Three Things About Elsie: A Novel

As you read this book you begin to realise that you don't actually know what you think you know - and neither do most of the characters! It's a story about old age, and younger age, and the tricks a mind can play. It is also a murder mystery - and a good one at that. The writing is beautiful and Florence and Elsie will become your friends long before the last page is turned.

Joanna Cannon’s novel THE THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE is a deeply touching story about a lifelong friendship composed of many layers. Elderly, fragile Flo has taken a fall in her room at a nursing home. She is telling us about her dear friend Elsie and while doing so, she is consumed with worry that something from their past is going to come to light. Long ago secrets have been buried and she is relying upon her unreliable memory, which it seems only Elsie can help her to unfurl.When a new resident arrives, he causes great distress to Flo. She must convince Elsie and another friend that the man in question is who she says he is, for if she cannot, her fear is that the nursing home director will deem her unfit to stay and ship her off to a facility for those who are not able to care for themselves. At all. What a precarious situation to be in. Along with being terribly frightened.Through this book, we see just how delicate life is, how strong and necessary the bonds of friendship are, and how essential it is to maintain a sense of dignity.

Beautifully written study of old age revealing a traumatic event in a woman's youth. A funny, affectionate sympathetic study of old age filled with many amusing wry observations and a murder mystery into the bargain. I was wary because I thought it could be depressing but far from it.

With Three Thing About Elsie, author Joanna Cannon presents her characters and their stories with caring and kindness, as well as an eye for noticing those who often seem invisible. In this case, that means the elderly, and the book takes a gentle look at the way lives change and worlds sometimes shrink when the years ahead are fewer than those behind.This book focuses on unraveling a new mystery by struggling to remember the past, while at the same time being an exploration of growing old while wrestling with unreliable memories and clinging to love and friendship. Through Florence, the main character who holds close three things about her friend, Elsie, we see how life changes in later years as she grapples with a fading memory and adjusting to life at a home for the elderly.Lives can disappear so quickly sometimes once they end – we all hope to be remembered, to leave some small mark on the world, but aren't sure we will. Florence thinks about this question a lot, wondering: "When I look back, I have led quite an ordinary life. I sometimes wonder what the point of me was."By the end of the book, hopefully you'll see what the point of her was, what the point of everyone is. An ordinary life often leaves more of an extraordinary mark on the world than we realize. Surely it's true that "No matter how long or how short a time you are here, the world is ever so slightly different because you existed."

Wishing that I was a better writer to properly describe this book. The power of the human mind, the role of memories and he time shapes them and the perspective of the aged all drive an amazing story.

JoannaCannon is a psychiatrist and has the ability to understand the inner self of people. She wrote in her acknowledgement that the experiences she had with her patients have changed her life and that their memories are a part of her. Consequently, she has written another fine book. Maybe it is my favorite. She has made the characters endearing and it is filled with tenderness. Dementia is something we know of and having volunteered in a nursing home I have seen some of the beauty in patients, so this book really moved me. With its intriguing story, poetic descriptions and surprise ending, I devoured the book. I hope readers can appreciate her depiction of characters whom she has honored. It is very carefully woven, so remember the details. This was a very moving book. It is not often one gets to read a novel with such a poignant insight into people. I look forward to her third book. I can not think of any negatives.

I thought this was a delightful read. It made me smile, it made me contemplate the aging process and the impact friendships and the past have on our everyday lives. Nice characters!

Timing...just discovering my own mother's dementia and reading this book is good timing. I very much enjoyed the unique ways of expression by the author...not the characters.Also some excellent phrases for understanding real loss of loved ones. I now have additional quotes for my efforts w bereaved families. Very enjoyable story.

The low rating is not the score for quality but for enjoyment. It's perhaps my age and the gently eroding acuity of my mental faculties but the whole theme depressed me utterly.I know there were glimpses of understanding, patience and empathy but basically the protagonist lived what seems to us a lonely life and died a lonely death.Grrrr ... sorry to be so dreary...lingering effects of the book.....am returning to my gory crime dramas, whodunnits and even occasional dramrom to recuperate.

Delicious story. Joanna Cannon is a superb writer, introducing courageously independent Florence, resident of Cherry Tree retirement home who struggles with her memory, terrified of losing any part of it, fearful of being sent away. Elsie is Florence's best friend from childhood, and Jack is a newer friend at the retirement home. The three take matters into their own hands when a new resident arrives, and Florence recognises him from her past. Was he involved in a tragic accident, or something more sinister? The past seems to be catching up with the present. The story unfolds like unravelling a tangled ball of string, and has everything to keep the reader enthralled; humour, love, friendship, tragedy, mystery, suspense, and all the lovely brave and complicated characters. A book to keep and read again.

Oh! Joanna Cannon, Thank you for this novel. It truly is written with a sprinkle of magic.It is a tale of two old ladies and an gentleman in a retirement home/community. They all muddle along well enough, until a new resident arrives and starts to spark some memories with our main protagonist Florence.The characters have such personality, they must be real. They remind me of so many elderly people that I have known. They are just so alive. Florence, Elsie and Jack are a little forgetful at times, particularly Florence, and as a result when strange things start to happen, no one will believe her, and she is put on probation, to see if she needs to be moved to the dreaded "Green Banks", a place where those with dementia go to fade away into oblivion. Florence has no intention of being separated from Elsie and Jack.Gradually we learn more about Florence and Elsie's history, who the new resident may be, and what his past may hold. The gang of three are determined to bring the truth to the fore and solve the mystery, and get everyone believe them.I simply loved this novel, I wanted to give Florence a cuddle so many times, and I was delighted by the rest of the characters too, who were all constructed with equal care and devotion, Jack's son, the handyman, Cheryl with a sssh. I'd love to see it made into a film.The writing is packed to the gunnels with humour, pathos and a degree of sadness. I never saw the twist coming, as it is so beautifully written. This just might be my book of the year! Please read it, your life will be richer for it.

This was chosen as my latest book club read. The cover gives the impression of a much lighter book than it actually is and I thought worked against it. I have an 84 year old mother in a retirement home so the book hit various emotional triggers and felt very relevant to me, resulting in me struggling to find the comedy.It is just over 450 pages and flips the focus between characters.Old age and the ageing process is considered from different angles - we see the variety of effects and a huge range of reactions. The author is able to communicate the complete surprise experienced by the characters that they are actually old themselves - all coping in varying ways.The mystery man is at the heart of the plot but around this the novel is full of messages about ageing with loneliness being brought up many times. Florence is the main focus for the narrative so it's unsurprising that it is she that is used to tackle some of the major issues. I was unsure why Simon was used as a character as he didn't seem to add much to the story.There is a lightness to the approach which makes the book very accessible and easy to read but sometimes feels inappropriate in the way it skims the surface.I found that the writing is beautiful with the book being filled with phrases that I read very slowly in order to appreciate them (eg. "leaves broke free from tired branches and an autumnal cemetery lay at our feet").It's very hard to show a general portrayal of dementia as it varies so much. Often though it is short term memory that goes first whereas with Florence it was memories of her youth that she was struggling with - this tested my boundaries of belief and made me question her credibility as a character.Intrigue builds throughout the book and I was kept reading by wanting to know how Flo would work out what had happened. There are, however,, times where the pace slowed and I felt my attention wandering but the writing style usually brought me back in again.Lots of the elements of the book are great but it felt that they crowded out each other so that the result wasn't as great as it should have been.

It doesn’t matter if you guess the third thing about Elsie before the end, or if you think some of the coincidences aren’t believable. This isn’t an Agatha Christie novel. Personally, I think anyone who finds it depressing has missed the point. It’s not a happy ever after romcom (although there is lots of com). The characters are drawn with such empathy and humour. The themes are so profound. The whole thing is so delightfully well written. Read it now!