Away with the Penguins book review
Hello,
Happy Monday! How are you? I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. I took this weekend to continue celebrating my birthday and I was finally greeted with snow! Something I have been wishing for since winter began.
I have been reading Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior for the past month for my online book club. After starting off strong I quickly became attached to the characters and after only finishing the book yesterday, my mind is still filled with the endless possibilities.
Book Summary
Veronica McCreedy is about to have the journey of a lifetime...
Veronica McCreedy lives in a mansion by the sea. She loves a nice cup of Darjeeling tea whilst watching a good wildlife documentary. And she's never seen without her ruby-red lipstick.
Although thes days Veronica is rarely seen by anyone because, at 85, her days are spent mostly at home, alone.
She can be found either collecting litter from the beach ('people who litter the countryside should be shot'), trying to locate her glasses ('someone must have seen them') or shouting instructions to her assistant, Eileen ('Eileen door').
Veronica doesn't have family or friends nearby. Not that she knows about anyway... And she has no idea where she's going to leave her considerable wealth when she dies.
But today... today Veronica is going to make a decision that will change all of this.
I absolutely adore penguins anyway so I knew that I was going to enjoy the book. Quite often I found myself snuggling down with my very own stuffed penguin bear and reading this book. Although this isn't my usual type of book but I after joining Beth's book club my genre has become varied.
The main character Veronica is full of delightful surprises, I found myself getting attached to her throughout the book, to the point I cried! Veronica has a rough upbringing, from being shipped off to England during the war, having no friends, losing her parents, falling in love with a war prisoner, falling pregnant at 15 and having the baby ripped away from her, I understood why she was so cold and uptight. I feel Veronica is very much like myself, a closed off guarded person afraid of opening up because when we do, our emotions and thoughts are used against us and we find ourselves back to square one.
When Veronica first met her grandson Patrick after tracking him down I too had the same reserved feelings about him, I was worried that the storyline would change and this would become a story about how he took her money and she wouldn't be able to see the penguins. Oh, how I was wrong! Reading Veronica's diary entries along with Patrick and following his emotions after finding out more about his past too, I felt very full of hope.
Veronica is a very headstrong character, if she wants something she will go out and get it and will not take no for an answer, so she did exactly what her heart desired, at 85 she went to Antarctica and found herself completely free and at ease surrounded my penguins. She demanded that they adopt a little orphaned penguin, subconsciously calling him Patrick and doing everything in her power to look after him. She overstayed her welcome to begin with so when she became ill, my heart ached at the thought she was going to die there, surrounded by the one thing she longed to see with her newly made friends, the scientists.
Patrick (the grandson not the penguin) began to grow on me rather quickly, he was just misunderstood and it quickly became apparent that he just needed to be given a second chance. He reminds me of my own friend, someone who isn't exactly where they want to be right now, feeling slightly lost but continues to fight and do whatever feels right to get the best outcome of life. Watching Patrick head to Antarctica to be with his grandma who he has met twice and both times had a bad experience with. It was heart warming to see him open up to her about his past, after she had opened up to Pip (formally known as Patrick the penguin) and Terry one of the scientists that quickly became her friend.
From a story that started based around loneliness and the sense of having no purpose to finishing the book with a heart full of love and change, I cannot recommend it enough. I learnt a lot following each character and I now have one message that I will take away from this.
"There are three types people in this world, there are ones who make the world worse, those who make no difference and those who make the world a better. Be one who makes the world better, if you can."
On that note, I am going to leave my rambling there, I hope you've enjoyed this review. I'd love to know if you have read this book or any other books written by Hazel Prior. I am off to read my next book.
In the meantime,
Stay safe,
Love,
Alanna Jean x