Daisy and Kate in Aussie Readers

Aug 18, 2023 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-read, arc, net-galley, aussie-authors, 3500-2023, 2023-release, contemporary-fiction, read-on-kindle

When Daisy Miller moved from her home in Adelaide to stay with her granddaughter, she expected it would only be for a short while. Gareth, her son and Georgia's father, was demolishing Daisy's old home and building apartments, one of which was to be hers. She looked forward to having her own home, much smaller than the old home than had been her parents'. But life has a way of throwing curveballs, and it wasn't long before Daisy knew there were problems.

Georgia was a nurse, just as Daisy had bee ...more

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Sep 05, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-netgalley

I loved this story, it is heartwarming and such a feel good story , I loved meeting Daisy Miller and Kate Hannaford both of these woman are around the age of seventy and both retired nurses, and both have had some tough times throughout their lives, it should be time to relax and enjoy but sadly that does not always happen.

Daisy is married to Charlie although they are estranged and it is a long time since she has seen him and she has three sons, finds herself living with her granddaughter suppos ...more

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May 11, 2024 Catsalive rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024, aww

Set in a small town in rural South Australia, this is an amusing & sensitive portrayal of the re-kindling of an old relationship between two women in their 70s, perhaps a time when female friendships are more important than ever.

Daisy Miller & Kate Hannaford were friends & nurses together many years ago but something went wrong in their relationship, their lives diverged & they lost contact completely. When Daisy is forced out of her home for a time she ends up back in the town where they met, ...more

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Aug 08, 2023 Janine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: net-galley, for-review

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful novel by Meredith. Its a story of friendship, lost and found between two former nurses who drifted apart because of factors that were significant at that time.

It was refreshing to read a story about mature aged characters and the challenges one finds as you reach a certain age and life throws a curve ball at you. I could relate to much of this book and it will definitely appeal to readers of Womens Fiction.

This is the second book of Meredith's that I h ...more

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Sep 27, 2023 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: women-s-fiction, arc, australian

I really, really enjoyed this. More than I expected to because I think I tend to enjoy books with protagonists who are much older than me a bit less, because I haven’t entered that phase of life yet. I can relate to characters in their 40s (as much as it hurts!), their 30s, their 20s even. But characters who are in their 60s and 70s are experiencing a lot of things that I am not at yet and often it does mean I don’t have that connect. But I didn’t experience that with this book, it drew me in im I really, really enjoyed this. More than I expected to because I think I tend to enjoy books with protagonists who are much older than me a bit less, because I haven’t entered that phase of life yet. I can relate to characters in their 40s (as much as it hurts!), their 30s, their 20s even. But characters who are in their 60s and 70s are experiencing a lot of things that I am not at yet and often it does mean I don’t have that connect. But I didn’t experience that with this book, it drew me in immediately and I ended up very fond of the characters, even Kate, who was quite prickly.

Daisy and Kate were friends many years ago but drifted apart both by design and just by the way that life takes you. Now both around 70-ish, they are back in the same place for the first time in many years. Kate has always lived in the area but has recently moved from the farm her husband ran to a house they built in town. He died about a year ago and now Kate is alone. Daisy is bunking in with her granddaughter Georgia whilst she awaits her son to build her a townhouse. She sold her family home to him a few years ago to clear some debt and now he intends to demolish it, build a townhouse for her to live in and one to rent out as an investment. It’s supposed to only take a couple of months.

Kate is reluctant to be drawn back into a friendship with Daisy when they cross paths – Daisy represents a very painful time in Kate’s life now but Daisy is sweet and to be frank, puts up with a lot of Kate’s brusque personality. Slowly they do become friends again – each of them are dealing with a lot. Kate has a huge amount of grief that the life she built with her husband, that they had to build alone, isn’t worth anything without him around to share it with. She has the big beautiful home, the pool, the car, the financial freedom but she has nothing to fill her days. Daisy on the other hand, has very little in the way of financial security: she’s hinging on her oldest child building her a home to live in, she’s barely scraping by on what she gets with her pension, budgeting carefully on when she can fill up her car, etc. She’s sharing a 1br “dump” with her granddaughter and it’s a lot of tiptoeing around each other’s space.

Women of Daisy’s vintage are the fastest growing group of homeless people, especially if they’ve been through a marriage or relationship break up. Daisy is separated from her husband but they are not divorced and have had separate lives for quite a long time now, probably a couple of decades. She worked hard all her life but circumstances led her to sell the family home to her son in order to clear some debts and she was expecting to be taken care of in a way, the same way that she took care of her mother. Daisy has definitely had some things go a bit wrong and now she lives constantly in fear that she won’t be comfortable in her retired years. She’s getting by on a pension because she’s sharing rent of a rundown place but it’s an unstable situation and Daisy knows that at any moment, she could be homeless. She has a dog called Jess that she dotes on and that she’d also never leave but as a single woman on a pension with a dog, rental options would be almost non-existent and very expensive. It’s a stressful situation for her and something that is always at the back of her mind.

I’m reading this at a time where housing security is probably the most fragile it’s ever been. Buying a house is becoming an impossible task and rents have increased incredibly over the last year or two. The price of everything has increased – fuel, food, bills. All the necessities. In this Daisy often thinks about the electricity bill in deciding whether she will put the heater on or not. That is a reality for many people, especially those on pensions or lower incomes.

In contrast, Kate has all the creature comforts and security but lacks in other areas of her life. She doesn’t really have any close friends, just people from book club or the bridge club. She doesn’t have any family and the death of her husband has left her not just bereft but with regrets about things that occurred during their marriage. Kate gets a real shock during this book and has to decide how to handle it. She’s definitely a very standoffish person, to be friends with her takes real patience and the ability to ignore her attempts to rebuff you, but Daisy has experience being friends with Kate and is able to let a lot of the things she says and does slide off. I think Kate has built a wall around herself. It stems from a place of vulnerability but it doesn’t make her words any less barbed at times! The more I got to understand her, the more I felt for her.

I read this in a single sitting and loved it. It’s a celebration of women’s friendship and how important those friendships are, no matter what stage of life you’re in.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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