I feel like I know Eleanor Wood. At some points during this memoir I felt like I’d been her: after a long and mainly harmonious relationship in her early to late twenties, Eleanor emerges in her thirties realising two of the men in her life have let her down; her disappearing stepdad and her long term musician-boyfriend- as her friends are just settling down and lecturing her on how to handle married life and coupledom (yep, did that, got the t-shirt).

What happens next is achingly sad but not surprising, with one Bad (gaslighting and abusive) Boyfriend and an emotionally unavailable Lecturer. Can the staunch older women around her give Eleanor advice to live by?

I fell in love with Eleanor and her relatives, Nan, Rose and Ann, as they journey to India, where Nan grew up. If I had one criticism it would be that the idea of staunchness sometimes feels superimposed - I suspect that the aunts just got on with the hands they were dealt, as Eleanor does. One of the stronger millennial memoirs out there. Eleanor already is a staunch woman, I hope she realises that.

If you're after a bit of life-affirming, reality-checking memoir, this ticks all the boxes. The author finds herself not quite where she thought she'd be at a certain point in her life - as those around her seem to be getting married and starting families, she has come out of a 12-year relationship into a series of problematic ones and is feeling lost and unhappy. Her turning point comes when her grandmother and two great aunts ask her to join them on a month-long trip to India, where they were born. During their time away, Eleanor learns a great deal about her family history and develops a profound respect for these women and their attitude, which she describes as 'staunch'. During the book, she reflects on her own past as well as that of her family, and tries to apply the life lessons she is taught by these remarkable older women. It's warmly written and thoughtful.

On my first glance at the synopsis, I thought that this book was a work of a fiction.

I quickly learnt when I started reading it that it was a memoir. I do not read many memoirs, but after reading this, that will be changing.

This book is so beautifully written.

It is such an inspiring book and I think will do so well in the book charts!

I didn't actually realise this was a proper memoir, I initially thought it was a fictionalised version! Which explains the slightly frustrating ending - had it been fiction, everything would have been beautifully tied up in a way that it wasn't quite here., but as it's real life then it makes a bit more sense.

The story of a trip to India with her grandmother and two great-aunts, with family history and reflections on her own life experience so far, it's an easy read but also a thought provoking one. I've seen a couple of other reviews commenting on the target audience being women in their thirties, but as someone in that age group I'm not entirely sure it resonated with me as much as it might have done. I've also never thought of "staunch" as a descriptor on its own, which I found strangely irritating throughout the book.

Entertaining, thought-provoking in some ways, but nor for me really.

*TW there are discussions and memories of sexual assault within this book*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers HQ for my eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I really enjoyed reading this book and once I got into it read it in a few sittings. It's funny, touching and so incredibly well written I can imagine being Eleanor. Although it is a memoir, I didn't realise this when I started reading it, it was only when I found the author twitter did I realise. 

The book tells Eleanors life story in a way that almost seems like a therapy session where she discusses the things that have happened in her past and the effect she thinks they have had on her. She also talks about her family history and her time on holiday in India with her Grandmother and aunts. I get the feeling that she feels like the trip is her chance to deal with things, make peace and move on as best she can. 

Although I sometimes found the switching between times confusing, for the most part it was fine and I found the sections where she talks about her family history interesting as her her Nans parents had lived in India with the British Raj before having to move 'back' to the UK when her Nan was in her teens, despite none of them having ever lived there. Other sections, such as when she discussed past relationships were difficult to read as you could feel the rawness of the situation on the author. However I did find it to be, for the most part, uplifting and inspiring. I read it as my first book of 2020 and I think new year was the perfect time to engage with it, not only because it is set at the beginning of the year but also because it made me think about how I can be more staunch (a word I had never heard of previously!). 

Eleanor is in her 30s and this memoir and I get the feeling it is maybe aimed at women a similar age, however as someone in their 20s I also enjoyed this book and found a lot of it to be relateable so believe anyone would enjoy it!

I really enjoyed this book. When I requested it from netgalley I thought it was fiction, so was interested to learn when I started reading it that it was, in fact, a memoir.

It's really well written and very engaging from the outset. I found the author really very likeable and was completely engrossed in her story. I loved the tales of her trip to India with her relatives. It will definitely make me look at older people with fresh eyes in future. I was very inspired by the ladies she travelled with and their zest for life!

I thought the stories about her family's past in India in the 1940s added real depth to the book and I learnt a lot from those sections.

I read this book over New Year, which I think was the ideal time to read it. It has a strong, positive message and I now intend to try to be, even just a little bit more, staunch. This book deserves to do really well and I hope it will go on to inspire lots of people.

Thanks so much to netgalley and to the publisher and author for this review copy.

I requested this book on Netgalley as the description sounded fun – I had no idea it’s actually a memoir, not fiction. That said, much of the author’s life does sound like it’s come straight out of a soap opera script.
The author is only a few years younger than me but my word she has had some shit to deal with, and this book feels very much like a therapy session. It’s part soap opera, part family history and part pearls of wisdom from the elderly relatives she goes on holiday to India with (incidentally, I would LOVE to go on holiday to India with these ladies too – they sound like a riot!).
I particularly enjoyed the family history sections – there were some fascinating tales of life in the British Raj from when her Nan was in her teens, and the family’s journey ‘back’ to the UK, despite none of them ever having lived there before.
I am truly envious of the close-knit family that the author has, and the amazing relationships she has with the staunch women in the family. It was interesting to read about how life events have affected her, and her determination to not let it beat her down, but to become as staunch as all the ladies surrounding her and supporting her.

Following a difficult few years and a mental health crisis, Ellie is asked to accompany her Nan and two great-aunts on holiday to India, where the older ladies had spent their childhood/teenage years, before partition forced them ‘home’ (they’d never even visited) to the UK. Staunch tells the stories of all four ladies, their relationship and their holiday.

Initially I expected to struggle with Ellie’s story - a London hipster life, family break-ups, avoiding singleness with a string of bad relationships - but gradually you realise this isn’t a whinge, but a look at how things build up, how you can downplay abuse when you’re living with it - you ended up worrying for her, as you would a friend who just desperately needs out.

Nan and her sisters, Rose and Ann, were (of course) great, and their story of leaving post-British Raj India was one I hadn’t heard before. And the intergenerational friendships gave me something to think about.

A highly-readable surprise pick.

Thanks #netgalley for chance to read this e-ARC.

After losing a step dad, breaking up with her boyfriend and dallying with some unscrupulous suitors, Eleanor Wood escapes to India with her elderly relatives leaving Brighton behind.

Refreshingly frank and honest, her emotions, family revelations and personal realisations are all laid bare. The story takes in her family fleeing to England escaping partition, what it's like to vacation alongside your granny as well as her current romantic situation with a feckless lecturer.

The tone is similar to Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love, with a smidge of Eat, Pray, Love and a pinch of the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for good measure. Would recommend as a perfect holiday read.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for providing an ebook for review.

There were so many things in this book that resonated with me. Despite being a bit older than the author so many of her experiences are similar to my own. I just wish I had had the chance to take a holiday with my great aunt , my inspiration still, although she is no longer around in body but always in spirit. A truly lovely book.

Delightful, heart-warming and funny. All excellent characters and I particularly warmed to the octogenarians. They were just so cool and so comfortable in their own skin and yes, staunch.
Something we all should strive for. This story really illustrates how lucky people are if they have loving, close family members and that they should cherish them. This book gives a real story of what it says on the cover. Enjoy it.

I found that it took me a while to settle into this book but I was very glad I stuck with it. By the time I finished reading it I found myself looking at myself and wondering how staunch I actually was and how I could become more staunch.

This was funny and well written. I appreciated the emotional honesty and admire the author for being able to put her experiences out there like this. I think I just may not be quite the target audience this resonates with. Something is missing but I’m pretty sure that’s the reader not the writer in this case. If you like books such as Julie and Julia, Eat, Pray, Love or similar mid-thirties biography with a humorous bent, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy Staunch.