Dorie - Cats&Books :) 's Reviews > The Switch

***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY***

This is a contemporary fiction novel about a grandmother and granddaughter who switch their lives and their homes for 2 months. This was an audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrators. They captured what I felt was the tone and feeling of the book.

Leena lives in London and has been working so intensely that she finally has a panic attack during a major presentation. She is “ordered” to take a 2 month paid vacation. Problem is, Leena doesn’t know where to go. She finally decides to visit her grandmother, Eileen whom she is very close to.

She visits Yorkshire where her mother also lives. She and her mom have been somewhat estranged ever since her sister passed away. She and her grandmother talk at length about what they want in life and decide it might be a good idea for them to switch lives for 2 months. Leena will stay in the village and do all of the things on Eileen’s “project” list, which ends up being more than she bargained for. Eileen will go to London and live in Leena’s flat with her flat mates.

Soon Eileen is helped to set up a profile on a dating website and makes friends in the apartment building. There are definitely some believability issues here with the many things that she is able to accomplish while she is there. She starts a club that will meet in a common space and hopes to bring seniors together. She also manages to meet two men on the dating site, one of which she has a “fling” with, for want of another word.

Leena meanwhile really gets to know the neighbors in Yorkshire. It’s a small town and everyone knows everyone’s business. She finds herself in charge of the local May Day event which is more work than she imagined. She also finds that her long time boyfriend, Ethan, isn’t very good at long distance romance while there is someone in this small town that she finds more than a little interesting.

Although I found the book a bit saccharine at times, there were some serious issues addressed including grieving over the loss of a loved one, really understanding and communicating with people and learning to love yourself and find your inner strengths.

I can highly recommend this as a great audiobook listen. It was quick and interesting and the narration was great.

I received an audiobook of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley Audiobooks.

This novel is set to publish in all formats on August 18, 2020