Saturday 20 March 2021

The One Hundred Years Of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin | Book Review

[AD/Gifted - I received a copy of this book as well as an Artful box in order to take part in this readalong. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

The One Hundred Years Of Lenni and Margot - 5/5
Blurb:
Life is short. No-one knows that better than seventeen-year-old Lenni living on the terminal ward. But as she is about to learn, it's not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.

Dodging doctor's orders, she joins an art class where she bumps into fellow patient Margot, a rebel-hearted eight-three-year-old from the next ward. Their bond is instant as they realize that together they have lived an astonishing one hundred years.

To celebrate their shared century, they decide to paint their life stories: of growing old and staying young, of giving joy, of receiving kindness, of losing love, of finding the person who is everything.

As their extraordinary friendship deepens, it becomes vividly clear that life is not done with Lenni and Margot yet.

Review:
This is the most beautiful book I've ever read. I cried so much and genuinely felt emotionally exhausted after finishing it. 

Lenni Pettersson is a 17-year-old girl with a terminal illness. Whilst in hospital she meets 83-year-old Margot Macrae at an art class run by the hospital. Whilst there, they realise that their ages combined make 100. They decide that they will paint a picture for each year they have been alive; one hundred pictures.

When drawing these pictures, they tell the stories behind them to each other. This allows them to each be transported to that time in the other person's life. We learn about Lenni's childhood in Sweden before she moved, her family relationships and Margot's stories of the war, her parents and her relationships. Each of these are told wonderfully.

Lenni is the most fantastic character. She is sassy and I love her questioning of Jesus to Father Arthur, trying to make him uneasy. Their developing friendship is a beautiful tale to read.

I feel like everyone needs to read this book. It's a tale of unlikely friendship, kindness and just being there for each other. Even though I cried big whopping tears, I truly think this is one of my favourite books ever.

A massive thank you to Tandem Collective for having me on the readalong. There is a fantastic call to action which you can see in the graphic below.


Also thank you to Tandem for the gift of an Artful box. If you want to buy one yourself, use discount code ARTLENNI for £5 off!




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