Three Things About Elsie starts with a situation many of us have encountered - or imagined in our futures - Florence, an elderly lady in her 80s, has fallen in her room in the sheltered accommodation where she lives. Unable to get up, waiting to be rescued, thoughts cascade through Flo's mind.

Florence has a secret, a secret she promised to keep forever. But is forever now?

This is a beautiful, amazing and thought-provoking book. The writing is lovely, the characterization wonderful and Flo's story compels you to keep reading all the way through.

There is plenty of depth in Three Things, astute social observations about the way society and individuals treat the elderly and vulnerable, moments of laugh-out-loud delight and the warmth of friendship.

Unforgettable.

I loved Cannon's The Truth About Goats and Sheep, so I was really excited to read this. However I found this a disappointing follow-up, even though the premise was a good one.
This follows Florence, who's had an accident in her flat and is waiting to be found. The narrative then cuts to her time in Cherry House, the residential home where she lives, her friendship with Elsie, and the new man who moves in and calls himself Gabriel Price although Flo is convinced he's actually Ronnie and he's back for her...Thus she sets about trying to uncover the truth, even though she's on probation and the lightest misstep could see Flo being transferred to Greenbank from where no resident returns from...
The problem for me was that the plot was too thin and the mystery was barely there. Also I wasn't sure why this was called 'Three Things About Elsie', when the story is about Flo. You get POVs from a couple of other characters, who work in Cherry House, but I felt like their plot lines didn't connect much and overall I found this a disjointed read. Tonally, too, this book felt inconsistent: it wasn't quite the quirky mystery, nor was it comedy-drama literary fiction about dementia and old age.

I really enjoyed Cameron's first book, so I was looking forward to reading this one. It didn't disappoint. I found it extremely readable - the characters were all well written, and I found even sideline characters to be interesting. I wasn't sure I was in the mood for another dementia story, but it turned out that wasn't really where the focus lay, and instead it was about ageing, and friendships, secrets and lies.
I did guess what was coming, but that didn't really spoil things, as I was happy to see how the story unfolded.

I’m an enormous fan of Joanna Cannon so it was a huge pleasure to receive an advance copy of her new novel, Three Things About Elsie, to review. I loved her first novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and I love this book just as much, if not more. Joanna’s stories always leave behind the deepest impressions, her characters expanding your heart and nurturing a sense of hope that is simply inspiring. It’s rare, I think, to find books as big-hearted and beautiful as this and Goats and Sheep.



Florence Clayboure can’t remember buying the twenty-three battenburg cakes in her cupboard, she can’t remember names, nor can she remember things that happened in the past. Pockets of her memory have left her, events gone, vanished, stuffed into the drawers of her mind to gather dust. But of three things she is certain: Elsie is her best friend, the one who always knows what to say and when to say it; the risk of being moved to Greenbank is looming with increasing menace, a place of sadness and pain, a place to fade away; and the new resident looks like a man she once knew, a man who died sixty years ago. What follows is a journey of loss, love and friendship that will leave a lasting impression.



There are countless reasons to adore Joanna’s books – here are three of them: the way she can take something as simple as a phrase or a name or a place and proffer a new outlook on them, a fresh lens to see the world through – which makes you wonder how you ever missed it in the first place; her tender perusal of humanity and the way memories alter our lives; and the way she can plumb the delicate nuances of the heart and connect them in a tapestry of humour and kindness.



In a way I think this book lets us know the worst things we have ever done are not our defining acts, they are simply things to measure the good things against, and that our faults are forgivable, memories retrievable. There is nothing lost that can’t be found. Three Things About Elsie is a balm to the soul, a kind and heart-warming book of humanity, loss and friendship, a cornucopia of what it means to be human. I loved it so much. Read it and recommend it. This beautiful book deserves to be shared.



Big-hearted. Touching. Tender.

I can see why some people would enjoy this book and get pleasure from it but I'm afraid it's not for me.

The writing is unusual and lively but often a little too saccharine for my taste. I felt emotionally manipulated and there were too many highly charged and 'significant' items/events acting as signposts.

I don't want to put anyone off as I'm sure many readers will enjoy it and for this reason I will not post this review online.

This is the book that I chose to read to say farewell to 2017 and hello to 2018.... and what a way to start the year!! It was wonderful!!! And if you loved The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, as I did, then you are in for a treat as this was just as fabulous, if not a little bit better - if that is even possible! And I'm very grateful to Waterstones for sending me my pre-order earlier than release date!!

This is the story of Florence who we find on the floor of her living room floor in the sheltered accommodation awaiting someone to come in and help her. As she is waiting we get to hear her background of her time in Cherry Tree along with her best friend, Elsie, along with the stories of those who work there and other residents.

She is an extremely astute and witty woman, despite the fact that her memory is beginning to fail her leading to the fact that those around her doubt things she says and notices. So when a new resident appears that she recognises, it falls on deaf ears when she tries to explain just who this character is and what impact he had on her past. The threat of being moved to a different care home hangs over her if she doesn't improve memory and behaviour wise, and this is something that Florence really struggles with and causes her even more doubts.

It's a story of characters who are all evaluating their lives - as we all do - have the things we've done meant anything to anyone? The author really captures that doubt that affects us all of what we contribute to the world, be it big or small, and nothing summed this up more for me than when the residents watched as a room was being cleared when one resident dies and they await a new one. The sadness it made them feel that all those things that meant so much to one person were just swept aside.

The mystery at the heart of the book was also a fascinating and clever one. The way the characters came together to revisit the past was the reason I couldn't put this book down once I'd picked it up! 453 pages in one sitting! ! I love finding books that make you put real life on pause - even just for one night!!

I was an emotional sobbing mess by the end of this book and that is how much all the characters came to mean to me! Definitely going to be on of my books of 2018 - already!! Loved it!!!!!

Flow and Elsie have been best friends since childhood and now into their late 80’s they are still together. Living in sheltered accommodation called Cherry Tree they support each other.
Flow however has problems with her memory and is worried that she will loose her independence but Elsie is always there to help her.
Their quiet harmony is disturbed when a new resident moves into Cherry Tree raising memories of a secret that has laid dormant for years.
A very clever book written about best friends and their loyalty to each other with a gentle mystery added into the mix.
But beware don’t believe everything that you read there is a surprise at the end.

This book tells the story of Flo who has had a fall in her nursing home and is reminising her life. It takes a while for the story to gain momentum but once it does you will find it beautifully written. There is a dark side of the book concerning a new member of her nursing home and her past. The topic of dementia is approached very sensitively which makes this book stand out for me. I am still thinking about the characters and the gaps in the story that were left unwritten. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

Florence has had a fall and whilst she waits for someone to find her in her sheltered accommodation, she thinks about her past.

I think I can sum up Three Things About Elsie in two words. Sheer perfection. Joanna Cannon has the unerring ability to look into our very souls and hold up a mirror to who we are and who we might become. There is such beauty and wisdom between the pages of Three Things About Elsie that its resonances will stay with me always.

The language perfectly matches the characters so that I felt as if I were eavesdropping on their conversations and thoughts. It felt as if Joanna Cannon had crawled into my head and described flawlessly my perceptions about people I know, articulating them far better than I could ever hope to do. I loved every word as the characters of Flo, Elsie, Jack et al were built and revealed. It felt so real and vivid to me I had to keep reading passages aloud to my husband to share the glorious beauty and truth of the writing, especially those elements steeped in humour.

The plot surprised me. I was expecting fabulous and emotional writing, but not quite the level of mystery so that Three Things About Elsie can be enjoyed on many, many levels. The themes of love, identity and friendship wove a magical web of enchantment around my heart as a reader, but it was the exploration of who we are, who we become and how we value or demean the older members of our society that truly spoke to my soul. Flo's experiences and her story could belong to any one of us. I was left with an understanding that we do not have to loom large in the world. Our very ordinariness an be teh catalyst for more than we might ever imagine. I ended the book simultaneously in tears and completely uplifted.

Three Things About Elsie is funny and poignant in equal measure. It left me feeling we all have positivity and worth and can make a difference. I thought it was sublime.

A beautiful but haunting tale of mystery, friendship and intrigued but tinged with a sadness that made me question everything whilst I was reading. Three things about Elsie tells a wonderful story of our main character Flos life, in present day and in her teen years growing up with her best friend Elsie. Weaved throughout the story are amazingly loveable characters, a mysterious and sad plot that has followed Flo through her entire life. I love how the story comes together and shows glimpses into all these different stories. My favourite thread is the throwaway line from a mum about losing her son Frankie when he was little. As a mum, this is your worst nightmare, and hearing how this was just a small moment in Flos life but meant so much to the mother is incredible.

The serious side of the story from dealing with dementia, to how we treat our elderly was handled with care and grace, which I think is important but I love that Flo has a story to tell, and that she gets to tell it. We all have lives we are living, and this story shows the importance of normal insignificant days as well as the grand moments in life, which I think is a brave and beautiful story to tell.

Joanna Cannon tells the story with such authority and passion, obviously her past has made her a very considerate and emotional writer, and for me this is what makes this story. I love a story where I can get to know a character, feel a part of their lives, laugh with them and cry with them. I have never been to Whitby but I travelled with our loveable characters and I could practically smell the sea air and hear the seagulls as I read it.

My one issue, is my own, not with the book or any books really, but I like a book with a real proper ending, even if it is sad or not what you would have wanted. After moving along with all these characters, and grieving to live them, the ending felt rushed and anti-climatic. It is not a negative against the book though, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I think this book was not what I was expecting from the blurb but it was so much more. I believe everyone has a story, and especially as we reach our "twilight" years, we should still tell them and listen to them. This book highlights that and so much more for me. It is a genuinely beautiful book, tinged with a sadness but that us life. We have to rake the good with the bad. Luckily, this books take if friendship and love is definitely good.

As an avid reader and lover of books, I hope to spread my love for books by reviewing as many books as I read, and thanks to Netgalley, I sometimes get the privilege to read books before they are published. This is a wonderful experience and has really opened up the world of books to me, as I find myself reading books I might not have picked up from the shelves. I'd like to say a big Thank You to the Author Joanna Cannon and the Publisher Harper for allowing me to read it.

Overall I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars and would highly recommend it.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest and independent review.

I wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t grab me. I liked the characters, especially Elsie, as I learnt more about her at the end, but I found at times the story was. I found that it was more of a nice little story of two childhood friends in sheltered accommodation than anything else, with just the odd bit of mystery dragged out for a bit too long.

I loved this book. The descriptions. The phrases I wanted to read out loud to someone else. And Florence. It seemed I came to know her almost as if she were my Great Aunt Flo and part of the family.

Elsie is Florence’s lifelong best friend. Florence has just fallen in her sheltered accommodation and while waiting for someone to call and help her up, she dwells on her life, both recent and in the past. A new man has come to live in one of the flats and Florence recognises him as a man she knew had died in the 1950s. It’s Elsie who helps Florence to remember the past and the secret she’s successfully hidden from herself.

This is beautifully observed and in places very funny. Her friend Jack helps her to find out what the man is up to. They engineer a trip to Whitby for the whole community in order to follow a trail. She wants to know where the name he’s using now came from and why he’s trying to drive her mad and make her appear demented. The gradual unfolding of Florence’s past is brilliantly done, with the help of Elsie, and I enjoyed the book enormously.

This a pleasurable read. Flo is living in an old people's home and is trying to work out what has happened in her life. She talks to her friend Elsie about every event in their lives. Flo knows that she is slowly losing her memory and is determined to remember for as long as possible. This book has been sensitively written and tackles the issues of aging and dementia really well. Overall this book is a really good read. The only thing I have against it is that it was a bit long and rambling in places. This is a memorable story which is definitely worth reading.

I thought Three Things About Elsie was excellent. It is involving, humane and extremely well written.

This is the story of Florence Claybourne who is in her eighties, living in sheltered accommodation and her memory and other mental faculties are now pretty unreliable. A man who supposedly drowned sixty years before arrives, creating a mystery and sense of menace which drives the plot of the book.

We get the story from three intercut points of view; Florence's unreliable first-person narrative and two third-person narratives from the points of view of two members of staff - Miss Ambrose, a supervisor and the handyman, Handy Simon. It is extremely well done and has plenty to say about age, memory, attitudes to older people and so on, but it is Florence's voice which really stands out. At times there are some strong echoes of Alan Bennett's A Cream Cracker Under The Settee, but for the most part Florence is an original and very engaging character with her own slightly eccentric but often profound take on things. I marked lots of sentences and passages which I liked; these two brief extracts may give you a flavour:
"Elsie's father left for the war and came back as a telegram on the mantelpiece," and "I looked across the lounge and into the past. It was more useful than the present. There were times when the present felt so unimportant, so unnecessary. Just somewhere I had to dip into from time to time, out of politeness."

I became involved in the mysterious plot, but it is the beautifully drawn characters, the book's humanity and insight, and Joanna Cannon's excellent writing which really counted for me. I thought it all added up to an excellent book, which I can recommend very warmly.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

I must be the only person in the country who hasn't read The Trouble With Goats And Sheep, which was a huge bestseller for this author a couple of years ago. I was attracted to this book because of the clever cover, the title, and that so many readers had raved about TTWGAS.

Ostensibly Three Things About Elsie is a mystery. It opens with Florence, a lady of 84 years, looking back on the last few weeks of her life as she waits for someone to find her after a fall. This sounds depressing but Florence has a dry sense of humour and I was quickly drawn into her life at the home, her friendship with Elsie and Jack - and the trouble they cause the long-suffering staff. Florence, you see, is convinced that a new resident is not the man he claims to be but someone she knew sixty years ago - someone who is supposed to be dead.

In reality, Three Things About Elsie is about what it feels like to grow old. The frustration you feel as your health and mental agility slip away from you, and the way younger people start to treat you differently. And how eventually you even lose control over the way you want to live your life.

I loved the character of Florence, flaws and all, and the adventures she has with her friends as they investigate the past of this mysterious new resident. Think a more subtle version of Last of the Summer Wine without the slapstick. It is by turns funny, poignant, and desperately sad too - and I loved it. There are also some clever twists. Definitely recommended; I'm sure this will be one of my favourite reads for 2018.


I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Three Things About Elsie, which will be published on the 11th January 2018.

Thank you to Joanna Cannon, The Borough Press, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book,full of wry descriptions of how to live with dementia. When the modern world gets too tough,why wouldn't you escape to a place full of love and friendship,where everything makes perfect sense and you are happy,even if it is over sixty years ago?! I found this book to be full of love and so very typical of old age. I love the expressions' the mind wanders and goes for a walk without me'and old age being ' within each room is a small piece of torment'. It is a wonderful story about friendships and mis remembered years and the struggle to maintain ones memories. It is not a sense of getting older in a negative way,true,there are memory lapses along the way,but there is conspiracy and happiness in shared memories,even when these recollections can put a person in danger, without them knowing exactly why.
It is sensitively written and brings a lump to the throat. It reminds me of the Alan Bennett play with Thora Hird,where an elderly lady has fallen in her flat, and whilst she waits to be rescued,observes the dust under the sofa and bemoans the fact that no one really observes what is happening in the lives of elderly people,living in isolation. Loneliness can be a threat to the health and well being of the elderly and this book has a twist that reinforces this message.
I have been involved in care of the elderly for thirty years plus and this is a marvellous teaching aid and I will be recommending this most strongly to my students. The hospital librarian will be contacted about purchasing a few copies of this story,I feel it is that deserving of attention. I have not dealt with specifics in this review,as I don't want to spoil the story,please read,think and enjoy this thought provoking book and spread the word!!
I have posted this review to Goodreads today and I am confident that this is one of the best books of this year.

This is a beautifully written book tackling old age and memory loss. It is the story of Elsie and Forence - lifelong friends and friends they make in later life but is everything as it seems?. It is a story of loss and how we all deal with loss in different ways. It is a story of a memory lost or hidden and what happens when it is remembered. It also deals with lonliness and how that can affect us all. This book has been well researched and is very poignant in its story which we can all associate with.

This is a beautiful book. I smiled, laughed and cried my way through it, enjoying the wry observations about life and the pathos of the aging process for residents and staff of Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. It's a topic handled with gentle humour and delicacy here, from a writer who clearly understands the mechanisms of the mind.
Great characterisation makes the narrative appear easy and relaxed. There’s no straining for effect. The author has a deft touch with conversation and storytelling, succeeding in keeping you hooked, wanting to savour more of her delicious prose.
Elsie may be mentioned more than most, though it is her closest friend, Florence, whose perspective carries the weight of the book's narrative. She is more than the sum of her parts, just like the rest of us. Her life has been peppered with secrets that weigh heavily in her senior years, causing great emotional distress.
We witness Florence struggling to be believed, with fears of being sent elsewhere, amid growing concern that she might be losing her grip on reality. She relies completely on Elsie and Jack for reassurance she is not going mad. Eventually, past and present people and events coalesce and come into better focus. Resolution, when it finally arrives, is no less satisfying for being delayed.
In the process, we see how much the past pervades the present, seeking to be addressed. Bad memories may not go away but we can learn to live for the moment and be thankful for the good things we experience. There are lots of valuable life lessons wrapped up in this quirky gem of a book. Now I need to read the author's acclaimed debut novel. How did I miss it?!

It was quite fun to read something outside my comfort zone and from a genre I don't normally dip my toes into. I loved the characters and thought the story line was curios and well written. I enjoyed it a lot.