"Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You" by Annie Lyons

I wasn't sure whether "Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You" (by Annie Lyons) was going to be my cup of tea -- but it quickly won me over, and kept me turning the pages. "Eudora" (titled "The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett" in some markets) is the Gateway Women book club selection for March. I finished it over two days. 

Eudora Honeysett is 85 years old, unmarried, childless, cranky and reclusive, living in the same house in London where she's spent most of her long life, along with her cat, Montgomery. I don't think it's a spoiler to disclose here that, within the first few pages of the book, Eudora makes the decision to exit this life on her own terms at an assisted death clinic in Switzerland.  

But then a new family moves in next door -- including Rose, a lively 10-year-old girl, and Maggie, her heavily pregnant mother. Rose and Eudora also become friends with another elderly neighbour, Stanley, who recently lost his wife. Despite her resolve to face death sooner versus later, Eudora starts finding new reasons to keep on living. Events in the book trigger Eudora's memories of the past and, in flashbacks at the end of each chapter, we learn more about the people and events that shaped who she is today. 

I do share some of the caveats/concerns outlined by Lisa, the book club organizer, in her blog post about this book: 

"There is a significant pronatalist agenda throughout the book with ‘married with kids’ being the gold standard which Eudora never achieved. 

"I like Eudora. She is portrayed as rather bitter, the product of a life where things never quite went right. I read this book with the childless community in mind and while I was able to relate to much of Eudora’s outlook on life, I found it disappointing that the childless character was typecast as bitter, lonely, regretful and harsh. That’s not a denial that there are women like this out there, but it does play up to the old tropes that never to have borne a child or gotten married is to have failed as a woman... I might have disregarded this book due to the idea that having a child in one’s life is the only thing that can give it meaning." 

And, obviously, beyond pronatalism, if assisted suicide is a difficult subject for you, this may not be the book for you. 

However, "Eudora Honeysett" has plenty to recommend it. While not everyone needs a child in their life to find fulfilment, the value of intergenerational relationships shouldn't be discounted either.  Eudora, Stanley and Rose are all memorable characters and I loved the friendship that developed between them. I liked the book's straightforward discussions about what makes life worth living, about aging and mortality and how we should define a "good death." And I loved its messages about the importance of kindness.  

4 stars on Goodreads. Our discussion of this book on Gateway Women is only just beginning, and I'm looking forward to finding out what others thought about it!   

This was Book #14 read to date in 2021 (and Book #2 finished in March), bringing me to 39% of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 8 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books."