The members of the recently formed senior citizens club at Mandel Community Centre spring into action when they learn the council is going to demolish the building and redevelop the site. Little does the council realise who they are dealing with.

Clare Pooley has two previous novels, The Authenticity Project and The People On Platform Five, so fans will have an idea of what to expect from How To Age Disgracefully. I'm happy to report that the author has worked her magic again, showing that age is just a state of mind and woe-betide anyone who overlooks someone simply because they look old.

The hilarious opening pages give us a glimpse of what to expect. A minibus carrying a mixture of pensioners and young children is stopped by the police. To much amazement various passengers begin admitting crimes and insist that they are the person that needs to be arrested. The story then jumps back a few months and introduces us to some of those passengers as they join the newly formed social club at the community centre.

Daphne is the main character. Seventy years old and feeling lonely, Daphne talks to her dead husband, the house plants and even the TV, but she doesn't talk to her neighbours. Daphne has barely left her flat in fifteen years but decides now is the time to try and make some friends. It is very easy for the reader to immediately make assumptions about Daphne, however, despite being seventy she's not a pushover. Daphne is feisty, quick-witted, speaks her mind and has some amazing hidden skills. I was convinced throughout that she was a retired spy hiding from an unknown enemy.

Art is very different. He's a little bit older than Daphne and is struggling to accept that his career as an actor is over, a career that never really took off. The main reason for Art's refusal to accept enforced retirement is that he needs the money.

When Daphne and Art stumble across the newly formed social club they meet a strange collection of people. Lydia is nominally in charge, returning to employment now her children have left home. Anna used to be a long-distance lorry driver and terrorises everyone with her mobility scooter. Ruby seems to do nothing but knit strange creations and Penelope is a forthright retired headteacher. We also meet a few others who use the community centre such as Ziggy. Ziggy is still at Sixth Form and has dreams of going to university. Unfortunately, those dreams were dashed when he became a single father. His only hope of finishing Sixth Form is the nursery at the community centre.

You cannot help but like the cast of eccentric characters, particularly when you learn more about their backgrounds. We learn not to jump to conclusions based on age, looks or where someone lives. Through a variety of situations, you are cheering each and every one of the group on. It is impossible to even consider any of them failing, mainly because Daphne is such a formidable leader, able to talk her way out of any situation. While Daphne is able to solve everyone else's problems, it looks like time has run out for her and the secret she has been living with for a long time.

‘Why does everyone assume that once you get past the age of seventy, all you want to do is play bingo and knit?’🧶

Daphne is a woman with a secret and a sense of humour like no other. She joins the Senior Citzen's Club in the hope of making new friends after spending her 70th birthday alone. Horrified at the thought of doing gentle crafts and playing games, Daphne is pleased when her fellow club members, a failed actor turned prolific pilfirer, and a Banksy style yarn bomber agree.

This was hilarious! Such a wide range of characters with great senses of humour all pulled together in the most random circumstances. Daphne is a character I will remember for a long time she has left a huge smile on my face.

A really fabulous book which I will certainly recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

I loved this book! It was such a heart-warming read featuring so many different characters from all walks of life. The storyline focusses around a local community centre and neighbouring nursery which is threatened with closure. We get to meet some wonderful characters in this book and they will all capture your heart from the very beginning. They are all different ages and social circumstances, and they all have their own individual issues or problems which are revealed as their stories move on.

The main storyline flows along so well and I really enjoyed the community rallying round together to save their local services. I also loved the individual side stories for the main characters, who were all so likeable! Whilst I liked them all, I have to admit that Daphne and Art were my favourite, with little Lucky coming a close second! The story is told from the perspectives of the different characters and their own individual storylines worked well. It is such a feel-good book with lots of fun and laughs, but it also had lots of emotional and tender moments which tugged at my heartstrings.

It was such a wonderful read which will appeal to many! The author does a great job of including topics which are easily relatable, and it was great to see how all the characters lives eventually work out. Like the author's other books, this is a definite must-read! Would recommend!

This was a great story with well developed characters. I enjoyed the escapades of the septuagenarians. Heartwarming and laugh out loud moments throughout.

Some great characters and unexpected twists in this feel good story of community action. I was a bit alarmed by 70 being depicted as such a great age -70 is the new 50- but there were some genuinely funny bits and some cheering moments.

Clare Pooley is a new author to me and I enjoyed this book. I don't usually get on with humerous fiction and the first few pages were a bit off-putting as I found the humour a bit too forced. I am glad that I stuck with the book as the story developed well with an interesting cast of characters. As a 70 year old I could relate well to most of them. A good sense of community spirit and a pretty good ending. With thanks to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an e-ARC to read and review.

I laughed out loud whilst reading this book it is fun, witty and compelling
The I no longer give a crap what you think of me attitude and the well written dialogue were a refreshing read considering how many older characters are written with the desire to still be liked by everyone and with the shame of wanting to but feeling unable to live life on their terms
Absolutely will be reading this again

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the arc in exchange of an honest review

Clare Pooley has done it again. I adore her novels. It's refreshing to follow an older main character, who needs to stake out a new direction in her life. As always Pooley perfectly mixes the humorous with the more serious. Her books are feelgood novels with some depth, they explore relationships outside the normal romantic ones and that's something I really appreciate. I'd recommend it for fans of Fredrik Backman and for anyone looking for a great laugh or a tear.

Readers of Claire Pooley will know that she usually writes about groups of people who find themselves together in different situations and in any other circumstances they are unlikely to be friends. All of her books are very sweet and have some great moral messages throughout them. They are very easy reads and this book is no different.

This time our group of people are thrown together through the use of a local community centre. It’s unusual because the age range are babies all the way through to octogenarians. Each character is introduced throughout the story and we slowly learn each of their flaws or goals that they are working towards.

There are some hilarious moments, you will laugh throughout, but then they’re also some very serious moments too. It’s a very happy balance.

I think this is my favourite book of hers so far. I really fell in love with each of the characters. Each of them were very lovable and you wanted each of them to be successful in what they were working towards. It’s not often that conclusions of books are satisfying but it loved every ending in this book. My favourite character was Daphne. I’ll let you work out why when you read it. You won’t want to miss it.

I struggled with the pacing of the plot and was never fully immersed in the story, but I imagine this book will be a great fit for many readers as we head into summer. I can especially see it appealing to fans of Fredrik Backman.

Cozy found family fiction, goes down easy, but ultimately not memorable.

This book was so funny and made me laugh out loud. I loved the characters, the writing style was so easy to read and to follow and I had such a good time reading this story. I highly recommend this books and I will definitely read more books by this author
Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK for this arc

A powerhouse of a book to lift your spirits as you jog along with this group of lively septuagenarians. Hold onto your hat. Claire Pooley brings together and skilfully builds a group of characters finding a new outlet through a community group that is in danger of folding as the council want to close it down. Add a teenage dad, a group of nursery children and a group leader needing to find herself . Have a few laugh out loud moments along with some more serious issues. A superb read

Hilarious!
Lydia starts an over seventies club at the local community centre three afternoons a week. Her outlook is jigsaw puzzles, tea, and cake and bingo. This is not how it goes.
There is Art who is a failed actor. Ruby, the Banksy knitter, Ziggy, who is a teenage father who desperately wants to better himself and my favourite character, Daphne.
The community centre is threatened with closure, and between them and the nursery next door, they hatch a plan to save it.
This really is a laugh out loud book. I can't recommend it enough.
It was lovely to see Iona pop up too.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House uk for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Fabulous character driven escapade with one of my favourite characters yet. Daphne was just perfection, especially as we discovered more about her past. I loved the fact that she was such a force of nature, and the way she brought out the best in all the other characters.
The spiderwebs of the different character arcs were perfect and I really loved the way this small group made such big changes.

Absolutely delightful! A real feel-good story which made me laugh out loud several times. I loved all of the characters which were brilliantly portrayed

A laugh out loud book with a Strong message.
Clare Pooley has written a brilliant that firmly makes the point that the older generations and not to be underestimated, and that anyone who does, be the6 local councillors, two timing husbands, romances scammers,drug dealers or anyone else should be very wary.
Though they are peaceful, conforming and laid back at the start, it gradually becomes clear that thes3 characters are not to be messed with and are definitely growing old disgracefully.
Other generations are included in the book as well, from a one year old upwards and they all have their own issues. Their lives are touched for the good by the seniors.
This book is a joy to read.

This was my second Pooley book and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

I love how there are always such strong characters in her books. Ones that you can really resonate with and others that you think are a bit naff.

Daphne was incredible. She made me laugh and I loved her list of ‘how to make friends.’ There always seems to be a very strong female character and Daphne was definitely it.

The way that all of the characters start off as Individuals and then come together to fix all of the problems is brilliant and I loved that everyone had something to hide.

I think the storylines throughout were great and it touched on lots of subjects that can happen in day to day life.

Another fab character driven book by Claire.

This is my third book by Clare Pooley and I have loved every one of them. Both The People on Platform 5/Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting and The Authenticity Project were five-star reads for me and How to Age Disgracefully does not disappoint. Pooley stuck to what she does best…mix in a bunch of strangers and stir the pot to see what happens. Pooley writes engaging stories that have you cheering the characters on. She deftly blends humour and misery and ends up with a story with a cozy mystery vibe…with no mystery, just a bunch of seniors taking the world on by their own rules.

This story was such a fun romp. I adored Daphne even though I didn’t like her at first. All the characters were pretty likable and we get many points of view but Daphne is the star. Don’t get me wrong, the other characters are wonderfully written but Daphne just seemed to stick out more than the others. The entire time I was reading the book I wondered, can these strangers become friends? Can they be the answer they’re all looking for? They were just such an unlikely bunch to become friends and each other’s answer to their prayers. Funny, sad, moving and quirky Clare Pooley hits another one out of the park.

This was such a fun read! The characters are fantastic, I loved Daphne and wish I had half her fearlessness and audacity, Ziggy is a charmer and Ruby is a laugh-out-loud hoot. The story is outrageous but brilliantly told by the cast of characters and rattles along at a great pace. I loved every word of it!