An interesting premise but ultimately not my cup of tea and a bit cringe-worthy in places. I felt some of the subject matter a bit maudlin.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Billy Binns is 117. He was, as he reminds us through the book, the same age as the century, born just after midnight on New Year's Eve just as 1900 began. He is living in a small care facility in West London and is fully aware that he is coming to the end of his, admittedly, long life: so he decides to think back over his life, focussing on the really important parts. He focusses on those he has loved. From the older woman who taught him about sex, to the woman he asks to marry him, and from his son, via a co-worker with her own tragedies to a woman who, in his later life, introduces him to the truly swinging Sixties. Five loves. Not a lot for such a long life but some have endured right through to Billy's extreme old age although, of course, to have loved and then lived on so long means that Billy has also experienced many losses. His life wasn't all about love though - like many lads of his time Billy lied about his age to sign up to fight in the Great War and his experiences there are horrific. He experiences great passion but also injustices and terrible sorrow: he has had experiences which seem both unbelievable and quite, quite possible given that he has lived through two world wars and great social change.

Of course, as well as Billy's memories of his past life and loves we also see his present - his day-to-day life in The Cedars, a small privately run nursing home. Like the past the present isn't shown idealistically - we see what life is like for the residents in a home run with an absolute minimum of staff. Billy is fond of the two female carers, who are obviously very fond of their charges but overstretched, and has built up some friendships with other residents but the descriptions of the home - to those of us who have only ever known such places as visitors or staff - is slightly grim and depressing: over-heated, slightly shabby, with a hint of a stale smell and the television on far too loud. Although Billy's early and middle-aged years are obviously a work of fiction his present is very plausibly real. Which proves to me that we need to hear the stories which older people have to tell before the lives which they led become nothing more than fiction to us.

This book! Wow.

It was awesome. I loved Billy Binns. I loved that he was an 'ordinary' man. He was relatable and likeable and it was a pleasure to spend time in his company for the duration.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this early, I will be recommending it to all and sundry.

Will also be keeping an eye out for further books by Richard Lumsden.

Five stars.

"I want to remember what love feels like, one last time. To remember each of the people I loved, to see them all clearly again."

Billy is 117 years old and the oldest man in Europe. He has been in love five times throughout his life. Living in a care home and knowing his life is coming to an end, Billy is desperate to remember how love felt.

This book is written like a memoir through the years, born at the turn of the century we experience life through two world wars and the swinging sixties to present day. Billy is true to life, a wonderful character who is far from perfect, in fact he is quite naughty and you can't help but feel for him.

This is a wonderful story which will stay with me for a long time. I expect it will become a talked about book in 2019. Highly recommended!

"An ordinary man living an ordinary life.
It feels right and good to be ordinary."

Oh Billy Binns, you absolute legend, you.

There's nothing so interesting for me than to read of an ordinary life that has been lived and yours has certainly been well and truly lived. How can I do justice to your wonderful story?

Well, Billy Binns, I could say that I have just read the story of your life, lived over the course of more than 100 years and it was 466 pages of pure joy. You moved me to tears, you made me smile, you made me gasp, you shocked me. I felt every emotion whilst reading your words and not one of those words was wasted.

You tapped away at the typewriter, Billy, capturing your life, perfectly staging it for the slow reveal leading to those 'ohhhh' moments of realisation. Sometimes I had to look away for a moment, blink away some tears, before I could carry on reading.

You were born at the turn of the 20th century. Your experiences in WW1 were so moving, so raw. You lived through the depression, another war, the Swinging Sixties. You loved five times during your life, hoping for that one last elusive love. And what loves they were: Mary, Evie, Archie, Vera, Mrs Jackson. Your love for each of them was beautiful, intense and perfect, even if things didn't always turn out for the best.

I feel like I know you, Billy. At one point, as you clambered into the back seat of a car, I could see you in my mind's eye, how you looked, what you were wearing. You're a flawed man, but a wonderful man and I was utterly mesmerised by your life story. I loved you even when you made mistakes.

Richard Lumsden, the curator of your story, has created something that delighted me, an uplifting, heart-warming social history full of love, loss, youth, old age, the passing of time, a story of making mistakes and living with them. Not only a definite for my top reads of the year, I think this has to be one of my top reads of all time. Billy, you're a triumph.

BILLY BINNS; FULL OF DEPTH, HUMOUR AND PATHOS

A good character driven book always grabs me; for me that’s what often moves the story along. And The Six Loves of Billy Binns is definitely a damn good character driven read. This novel is brimming with humour and pathos. Billy Binns and many of the other characters melted my heart.

At the grand old age of 117 and the oldest man in Europe, Billy has been in love five times throughout his life. Living in a care home and knowing his life is coming to an end, Billy is desperate to feel love once again.

I want to remember what love feels like, one last time. To remember each of the people I loved, to see them all clearly again.

I thought The Six Loves of Billy Binns was going to be a heartwarming book that I could snuggle up and read with a cuppa. But this was so naive of me. Yes, at times it is heartwarming, but it is also gut wrenching, funny and shocking (maybe I’m easily shocked but I didn’t quite expect there to be swinging parties in this book 😉 ).

As Billy reflects back on his life, especially the people he has loved and lost, I found myself fully immersed in the ever changing 20th century. And Billy is part of it all; from fighting in the First World War when he is only 15 years old to fully embracing the sexual revolution in his 60s.

Billy is such a likable character but he makes mistakes; some mistakes are simply misguided; others blatantly stupid. Billy is human and I loved him for that.

Billy can be deemed naive, misguided and even stupid at times. But one thing is for sure; Billy at whatever age he is, he’s not afraid to live. That has to be celebrated!

It is also a coming of age story, a story about friendship and the importance of kindness.

The Six Loves of Billy Binns is a moving, powerful read. This is poignantly portrayed through Billy’s love for his son Archie. This will stay with me for a long time.

The character of Billy’s wife intrigued me; I really felt for her. I also really admired her; she had such loyalty and such strength. I would have loved to have heard this same story from her point of view. But then again, I fear it may have broken my heart.

Billy’s life symbolises how society could barely keep up with the fast pace of change in the 20th century; creating social confines that had devastating consequences.

The Six Loves of Billy Binns is the debut novel from well known actor Richard Lumsden. I had the privilege of meeting Richard last week at the New Voices 2019 book tour in Liverpool. I knew before meeting him that he had originally come up with idea of Billy Binns over 25 years ago when he was living in Shepherd’s Bush (Billy Binns is an ode to London, especially Shepherd’s Bush). But I didn’t quite appreciate until I met Richard that he had written the book at different stages of his own life. As Richard says in his own words: “it’s a story about love, disappointment, and the flaws that make us human.”

In my view, it is a beautiful read.

Thank you Richard Lumsden for giving us Billy Binns. Thank you Tinder Press for sending me an advance copy in return for my honest review. Thank you also to Headline Publishing for inviting me to the New Voices 2019 book tour – I loved it! Finally, thank you Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the Billy Binns blog tour. Please also read the reviews of my fellow bloggers also taking part in the blog tour.

The Six Loves of Billy Binns was published on 24 January 2019, so it’s available for you all to go out and buy.

Happy reading everyone!

"Mary, Evie, Archie, Vera, Mrs Jackson. Five of them in all. Five? Is that it? Five loves doesn't sound like much after all this time... When you first meet someone you never know how long they'll be in your life for. For minutes or for ever. You never know when it starts. And you don't know when it stops."

Billy Binns is a 117-year-old man who begins to write down his life story and commit to paper the five loves he had. He does this to try and remember what love feels like for one last time. Billy is born in 1900 - "as old as the century" - and through his eyes we see key moments of history as they happen, such as fighting in the First World War and driving buses around London during the Blitz.

This book was so wonderful, Billy was brought to life perfectly, and I found myself unable to tear myself away from reading. Parts of the book were absolutely heartbreaking, as Billy repeatedly pays the price for the consequences of some of his mistakes along the way, but this is a very impressive and well-written debut from Richard Lumsden. I loved it!

I enjoyed this book far more than I initially thought I would. The concept seemed quite quaint, but it’s a step away from anything I would normally pick up for myself. Having said that though, I’m really glad I did as I thought this was a really heart-warming read.

Billy Binns is an incredibly old gentleman who lives in The Cedars nursing home. He passes his time contemplating when he will take his last breath as he slowly watches residents come and go around him. It sounds fairly morbid, but as he does this he also reflects on his life and the loves he has had during his 117 years.
I found it really interesting reading back to what Billy’s life was like back in the early decades of the 1900’s. Everything was just so different from what it’s like now, their way of life, the clothes they wore, the jobs they kept, all the way down to the language they used is just a life apart from what I know.

The book is told solely as a narrative from Billy and flits back and forth between his memories and his present time in the nursing home. At times it was slightly confusing as to whether I was reading a memory or a time from the nursing home until I was a few sentences into said paragraph as there didn’t seem to be any particular order to whether we were reading in present or past tense. However, I guess you could say this is in fitting with reading a 117 year old’s account, as I’m sure their memory would be very fleeting between the past and present with no necessary rhyme or reason.

I found this a really enjoyable easy read with some really nice moments in it. There are some sad moments, after all, who could live to 117 with only happy memories, however Billy is a character I really warmed to. It made me wonder what I will think about should I hopefully live to a ripe old age and what significant memories I will have of my life.

I'm not sure this is the book I was expecting from the blurb. It's not particularly warm or wise, but it is a good read. The nursing home patients and staff are well characterized, with none of the eccentricity that would have made these parts of the book seem unreal. The story is woven together well, bringing all the timelines neatly together. Some aspects of the book are incredibly sad, some are a little far fetched. The writer has managed to make an unlikeable, flawed man into someone you not only pity, but actually want to find happiness.

The idea of a very old man looking back over the loves of his life is an appealing concept. It could, and should,have been engaging. Unfortunately I never really became engaged! I found Billy unlikable and so didn't really care about his life. Sorry. I'm sure others will love it.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

This book is about a 117 old man who reminisces about his love life. He wants his son Archie to know him as a man who loved and lived a full life. I liked the plot but I didn't like the story. Does that make sense? There's less description of love and more about lovemaking. The book had potential but sadly, it didn't live up to it.