November 2020 – Bookneeders

The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman

Series: N/A

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Published August 18th 2020

Genres: Women’s Fiction Format: ARC | Buy: Audible

* Received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much! This doesn’t affect the review in any way. My opinions are, as always, my own.*

“Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman team up as a fun, quirky grandmother and granddaughter pair in this lively narration…The two narrators, each portraying her respective character’s point of view, are a perfect match.” —AudioFile Magazine

This program is read by British actors Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, star of Hulu’s Normal People.

A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in The Switch, a charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary, who has been hailed as “the new Jojo Moyes” (Cosmopolitan UK)…

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

So they decide to try a two-month swap.

Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll take Leena’s flat, and learn all about casual dating, swiping right, and city neighbors. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire: Eileen’s sweet cottage and garden, her idyllic, quiet village, and her little neighborhood projects.

But stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected. Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find true love? In Beth O’Leary’s The Switch, it’s never too late to change everything….or to find yourself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

“The Switch brilliantly encompasses all the humor and whimsy of The Flatshare while delving into emotional topics like grief and the importance of watching out for neighbors.” — Booklist, starred review

“A cozy, hopeful escape that will make readers laugh, cry, and feel inspired.” — Kirkus, starred review

This was such a sweet, cozy, beautiful book. It tackles such important themes with ease! It just grips you. This is my first book by the author, although I must say, I’ve been meaning to read The Flatshare for a while…

I love this type of heartwarming books that make you think, and that take a look at life in a new light…

In this one, our two main characters, Leena and her grandmother Eileen change not only houses but lives. While Leena moves to the country side where she is supposed to rest and take time for herself, her granny Eileen moves to London to her flat where she takes to online dating.

There’s some amazing characters in this book, my personal favs being Eileen and Leena’s new fav neighbor!

This audiobook was amazingly well done, the voices fit the characters incredibly well and it made it even more enjoyable. With a lot of my time passing at work, audiobooks are my fav thing, since after a long day of work it tends to be difficult to grab and read a book. I listened this through in two ‘sittings’, and had the best of times – it was more than I expected, and I’m in LOVE with Eileen! She is an amazing character and the audiobook really did justice in bringing her to life.

I also tend to love books with a tiny community, in a more rural setting, and this book is no different. I loved rural Yorkshire and all the things going on in it, it’s the same feeling I have with Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls!

TW – Depression, Cancer and Grief.