta para a Morte…
Lenni, já te aconteceu perder algo importante como as chaves de casa, os óculos ou o telemóvel e… procurares, procurares, procurares… até que… já frustrada e esgotada… finalmente desistes?!
Confesso que já passei por tal experiência inúmeras vezes e… regra geral… algum tempo depois, já ocupada com outra atividade, eis que o objeto perdido surge mesmo ali, bem à frente dos meus olhos…
Porém, não há regra sem exceção, e… por vezes… nunca chego a encontrar o que perdi. Contudo, quando tal acontece, chego, invariavelmente, à conclusão que o dito objeto era perfeitamente dispensável!…
Pergunto-me se a mesma lógica não se aplicará às perguntas por responder — se forem realmente importantes, a resposta há-de chegar algum dia, senão… serão impiedosamente arremessadas para a pilha WFA reticências (Waiting For an Answer, dot, dot, dot)!…
Não sendo eu uma personagem deste livro, Lenni não acompanhou a minha analogia. Porém, agiu exatamente como se tivesse escutado as minhas palavras: deixou para trás as perguntas importunas e… desatou a pintar, recuperando um talento que se manifestara quando tinha apenas 5 anos. Na companhia da sua amiga Margot e mais alguns celebrou a Vida que lhe restava explorando o seu Talento… até legar a sua Marca ao Universo. E foi assim que Lenni deu com a resposta à pergunta que tanto a inquietara …
Chegámos ao Planeta Azul com uma Impressão Digital que nos identifica única e inequivocamente. Pergunto-me se haverá algo mais a fazer depois de a legarmos ao Universo?!
Os Cem Anos de Lenni e Margot é uma homenagem à Vida — tem humor, poesia e muito calor humano!
Pela parte que me toca são 5 calorosas estrelas 💖🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💖
July 23, 2021
Oh the TEARS!!!! 😭 tears of sadness, happiness and delight in having read this book!
Margot and Lenni are both dying. They spend their days in the hospital together painting and sharing the stories of the 100 years their combined lives have lived. Lenny is 17, Margot is 83. One life barely lived, the other having lived a life untrue to herself. This beautifully written, heartwarming book touched me in ways I cannot describe. I’m not usually one to go for a book full of sadness, but in reality this book is full of the happy/sadness that we all need in our lives. 💓
Margot and Lenni are both dying. They spend their days in the hospital together painting and sharing the stories of the 100 years their combined lives have lived. Lenny is 17, Margot is 83. One life barely lived, the other having lived a life untrue to herself. This beautifully written, heartwarming book touched me in ways I cannot describe. I’m not usually one to go for a book full of sadness, but in reality this book is full of the happy/sadness that we all need in our lives. 💓
January 17, 2025
Did you ever read a book that you didn’t want to finish, because you knew what the ending would be?
And... Even though you knew what the ending would be, you still didn’t want to get there, because the book was so good, you just kept wanting to read it?
This was that book.
Meaningful and wonderfully written books are rare. Especially ones that deal with the terminally ill.
Now... That would seem like a “down topic” to read, but, it actually was uplifting and poetic, and heartfelt and extraordinary.
And... I cried, too. I cried happy and sad.
And...The ending didn’t quite turn out the way I expected, so, I was pleasantly surprised, as well.
In this moving debut novel, you will find characters with wisdom and heart who care about each other, and trust each other. The friendships here are beautiful, the kind we all hope for in our lifetime.
Amid the beauty of these friendships at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, you’ll find what exists at any hospital anywhere. There’s sickness and despair, grief and loss and death.
And... Even though this is clearly a sad subject, I also smiled a lot and was moved by the pure heart of these characters. I think you might, too.
And apparently it is being adapted into a feature film. But for now, just read it. It's worth it.
And... Even though you knew what the ending would be, you still didn’t want to get there, because the book was so good, you just kept wanting to read it?
This was that book.
Meaningful and wonderfully written books are rare. Especially ones that deal with the terminally ill.
Now... That would seem like a “down topic” to read, but, it actually was uplifting and poetic, and heartfelt and extraordinary.
And... I cried, too. I cried happy and sad.
And...The ending didn’t quite turn out the way I expected, so, I was pleasantly surprised, as well.
In this moving debut novel, you will find characters with wisdom and heart who care about each other, and trust each other. The friendships here are beautiful, the kind we all hope for in our lifetime.
Amid the beauty of these friendships at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, you’ll find what exists at any hospital anywhere. There’s sickness and despair, grief and loss and death.
And... Even though this is clearly a sad subject, I also smiled a lot and was moved by the pure heart of these characters. I think you might, too.
And apparently it is being adapted into a feature film. But for now, just read it. It's worth it.
August 30, 2022
The Question
Lenni is 17 years old, has a gift for painting, is dying from a terminal disease and… wants to know why?
Yes… why the heck is she dying without even completing a quarter of the average existence of a human being?!
Can anyone tell her?!
Better go straight to God. If He won’t answer, no one else will!!
However, to talk to God, the best thing to do is finding a priest because priests are supposed to be fluent in God’s Language, right?!
Ergo… Lenni went to Father Arthur to pose him the Question!
However, instead of answering, the priest came up with a hint:
If she wanted to know the reason for dying she first had to know the reason for living!
And… when it takes to find the reason for living, what else is there to do except… well… living?!
And that’s what Lenni did:
Instead of troubling herself and others with a question she couldn’t answer, she embraced her gift for painting and… celebrated the rest of her life exploring that talent…
And now, my dear Lenni, I believe you have all the tools to answer your own question!!!
Moral of the story:
Once we engrave our Digital Print in the Planet, what else is there to do?!…
Lenni is 17 years old, has a gift for painting, is dying from a terminal disease and… wants to know why?
Yes… why the heck is she dying without even completing a quarter of the average existence of a human being?!
Can anyone tell her?!
Better go straight to God. If He won’t answer, no one else will!!
However, to talk to God, the best thing to do is finding a priest because priests are supposed to be fluent in God’s Language, right?!
Ergo… Lenni went to Father Arthur to pose him the Question!
However, instead of answering, the priest came up with a hint:
If she wanted to know the reason for dying she first had to know the reason for living!
And… when it takes to find the reason for living, what else is there to do except… well… living?!
And that’s what Lenni did:
Instead of troubling herself and others with a question she couldn’t answer, she embraced her gift for painting and… celebrated the rest of her life exploring that talent…
And now, my dear Lenni, I believe you have all the tools to answer your own question!!!
Moral of the story:
Once we engrave our Digital Print in the Planet, what else is there to do?!…
October 30, 2021
4.5 rounded to 4 stars
I’m always looking for a good book where the two main characters are a youngster and an elderly person. That along with the intriguing title and fabulous cover attracted me to this one. It turned out to be a great pick!
Lenni is 17 years old and is hospitalized for a fatal condition. Margot is 83 and is in the same hospital for serious cardiac issues. They briefly meet at a dumpster inside the hospital, then later in the Rose Room where patients convene for art projects. Seventeen plus 83 equals 100 years of life between Lenni and Margot. Together they set a goal of creating 100 paintings covering these 100 years.
The chapters alternate between the two women. Most cover a slice or slices of one of their lives from the past, each of which is inspiration for a painting. Other chapters take place in present time. For reasons you will find out, neither Lenni nor Margot has a close family member nearby. They just have each other. Then there are New Nurse, Father Arthur, Pippa the art facilitator, and Paul the Porter. All these people eventually become a part of the makeshift family as well.
The writing is simple, yet the story has significant depth and a huge dose of heart. Themes include deep friendships, replacement families, loss and recovery, gratitude, acceptance, and love. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Lenni and the hospital pastor, Father Arthur, who form a tight bond despite their contrasting views of religion. These two in a way save each other. I also developed a deep respect for Margot and how she survived so many setbacks in her life.
This is a nonromantic love story. It is heartfelt and a joy to read. Yes, it did make me cry, as a matter of fact from 87% on. If you are seeking a substantive yet fast read loaded with feelings, this one is for you.
P.S. If this book didn’t follow what was almost certainly my book of the year for 2021, it would have likely been rounded up to 5 stars. I will give it the test of time though. If I am still thinking about it in a year, I may come back and change the rating.
I’m always looking for a good book where the two main characters are a youngster and an elderly person. That along with the intriguing title and fabulous cover attracted me to this one. It turned out to be a great pick!
Lenni is 17 years old and is hospitalized for a fatal condition. Margot is 83 and is in the same hospital for serious cardiac issues. They briefly meet at a dumpster inside the hospital, then later in the Rose Room where patients convene for art projects. Seventeen plus 83 equals 100 years of life between Lenni and Margot. Together they set a goal of creating 100 paintings covering these 100 years.
The chapters alternate between the two women. Most cover a slice or slices of one of their lives from the past, each of which is inspiration for a painting. Other chapters take place in present time. For reasons you will find out, neither Lenni nor Margot has a close family member nearby. They just have each other. Then there are New Nurse, Father Arthur, Pippa the art facilitator, and Paul the Porter. All these people eventually become a part of the makeshift family as well.
The writing is simple, yet the story has significant depth and a huge dose of heart. Themes include deep friendships, replacement families, loss and recovery, gratitude, acceptance, and love. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Lenni and the hospital pastor, Father Arthur, who form a tight bond despite their contrasting views of religion. These two in a way save each other. I also developed a deep respect for Margot and how she survived so many setbacks in her life.
This is a nonromantic love story. It is heartfelt and a joy to read. Yes, it did make me cry, as a matter of fact from 87% on. If you are seeking a substantive yet fast read loaded with feelings, this one is for you.
P.S. If this book didn’t follow what was almost certainly my book of the year for 2021, it would have likely been rounded up to 5 stars. I will give it the test of time though. If I am still thinking about it in a year, I may come back and change the rating.
January 19, 2021
‘Between us,’ I said quietly, ‘we're a hundred years old.’
Lenni is seventeen years old and terminally ill.
Margot is eighty-three and awaiting heart surgery.
Both are patients at Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital.
An amusing chance encounter between Lenni and Margot, followed by an actual meeting in the new art therapy class sees an unlikely blossoming friendship form. Together they decide to paint one hundred paintings, each representing a story from their combined lives – 83 pictures for Margot, 17 for Lenni, 100 in total.
This was a beautifully-written inspiring story of hope, destiny, wisdom and spiritual awareness, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot focused on living life to the fullest, no matter how much time you have left. It was about making peace with your own mortality, finding a place where you belong, and that family is not always blood-related. Sharing and preserving their best and worst memories helped Lenni and Margot define what moments of their lives they truly cherished, and reconcile with those that were painful.
Our narrator Lenni (who also recorded every story in her diary because she felt she lacked artistic talent) had every right to be angry or bitter, yet she approached every situation with optimism, a sense of humour, altruism, curiosity, and most importantly, an openness to love. Margot was a true free spirit, who had faced her fair share of grief and loss with strength and grace. Both were there for one another at a time when they needed one another most.
The hospital contained its fair share of quirky, memorable characters, and it wasn't just the bond between the two main protagonists that stood out for me. There were other relationships that were just as warm, and genuine – stories centered within the walls of the wards equally as deep and moving as the memories Lenni and Margot shared. Be advised there were some weepy moments, and I struggled to read the last few pages because my vision kept blurring.
I was deeply affected by The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, and you will be too.
I'd like to thank Netgalley, Doubleday, and Marianne Cronin for the e-ARC.
Publication Date: 18th February, 2021.
Lenni is seventeen years old and terminally ill.
Margot is eighty-three and awaiting heart surgery.
Both are patients at Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital.
An amusing chance encounter between Lenni and Margot, followed by an actual meeting in the new art therapy class sees an unlikely blossoming friendship form. Together they decide to paint one hundred paintings, each representing a story from their combined lives – 83 pictures for Margot, 17 for Lenni, 100 in total.
This was a beautifully-written inspiring story of hope, destiny, wisdom and spiritual awareness, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot focused on living life to the fullest, no matter how much time you have left. It was about making peace with your own mortality, finding a place where you belong, and that family is not always blood-related. Sharing and preserving their best and worst memories helped Lenni and Margot define what moments of their lives they truly cherished, and reconcile with those that were painful.
Our narrator Lenni (who also recorded every story in her diary because she felt she lacked artistic talent) had every right to be angry or bitter, yet she approached every situation with optimism, a sense of humour, altruism, curiosity, and most importantly, an openness to love. Margot was a true free spirit, who had faced her fair share of grief and loss with strength and grace. Both were there for one another at a time when they needed one another most.
The hospital contained its fair share of quirky, memorable characters, and it wasn't just the bond between the two main protagonists that stood out for me. There were other relationships that were just as warm, and genuine – stories centered within the walls of the wards equally as deep and moving as the memories Lenni and Margot shared. Be advised there were some weepy moments, and I struggled to read the last few pages because my vision kept blurring.
I was deeply affected by The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, and you will be too.
I'd like to thank Netgalley, Doubleday, and Marianne Cronin for the e-ARC.
Publication Date: 18th February, 2021.
February 1, 2024
Ashley's Review:
Lenni is a 17-year-old girl with terminal cancer. She is living the best life that she can in a hospital.
Margot is 83 years old, and she lives in the same hospital as Lenni. She is there due to a heart problem in which she needs surgery.
Lenni and Margot’s first interaction is when Lenni is distracting a nurse so that Margot can retrieve something from the recycling bin. And then they become friends due to an art therapy class.
Between the two of them Lenni and Margot have lived 100 years. They decide that together they will record their lives making a picture for each year. As Margot and Lenni paint their pictures, they tell stories about their lives. The stories are both beautiful and sad and each painting story had me wanting to hear more.
You also learn of the other relationships that Lenni makes at the hospital: the New Nurse, Father Arthur, Pippa and even the dreaded Nurse Jacky. These people became her “family” in her final days. Some of the things Lenni said had me laughing out loud and then she would ask such thought provoking and challenging questions.
Although this is indeed a sad story, there were a lot of smiles. It makes me think of my own life and the friends that I have had. What kind of person I am and can be and how I can make a difference in the lives of the people that I meet.
I listened to the audio book. It was so beautifully done.
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
Shelly's Review:
This was a good one! Even though the two main characters are in the end stages of their lives, Lenni at 17 and Margot at 83, it’s still a sweet and touching novel. They meet in the hospital while attending an art class and become fast friends regardless of the age difference.
They embark on a “one hundred” year project by combining their ages and sharing the stories of each year of their lives. There’s just enough humor to lighten the storyline. I loved Lenni’s character, her straightforwardness, her resilience, and the impact she made on the people around her at such a young age.
Loved the conversations she had with Father Arthur. Let’s just say she kind of takes him to task a couple of times and isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions!
I wouldn’t say it’s a page-turner exactly, but if you’re looking to read something with some heart and soul this has it! A great debut novel for the author!
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
Lenni is a 17-year-old girl with terminal cancer. She is living the best life that she can in a hospital.
Margot is 83 years old, and she lives in the same hospital as Lenni. She is there due to a heart problem in which she needs surgery.
Lenni and Margot’s first interaction is when Lenni is distracting a nurse so that Margot can retrieve something from the recycling bin. And then they become friends due to an art therapy class.
Between the two of them Lenni and Margot have lived 100 years. They decide that together they will record their lives making a picture for each year. As Margot and Lenni paint their pictures, they tell stories about their lives. The stories are both beautiful and sad and each painting story had me wanting to hear more.
You also learn of the other relationships that Lenni makes at the hospital: the New Nurse, Father Arthur, Pippa and even the dreaded Nurse Jacky. These people became her “family” in her final days. Some of the things Lenni said had me laughing out loud and then she would ask such thought provoking and challenging questions.
Although this is indeed a sad story, there were a lot of smiles. It makes me think of my own life and the friends that I have had. What kind of person I am and can be and how I can make a difference in the lives of the people that I meet.
I listened to the audio book. It was so beautifully done.
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Shelly's Review:
This was a good one! Even though the two main characters are in the end stages of their lives, Lenni at 17 and Margot at 83, it’s still a sweet and touching novel. They meet in the hospital while attending an art class and become fast friends regardless of the age difference.
They embark on a “one hundred” year project by combining their ages and sharing the stories of each year of their lives. There’s just enough humor to lighten the storyline. I loved Lenni’s character, her straightforwardness, her resilience, and the impact she made on the people around her at such a young age.
Loved the conversations she had with Father Arthur. Let’s just say she kind of takes him to task a couple of times and isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions!
I wouldn’t say it’s a page-turner exactly, but if you’re looking to read something with some heart and soul this has it! A great debut novel for the author!
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July 7, 2021
4.5 Stars
Lenni is seventeen, terminally ill, motherless, and although her father visits her, albeit infrequently, his visits just make it harder on her. He’s miserable when he visits, watching her and knowing there is nothing he can do to prevent her from dying, and she isn’t up to the burden of cheering him up, so she tells him not to visit again.
There is nothing new or exciting about her days, so she decides to go to the hospital chapel, not because she is religious, but because she can.
’I went to meet God because it’s one of the only things I can do here. People say that when you die, it’s because God is calling you back to him, so I thought I’d get the introduction over and done with ahead of time….I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to see a room I’d not yet been in and meet the Almighty in one go.
This is how one of the first people she meets, other than the same nurses in and out of her room throughout the day, is a priest. Father Arthur. It isn’t that she considers herself religious, or doesn’t, it’s complicated. She views God as ’a cosmic wishing well who sometimes grants her wishes, and sometimes doesn’t. She attempts to try Father Arthur’s patience, answering his questions with a somewhat sarcastic, mocking response. Eventually, she lets down her walls, leaving the sarcasm behind when he asks her to tell him what her real question is, so that they can figure out how God can help them find the answer.
It is when she meets Margot in the Rose Room, the designated name for the room for art therapy, where she begins to find someone else she can bond with, a bond formed over their combined ages. When Lenni signs her name and age, 17 years old, on a combined art project with Margot, she sees their combined ages, a magical number to her.
’Numbers don’t mean a lot to me. I don’t care about long division or percentages. I don’t know my height or my weight and I can’t remember my dad’s phone number, though I know I used to know it. I prefer words. Delicious, glorious words.
But there were two numbers in front of me that mattered, and would matter for the rest of my numbered days.
“Between us,” I say quietly, “we’re a hundred years old.”’
There is more to this story, but essentially, this is a lovely debut that is about living life fully, despite knowing that this life is finite. Filled with the joys of life, of love, it is an ode to living life fully, as joyfully as possible, celebrating life on your own terms.
Many thanks to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep it running, for the loan of this book!
June 5, 2022
Well… what a disappointment this one was for me.
I was expecting to love it, but unfortunately I was bored to tears.
There was nothing remarkable about it and I didn’t think that the characters were well developed.
The religious references were a bit too much , in my opinion.
If at least the writing could have impress me.
If at least I could have felt some connection.
Anyways… my friends loved it, but it wasn’t for me.
Ebook (Kobo): 336 pages, 91k words (It must include the author’s notes, acknowledgment and book club questions).
Hardcover: 326 pages
I was expecting to love it, but unfortunately I was bored to tears.
There was nothing remarkable about it and I didn’t think that the characters were well developed.
The religious references were a bit too much , in my opinion.
If at least the writing could have impress me.
If at least I could have felt some connection.
Anyways… my friends loved it, but it wasn’t for me.
Ebook (Kobo): 336 pages, 91k words (It must include the author’s notes, acknowledgment and book club questions).
Hardcover: 326 pages
June 28, 2021
3.5 Stars
Lenni is seventeen and is living with terminal cancer. Margot is eighty-three and is living with a life-threatening heart condition. They meet at the Glascow Princess Royal Hospital where they are long-term residents and join the same art class. The present timeline is told from Lenni's perspective and we experience life on a terminal ward of the hospital. Lenni's "voice" is compelling as we move with her throughout the day to visit her friend Arthur in the chapel, listen to her interactions with New Nurse and other staff, and observe her creating an art project with Margot. Through flashbacks we hear stories from Lenni and Margot about their pasts.
What I loved:
* multigenerational story
* friendship and found family themes
* creating art to represent moments in your life
* combining ages to equal 100
* a 100th birthday celebration that neither would attain individually
* Lenni's voice
* Lenni and Arthur; Arthur is lovely
* the art center
* the importance of telling our story
I Wish:
* we had MORE of Lenni's and Margot's relationship/friendship....the title and synopsis leads me to expect more in this area (hearing stories recounted is not the same as interactions)
* we had more Margot and Humphreys......Humphreys is interesting and didn't distract us from the main story. Margot experiences happier years with Humphreys.
* we had less Margot and Meena.....Meena is not too likable and she becomes a distraction.....I skimmed most of those sections. She isn't mentioned in the official synopsis, yet she occupies a substantial portion of the story. After some time, I felt like the title might have been Margot and Meena. Margot struggles to find herself in the years spent with Meena and they are not her happiest years.
* more time had been spent deepening the friendship between Margot and Lenni (a lot of it happens off stage)...the story telling doesn't result in heartfelt conversations with each other. Lenni has more significant conversations with Arthur and New Nurse than Margot....which wasn't my expectation. I feel like Arthur truely becomes her friend, and Margo and Lenni just tell stories to each other and create art with little time for heartfelt conversation. I sometimes feel like the f/f romance is competing with the Margot and Lenni's friendship as the main focus of the story. At stories end, I can see that Lenni and Margot have developed a deep friendship but I didn't observe it happening over time.
* that Lenni had better parents and that Margot hadn't abandoned Humphreys (personal preference)
Themes: terminal illness, questions for God, found family, friendship, intergenerational friendship, being there for someone, searching for love and belonging, leaving a legacy, telling our story, and abandonment
Trigger Warnings: terminal illness, death of a baby, long-term hospitalization, grief, death, Alzheimers, abandonment, sadness
Overall, the story is well-written and I loved the unique premise. Although I liked it and appreciated the themes, others have loved it more. Please see additional reviews.
For more reviews visit my blog www.readingladies.com
Lenni is seventeen and is living with terminal cancer. Margot is eighty-three and is living with a life-threatening heart condition. They meet at the Glascow Princess Royal Hospital where they are long-term residents and join the same art class. The present timeline is told from Lenni's perspective and we experience life on a terminal ward of the hospital. Lenni's "voice" is compelling as we move with her throughout the day to visit her friend Arthur in the chapel, listen to her interactions with New Nurse and other staff, and observe her creating an art project with Margot. Through flashbacks we hear stories from Lenni and Margot about their pasts.
What I loved:
* multigenerational story
* friendship and found family themes
* creating art to represent moments in your life
* combining ages to equal 100
* a 100th birthday celebration that neither would attain individually
* Lenni's voice
* Lenni and Arthur; Arthur is lovely
* the art center
* the importance of telling our story
I Wish:
* we had MORE of Lenni's and Margot's relationship/friendship....the title and synopsis leads me to expect more in this area (hearing stories recounted is not the same as interactions)
* we had more Margot and Humphreys......Humphreys is interesting and didn't distract us from the main story. Margot experiences happier years with Humphreys.
* we had less Margot and Meena.....Meena is not too likable and she becomes a distraction.....I skimmed most of those sections. She isn't mentioned in the official synopsis, yet she occupies a substantial portion of the story. After some time, I felt like the title might have been Margot and Meena. Margot struggles to find herself in the years spent with Meena and they are not her happiest years.
* more time had been spent deepening the friendship between Margot and Lenni (a lot of it happens off stage)...the story telling doesn't result in heartfelt conversations with each other. Lenni has more significant conversations with Arthur and New Nurse than Margot....which wasn't my expectation. I feel like Arthur truely becomes her friend, and Margo and Lenni just tell stories to each other and create art with little time for heartfelt conversation. I sometimes feel like the f/f romance is competing with the Margot and Lenni's friendship as the main focus of the story. At stories end, I can see that Lenni and Margot have developed a deep friendship but I didn't observe it happening over time.
* that Lenni had better parents and that Margot hadn't abandoned Humphreys (personal preference)
Themes: terminal illness, questions for God, found family, friendship, intergenerational friendship, being there for someone, searching for love and belonging, leaving a legacy, telling our story, and abandonment
Trigger Warnings: terminal illness, death of a baby, long-term hospitalization, grief, death, Alzheimers, abandonment, sadness
Overall, the story is well-written and I loved the unique premise. Although I liked it and appreciated the themes, others have loved it more. Please see additional reviews.
For more reviews visit my blog www.readingladies.com
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2021
I was disappointed with this book. It got such great reviews, so I was anticipating loving this. It totally lacks character development. There is none for the title characters and their relationship. They simply meet and BOOM they are the best of friends. The most developed relationship is with Lenni and Father Arthur and that was my favorite part of the book.
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