I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley and the cover is beautiful.

Scrabble in the Afternoon is a memoir of Biddy Wells and her difficult relationship with her mother. Her mother is stricken with a mysterious illness on New Years Day. Her mom will need assistance in recovering and that job falls on Biddy. The book covers the recovery over the next year, plus, showing the back and the forth of their relationship.

I really enjoyed this exploration of a mother and daughter's relationship, When the roles have been reversed finding our feet can always be a challenge. Between our feelings of should, and our feelings from past hurts, to who we are as adults, can provide a challenging backdrop when caring for an elderly parent. So many things come out to play in this landscape and I enjoyed reading it. I rated this book a 4 star, because I wanted to know more, I felt that the author, while giving us her feelings and her take on the situation could have delved a little deeper. I t felt like she was skimming the surface and the complexity of both her mothers nature and herself. Saying that, I still really enjoyed it, and maybe its not fair to rate a book on what it didn't do compared to what it did, which was allow me space and time to read when I had been struggling to concentrate on any type of fiction. To read something set in the real world, with with real people and follow how they managed through their new terrain was both delightful, inspiring and calming for my soul.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

An insightful account of the complexity of a mother/daughter relationship when the roles become reversed and an adult daughter becomes the carer for a mother whose own mothering was inadequate. A brave and poignant book with some darkly humorous moments.

NOTE: Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Scrabble in the Afternoon chronicles Wells' relationship with her aging mother when the latter has to move in with her due to an illness. The women bond and clash, as mothers and daughters often do, and Wells weaves these experiences into an engaging and introspective narrative that feels like a window into her mind during those times. Both women have distinct personalities and reading about their relationship was immensely interesting.

The book is short and written in simple language but has a strong voice of its own. I finished the entire read in one sitting. Would recommend to those who are interested in reading about mother-daughter relationships through a realistic lens.

RATING: N/A to autobiographies and memoirs. The rating has only been filled as it is a required field to publish my Netgalley review.

Scrabble in the Afternoon is a thoughtful memoir describing the author’s relationship with her mother as she experiences it and understands it over the course of one of the last years of her mother’s life. The story feels open and honest and deeply personal. I love that she tells us about letting her mother read the manuscript – and I love it that she shares her mother’s reaction with us. The story is relatable for those who have had a parent in hospice, requiring care, moving to an assisted living home, and changing in behavior. Her story is also unique describing their individual relationship and history. I enjoyed it a lot though it didn’t always feel organized and I would have preferred some chapter breaks. The cover and title were what initially drew me in and I appreciated the time I spent with this book. Thanks to Net Galley and Parthian Books for the advanced copy to read and review; all opinions are my own.

Very well written. It got to be a little slow in places but I loved the relationship of mother and daughter. The rockiness, how it hasn’t always been perfect, how even in the end it was perfect but they found their routine. They figured out a way to both get what they wanted and needed.

Once upon a time ....I pointed a finger at my mother. The emphasis is on "once" since it was the last and only time I aimed this sign of disrespect in her direction. Perhaps it is a generational thing, but I can't imagine being able to write this story. If a finger pointing, mother bashing catharsis is the voice of now, the wave of the future, or your personal preference, then Scrabble in the Afternoon is for you.

Scrabble in the Afternoon is the emotional journey of Biddy Wells as a caregiver to her sick mother. Often the world notices only the suffering of the one who is sick, and the challenges faced by the caregiver go unnoticed. Wells has journaled her fears, anxieties, resentment and challenges with utmost honesty.

Thank you, Parthian Books, and Netgalley for providing me with the digital ARC.
3.8/5

This was a quick read about a woman who is transformed by the process of taking care of her elderly mother. There are themes of of course family and mother/daughter relationships, but it also discusses the deep holes that childhood longing leave. You see this through both the mother and the daughter. Their story is bigger than them - it is the story of how generations of trauma, hurt and disappointments keep a cycle going. And in this story, the daughter attempts to reconcile her feelings and memories with her otherwise pleasant current life. It's about the path to acceptance. How hard and difficult and impossible it seems sometimes, acceptance and facing the reality head-on is the only way to peace.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Biddy Wells for the digital ARC.

4/5 stars.

This book meets the expectations if you are into reading books that explore filial relationship.

The narrator and her 30 years older mother share an ambivalence relationship. At first the book left me in awe then started going in circles. Some fragments of the past then coming back in talking about present then past then again the same present. I usually like this kind of narration style, back and forth in time but only when the present time also moves forward with the telling. But here the narration about the present and the narrator’s monologue felt too repetitive.
I genuinely started enjoying the book in the second part and the rest of the book. The overall writing style is reading-friendly. Nothing bombastic about it. I preferred it that way.
I liked this book, overall speaking. The concept of the book, precisely. Clearly the author had put a lot into this piece of work. Conveying tangled human emotions and putting them in words isn’t an easy job but the author had done well.
I would like to thank NetGalley and publishers for providing this ARC.

I apologize, but I did not like this book very much. There simply wasn't a lot to the story itself and the main character felt rather hypocritical at times. Hope you and your Mum are doing well though!

“One day, I feared for a second that I might actually die, there and then in the hall, when I was supposed to be the carer – the one in charge and responsible for my mother.”

An honest, sometimes difficult, but ultimately uplifting read about a complicated mother/daughter relationship, told in two parts. Part one, which covers the year in which the author is the full time carer for her elderly mother, particularly resonated with me. The situations that Wells experienced were familiar and relatable, and she did a fantastic job of articulating the conflicting and complex emotions that affect both parties. Although told from the perspective of the caregiver, it’s not a one-sided story, with the author showing compassion, understanding and love for her mother, and viewing her own role as more than a duty. They have a strained relationship, with some deep seated emotional issues that the author would like to discuss but which she knows are too difficult for her mother to cope with.

Here's where Scrabble comes in, becoming “safe territory”, a way to connect and enjoy each other’s company without conflict arising. Later on, when Wells’ mother is able to live in sheltered housing, these scrabble games, or the lack of them, become a kind of acid test of how their relationship is generally.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys memoir and stories of family dynamics. I think her experiences could be helpful for someone in similar circumstances, and help those on the periphery to see how they can be most supportive and empathetic. The book does deal with emotional neglect and the struggle to come to terms with that, but it’s not a harrowing read and the author managed to handle some really tough situations with humour.

Thank you to Parthian Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

I didn't realise this book was based on the author's relationship with her mother, it was only when i finished the book did I learn this. It did not change my opinion of the book, in fact I reflected more on it. It was a gentle read of a mother and daughter rebuilding their fractious relationship and learning from each other. The selflessness of the daughter giving up her time and having to have a long distance relationship with her partner to look after her mum, who could be irritable was interesting to read about. Being able to bond over a simple joy such as scrabble, reminded me of my old Sunday routine of doing the crossword with my father and how much this game came to mean to Biddy and her mother each day as the crossword meant to myself and my dad. I throughly enjoyed this book and would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing to enjoy this journey.

An interesting and I believet ruthful tale of a mother and daughter coming to terms with the mother's neediness and the daughter's sometime resentment of it. A bit of a learning lesson for all of us of a certain age. I just hope I remember it, when push comes to shove.

I received an advance copy of, Scrabble in the Afternoon by, Biddy Wells. This is a good book, on a subject many people are dealing with, what to do with a sick parent.