Mornings with Rosemary
Ratings6
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings6
Average rating4.2
"A tender, joyous debut novel about a cub reporter and her eighty-six-year-old subject--and the unlikely and life-changing friendship that develops between them. Kate is a twenty-six-year-old riddled with anxiety and panic attacks who works for a local paper in Brixton, London, covering forgettably small stories. When she's assigned to write about the closing of the local lido (an outdoor pool and recreation center), she meets Rosemary, an eighty-six-year-old widow who has swum at the lido daily since it opened its doors when she was a child. It was here Rosemary fell in love with her husband, George; here that she's found communion during her marriage and since George's death. The lido has been a cornerstone in nearly every part of Rosemary's life. But when a local developer attempts to buy the lido for a posh new apartment complex, Rosemary's fond memories and sense of community are under threat. As Kate dives deeper into the lido's history--with the help of a charming photographer--she pieces together a portrait of the pool, and a portrait of a singular woman, Rosemary. What begins as a simple local interest story for Kate soon blossoms into a beautiful friendship that provides sustenance to both women as they galvanize the community to fight the lido's closure. Meanwhile, Rosemary slowly, finally, begins to open up to Kate, transforming them both in ways they never knew possible. In the tradition of Frederick Backman, The Lido is a charming, feel-good novel that captures the heart and spirit of a community across generations--an irresistible tale of love, loss, aging, and friendship"--
Reviews with the most likes.
More lighthearted than I expected from reviews–for some reason, I thought it was going to be more serious. Anyway, it features an eighty-six-year-old swimming librarian, which is fun.
Everything is changing in Brixton for eighty-year-old Rosemary. The library where she worked her entire life has closed. Her beloved husband has died. And now there is talk of closing the lido, the public swimming pool where Rosemary has spent so much time.
Twenty-something Kate has just moved to Brixton. She is anxious and alone, and her hopes of writing powerful stories is dwindling.
Then Kate is asked to write the story of the lido closing, and Kate and Rosemary become fast friends. Can they work together to stop the pool from shutting its doors?
This is a wonderful story of the power of friendship and community in our lives.
Pretty much from the get-go, I knew this book was going to be a tearjerker and yet I persisted reading it. An octogenarian and an awkward young reporter befriend each other in an effort to prevent the closing of the local swimming pool (the Lido). You knew there would be sad tales, lost loves and the strong likelihood that the octogenarian would not be alive at the end of the book and yet, I persisted, tissue in hand.
It is a lovely story full of bright, sweet moments and new friends and relationships. But have those hankies at the ready.
