Cover Image: The Time of Her Life

The Time of Her Life

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Member Reviews

I read this book very quickly thanks to such an engaging talented author! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Great characters, setting and storyline. Would highly recommend.

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I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

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This book has one gorgeous cover! I found the beginning really hard to get into but overall I would say that it is an enjoyable read set in lovely Yorkshire.

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You know the time when you read a book and before the first chapter is over you just know you’re going to really enjoy reading it. This book is one of those. From the very first chapter the author’s writing style, wit & great characters had me hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed following Annie’s escapades during her year of non-car driving. And hoorah, a book that has a main character who is not a twenty- or thirty-something. Although a few decades younger than Annie & Liz, and the same age as Bernie, it was so refreshing to read a book of this genre featuring older, more ‘mature’ (in age rather than outlook & behaviour when it comes to Annie).

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Annie The Adventurous.....
Annie comes to life when she embraces the aging process and all it brings, also fully determined to take her friends with her, in this enjoyable romcom. A likeable protagonist in Annie and a colourful cast of supporting characters make this an entertaining and engaging read.

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I did enjoy the book and the storyline, but it took me sometime to actually “get into it”. There are some interesting twists and turns and it is a great read once you finally settle into the story. A few tricky subjects tackled and some fun as well.

Not sure it is a book I would reread, but glad I stuck with it.

If you like this style of book, give it a go, you may just find a book you will love, I didn’t but the world would be boring place if we all liked the same.

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I loved this story and I loved Anne, the main characters.
It's an engrossing and entertaining novel that made me smile and think.
The plot flows and it full of twists and turns, the characters are well developed and interesting, the setting is vivid.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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I struggled with the beginning of this book and found the names and roles of some characters a bit confusing.
Having persevered, it was worth it! The adventures Annie and Liz,her sidekick and chauffeur due losing her licence for drink driving, get up to are entertaining and give a good representation of village life.
Without another reviewer's mention of Emma, I would not have picked up on the connection - despite recently watching the film.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the chance to give an honest review

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I was invited to read an early preview copy of this book from Netgalley and the Publisher.
I found this book a little slow to start with. Although the storyline seemed to be the type of book that I enjoy, I struggled to get into it.
I think that I found it difficult to relate to the characters, although they were interesting. The characters age and life stage does not usually affect my enjoyment of my reading, but I did find that this book was not completely to my liking.

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🌄A silver-haired, Austen-modelled heroine plots in her Yorkshire village🏘

3.5-4🌟 stars
It took me awhile, but it finally dawned on me that in The Time of Her Life author Kate Fenton had turned Jane Austen's beloved novel Emma grey by making most of the principal characters thirty or so years older and transplanting them to Yorkshire. At other times, she reverses generations and makes a prodigal son from Emma into an absent and perpetually expected father. This twisting of the classic's character line-up is fun and inventive.
Emma/Annie is a retired businesswoman who's had marriage in the past and is over it for herself, or so she says. But she's certainly not averse to arranging other people's lives and loves with the extra time she's got on her hands.

This story is more about village society and Annie's influence than just about her life. I must admit, I was not drawn in by the opening of the book which introduced a whole passel of characters in a manner that made me feel I had tumbled into the middle, not the beginning, of the plot. Once I sussed the Austen connection, I understood why it started as it did. But Fenton's retelling seemed to drag and I felt she used local references and Briticisms that detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

For some reason, Fenton left out a version of Mr. Woodhouse, Emma's hypochondriac father and my favorite character in the original Austen novel. I can't say that any of the other Austen characters, who were largely a flawed bunch when they populated the village of Highbury, has improved or become more likable in this novel. So, while the concept of baby boomers looking for suitable marriage or partnership second time around is a good one, this story just was not a great fit for me and did not have the spark or humor of the Austen classic.

Years ago I read Fenton's Vanity and Vexation, a modernization of Austen's Pride and Prejudice also set in Yorkshire. I believe that story, where the gender of the main characters was reversed, worked better for me.

Thanks to publisher Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

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I have mixed feelings on this book. In theory it has everything I like in a novel - good strong lead character, humour, redemption. But I just couldn't love it.

It might be that I'm too young to properly identify with the main character, I'm sure lots of readers will love it but it just dragged for me.

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Can’t say I enjoyed this book as much as the other reviewers. It was an ok read. There are a lot of characters to try and keep up with and I’m afraid I didn’t really like Anne, the lead character all that much. I think maybe I’m not quite the target audience for this book.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for giving me the a copy of this book to read in exchange for my review.

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A wonderful book a story of Anne era life the twists and turns.Enjoyed reading about her life town friends.A book that I really enjoyed sitting back & entering Anne’s world. #netgalley#hodder&stoughton

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Interesting characters with lots of drama, and most importantly: twists and turns I didn't see coming, but were happy surprises indeed!

In The Time Of Her Life (I'm assuming the author, like me, enjoyed watching Dirty Dancing thirty-odd years ago) it was the underdog that I loved most: Dr Cate Blackwell. I am hoping there will be a follow up on what happens in Buckford with perhaps her as the main character...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

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This book is about the story of Annie. Who after selling her business, and attending her best friends wedding finds herself without wheels after getting her licence revoked for a year. With the help of Liz she’s able to get out and about attending different places..
A lot of twists and turns follow in this story, with her friends, her children and people she knows. Some funny and serious parts also in this book, but it keeps you hooked. Loved it. Definitely recommend it.

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