It is so refreshing to read a story from a fresh perspective. Florence lives in a care home, where everyone loves the feisty octogenarian, but assumes she is gently and inevitably losing her mind. Only her trusted friend, Elsie, believes her claims that someone is setting her up. The truth lies in a long-forgotten tragedy, but also the reality of the present. Florence must lose something precious in order to be vindicated. A funny, warm and gripping suspense featuring the most endearing 'unreliable narrator' you're likely to meet.

This book is an unusual read with a mix of detective work and the sad topic of dementia. Having experienced something of this terrible condition for myself I was moved by the writing but also found it rather unrealistic. Once past that I just had to make the decision to enjoy the read for what is was. Throughout the book we meet various people involved in Florence’s life and they really get to show us her story. Try it for yourself and see what you think….

This was perfect holiday reading with really engaging characters. Florence, Elsie and Jack are investigating a mysterious individual who may or not be someone from Florence's past. However, the 'quiet desperation' of the other minor characters including the care home employees Handy Simon, Gloria and Cheryl give this novel a humanity which lives it above other novels in the genre.

Ahhhhh what a great read, not my usual kind of book but I’m sooooo glad I picked this one up and gave it a go!

So basically the book opens with poor old Florence lying at the bottom of the stairs after a nasty tumble, nobody seems to be coming to her rescue and so she starts to reminisce about what’s happened in her life and so the story begins.

I totally adored this book, it covered the sad topic of memory loss as we all age and that always makes me sad, thinking about all the memories I may lose as I age as Florence did, but it’s also quite witty too and there is a mystery in amongst the story and memories!

Really lovely book a little gem....

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were delightful, and I came to feel that I really knew them as the book progressed. As the story unfolded, I became more and more hooked, until finally reaching the very satisfying conclusion. I’m really cross that the book has now finished, and might just have to start reading it all over again!

This book is a lot of things. It's funny, it's endearing, it's surprising and it's heartbreaking. I loved Florence, Elsie and Jack,they snuck their way into my heart and I was thinking of them long after their story was over. While reading the book I kept forgetting that Florence was lying on her living room floor waiting for help to arrive and when we did get back to it I felt myself getting anxious about her.

These friends are living in sheltered accommodation, Florence has the onset of dementia and can't seem to function properly without her friend Elsie. They are all woried about Florence being moved into a care home. That said, it will surprise you just what they get up to when a face from the past threatens them.
I didn't really enjoy Joanna Cannon's debut novel,The Trouble With Goats and Sheep ( many people loved it) so I was unsure about this one but as I have always loved the stories on her blog so I thought I would at least try it. I'm so glad I did,I loved this book and I cried my eyes out at the totally unexpected twist near the end,so very clever. This will definitely be in my top ten books for this year.

This is Joanna Cannon's follow-up to the outstanding debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep which I loved when I read it this time in 2016. I was slightly worried if she would manage to pull out another wonderful book or whether this would be the dodgy second novel that you sometimes see authors produce. Having finished the book this weekend I am thrilled to report that this is not the case at all. This is a very different novel to the first but equally as wonderful.

Our central characters are all octogenarians who live at the Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly - we spend our time with Elsie, Florence and Jack, the managers of the home Miss Bissell and Miss Ambrose and the caretaker Handy Simon. It soon becomes apparent that Florence is suffering from dementia and is threatened with a move to another care home Greenbank if her 'performance' doesn't improve in a month. Elsie, her best friend, is her helping hand, always telling her to remember three things from the past so that she doesn't forget the present. Their daily lives are quite mundane until a new resident moves in, a Mr Gabriel Price who seems polite, capable and a friend to everyone. However, for Florence this sparks a memory of the past, of a man she knew as Ronnie Butler who drowned sixty years earlier. The trouble is, who is going to believe anything a woman with memory problems says?

Joanna Cannon takes us on a journey with Florence from the present day back through her memories of growing up with Elsie and of the infamous Ronnie Butler. Who is he and why does Florence think he has now returned from the dead? There are some wonderful moments of humour throughout, some characters you will both love and detest and some emotional scenes too. Three Things about Elsie has them all in spades and I predict this will become another huge bestseller. Grab a cuppa, a slice of battenburg cake and devour the book that everyone will be talking about this year before I run out of superlatives to describe it!!!!

This is a super book. Florence is in her eighties and living in sheltered accommodation. Her best friend Elsie is her constant companion. A new resident, Gabriel, moves in and Florence recognises him as someone frightening from her past, even though he is calling himself a different name, Ronald. With fellow resident Tom, they go searching for clues about what happened and why he has turned up at this point in time. The book is written in a very engaging style and flits back and forth between the recent past and Florence's youth. I enjoyed reading about the lives of the other characters, Miss Ambrose the warden and Simon the handyman. The ending seemed a little far fetched as did the motivations of Ronald. But I would highly recommend reading it.

I love Joanna Cannon. Se has a way of creating these tight, believable character relationships that really touch your heart. I loved the fact that this had elderly characters - they are so little represented in their diverse personalities rather than as stereotypes in fiction. This didn't catch me in the way that The Trouble with Goats and Sheep did but this was still heart warming and engaging. A lovely book.

Florence is a resident of the Cherry Tree Home, an assisted living apartment block. Florence has had a fan and while she lies on the floor she contemplates the events that have brought her to the stage where she is threatened with removal to a nursing home. Florence is close to her friend Elsie and there is a secret from the past which is always just out of reach of Florence's mind. However when a new resident at the home appears to be the spitting image of a man Florence knows is dead then events take a more sinister turn. Meanwhile House manager Miss Ambrose is considering her future and Simon the Handyman is obsessed with his past.

This book is so gentle and beguiling in that although events are unpleasant at times and that the 'twist' isn't really a twist (it's obvious from the beginning), as a reader I just got completely wrapped up in the tale. Florence is such a sympathetic character, a woman in her 80s who may be losing her marbles or may be the victim of a set-up by a person unknown. Her relationship with Elsie is heartfelt and goes back many years but sometimes the details are blurred. I loved the section set in Whitby, the love for that town is evident. However most of all I loved the fact that this was a book about old age and wasn't written in a patronising way. This is the second novel that Cannon has written and, whilst different from the first, shows the development of a warm yet challenging writer.

This is such a beautiful book, the writing is almost poetic. Although it is about a very serious subject I still found myself smiling more that crying. A wonderful heartwarming and heartbreaking read.

Florence is an 84 year old lady who is living in sheltered accommodation when she had a fall and is lying on the floor waiting for help to arrive. While she is lying there her mind starts to wander and go back over her life and her amazing friendship with Elsie, her best friend since she was a girl, and we learn the great story of her life

A lovely book, brilliant characters, I especially loved Simon, and with some intrigue and a mystery to solve thrown in it was definitely a book that grabbed you, I loved it.

I didn’t think it was possible but I adored this more than Goats & Sheep. Thank you! I can’t stop raving about Elsie.

There are three things I love about Three Things About Elsie. First, it made me cry tears of both happiness and sorrow; second it is such an engaging story; and third, it is written by the author of one of my favourite books of last year, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep.
Florence may be elderly but she's not ready to give up on life yet – or to be sent to Greenbank, which is pretty much the same thing. She lives in sheltered accommodation at Cherry Tree with her friend Elsie and they have their daily routine, enjoying a cuppa and a bit of Battenburg. Then one day Florence spots a face from the past – what's Ronnie Butler doing at Cherry Tree? He's calling himself Gabriel Price, but it's definitely him, isn't it? But it can't be, because Ronnie drowned in 1953. Thus begins an entertaining, poignant, laugh-out-loud search for the truth as Florence, Elsie and fellow Cherry Tree resident Jack battle the authorities, old age and infirmity in the hope of discovering just what Ronnie/Gabriel is up to. A fourth thing I loved about this book is that part of it is set in Whitby, and the sense of place created by the author made me feel as if I was actually there. Read this one – you won't regret it!

A gentle story of old age, friendship and memories lost.
Florence is 84 and is living in sheltered accommodation, along with her constant companion Elsie and close friend Jack. Florence is on a month’s probation for her erratic behaviour and under threat of being moved on to the dreaded Greenbanks, where those with dementia are left lonely and isolated, waiting to die.
At the outset of the story, we learn that Florence has had a fall in her room, and is awaiting rescue. The progress of time, as she waits for someone to find her, is returned to at regular intervals in the story, while the rest of the action is being related.
There is a sinister side to the events that start to unfold. A man has newly arrived who Florence immediately recognises as Ronnie, someone she has tried to forget. He now goes by another name, Gabriel Price, but who can she tell about this and who will believe her? Although her memory is starting to fail, Florence urgently needs to search back into the past to reveal Ronnie for the villain that he is. With the help of Elsie and Jack, the mystery starts to unravel, but it means that Florence has to face up to many painful memories, that bring back her actions from long ago. She not only needs to expose Ronnie but to come to terms with the past herself.
This is a clever and convincing study of old age, describing with great accuracy the desperate struggle against a failing memory. It is told with poignant detail and flashes of humour. There are occasional, brilliant lines that make you smile as you read them and the mystery behind the story forces you to keep turning the pages. However, I did find the denouement in the plot too fast and unconvincing, which just spoiled things a little, but the final chapter in Florence’s story is moving and seems to tell us that no life, however it is lived, is worthless.
I recommend this as a good read and look forward to this author’s next book.
Jane
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

A lovely read. Really sad in parts but then heartwarming and uplifting in others! Very well written and fantastic characters.

A book of prose filled with poetic turns of phrases, with wisdom and philosophy, a whodunnit with unlikely sleuths, memories found and lost. A book about Florence, living at sheltered accomodation and her best friend Elsie who always knows that right thing to say. A book about secrets that happened many years back, about to pop up out of the dark drawers in one’s memory. Old age with a range of emotions from frustration to happy times. Rarely have I found a book that is so full of emotions, so emphatic and so knowledgable.

I really liked Joanna Cannon's first book but I adored this one! It is essentially a story of friendship, memories and the difference we can all make in this world.

A heart warming, tender, sweet and sad story. For anyone who likes action packed, plot driven novels then this probably isn’t for you. If, like me, you prefer strong character driven novels then this should be right up your street. The story oozes out slowly like warm caramel.
Florence is a character that you want to wrap up keep somewhere safe, I loved her! The interaction between her, Jack and Elsie is just lovely.
The novel also highlighted the shortfalls in care and treatment of the elderly. It does make you wonder how many elderly deteriorate because of lack of stimulation and being treated like children.
My only criticism is that I felt the ending was a little weak compared to the rest of the book, a little rushed for me.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

What a beautiful story. At first I was trying to work out the genre,wondering if it was leading to a murder, or a psychological twist, but I think really this defies genre. We meet Florence, lying on the floor of her sheltered accommodation, imagining different scenarios where someone discovers her, the conversations they'll have as the paramedics come to take her to hospital. The book then moves between narration of recent events which bring up flashbacks to Florence's younger days. We read about Florence in the sheltered housing complex - she is put on probation ("what have I done wrong?") and if she's not on her best behaviour she'll be off to Greenbank, the nursing home. Florence's lifelong friend Elsie is in the housing complex with her and they always meet in Florence's flat or the day room. Elsie applies the voice of reason, getting Florence to think for herself. She can always remember the first two things, but the third thing is always just out of reach of her mind. This is a beautiful, and touching account of living with early dementia, and gives us insight into what may be going through the mind of the person who is experiencing this dreadful illness. It should make us all think about how we treat older people. Florence comments to Handy Simon towards the end that he hadn't spoken to her as if she was a child. And we see how people appreciate someone take an interest in them when Florence asks the girl about her daughter - it completely changes the girl's attitude and demeanour. We see Handy Simon make discoveries about his life, having lived in his father's shadow until now. And Miss Ambrose begins to make more decisions about her personal life rather than live through the old people. And as well as the delightful characters there is a story behind it, dating back to an unsolved murder from 1953. I was really sorry to finish this wonderful story and leave the characters behind.