rabck from Queen72; started out a bit live A Man Called Ove, but then detoured between Eudora's life during and after the war, and her starting to branch out just a little in current day. Rose was a delight, and I kept wishing that Beatrice would get the help she needed - but of course, there wasn't anything except shock treatment back then. ( )

A joy ( )

A story that pulls your heartstrings. Was crying a at the end. It tells of a woman who felt duty bound to care for her mother and sister instead of having a life of her own. She had trouble letting others care for her and be her friend. A new 10 yr old neighbor causes her to become more open to letting others in. Kirkus: Eudora Honeysett is 85 and wants the privilege of dying on her own terms. And soon, please.Growing up in England during World War II, 10-year-old Eudora watches her father go off to fight. When a knock on the door brings the devastating news that he will not be returning, Eudora finds herself living up to her promise to take care of her mother and sister. After a life of sacrifice and heartbreak interspersed with joyful moments, she now watches the world outside her window with a jaded eye. Eudora does some research and finds an agency in Switzerland that just might be the answer to her wish to die. She soon finds herself on the phone with the agency explaining why she is ready to pull the plug. In the midst of her death plans, a rambunctious knock at the door brings an annoyance in the form of 10-year-old Rose, a new neighbor who?s irrepressibly joyful and not to be ignored. Rose introduces Eudora to Stanley, an elderly neighbor, and they soon become an unlikely trio, enjoying life at Rose?s whim. When Eudora tells her pals she?s off to Switzerland for a ?vacation,? Rose sends her off with a promise to bring back a Toblerone, and Stanley drives her to the airport. Then there is a phone call that challenges Eudora?s plans and forces her to decide what really matters. Lyons? characters are unique and wonderful, portrayed with a depth that allows readers to understand their motivations and empathize with them. Her childhood promise directed most of Eudora?s choices in life except for one that haunts her. Quirky, insightful Rose is bullied and thus gravitates to her kindly older friends. Stanley recently lost his wife and struggles to regain his footing. And yet the trio's unlikely camaraderie has the power to rejuvenate them all, showing that good friendship makes life worth living.A sensitive examination of human connections that can both damage and heal.

This book is a delight. Bittersweet, sad, and almost unbearable happiness and how all of these emotions affect one particularly unique woman and cause her to consider how she has lived her life, and how, at the end of her life, why she is considering all her options for how she will choose to end it.. This is a very moving and poignantly hopeful novel about Eudora Honeysett and how she is dealing with her end-of-life decisions. Just when she thinks she has a plan, along comes ten-year old Rose Terwidney. Rose enters like a whirlwind into her life when her family move in next door. At the same time she meets Stanley who has been recently widowed. Eudora's whole life opens up after that fateful knock on the door. Eudora becomes close to the Terwidney family and Stanley's family while at the same time she reminisces about her earlier life. She suffered the devastating loss of her father in 1940, at the very beginning of World War II, and at the age of 12, she effectively becomes the head of her household as her mother's unconsolable grief traps her forever in the year of 1940. To say that Eudora is jaded when we meet her in this book, is an understatement. To see her come out of her shell and blossom with these wonderful people in her life. gives us all hope for a bright future. These are characters that will stay with you long after your close the pages on this book. ( )

Eudora Honeysett is 85 and she is tired of being tired, and the other encumbrances felt by a 85 year- old body. When she found an institution that would help her transition, embraced the idea of freedom from pain and old age.

Then, she met Rose, a ten year old little girl who provided life and love and adventure. And, her life was turned upside down by this wise loving little girl, and a mutual older man whose name is Stanley.

Their bond causes Eudora to question life and death.

While I enjoyed the relationship of Eudora, and her two new friends, at times, the book felt disconnected and I had difficulty following the story. ( )