Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You by Annie Lyons

A charming, uplifting and page-turning contemporary fiction of 2020!

Life is precious and as long as we have a reason to continue, we should follow that path.

Meet Eudora Honeysett, a 85-year-old grumpy woman who’s had enough of life. She has no living relatives or friends. She spent most of her 85 years looking after her mother (she promised her dad she would) and losing potential suitors and friends in the process. She now stays with a nasty cat called Montgomery.

Eudora learns of an assisted death facility in Switzerland and writes to them for help. Forms are sent back and forth and the authorities get in touch with Eudora. They are worried Eudora might be depressed but Eudora convinces them she’s just had enough of it all and wants to die peacefully. (She has nobody to look after her if she falls sick.)

A family moves in next door. Meet Rose, a ten-year-old girl with an ‘outrageous fashion statement’ – as Eudora likes to call it, Maggie (heavily pregnant Rose’s mum) and Rob (Rose’s dad). A few houses across lives Stanley Marcham, a widower who owns two annoying yippy (as Eudora likes to call them) dogs.

The authorities at the assisted death facility tell Eudora to enjoy life as much as she can in her final days. They are yet to process her application but they sense Eudora’s unhappy.

Eudora marks her calendar with the words “FREEDOM” soon after ending her first call with the assisted death facility. As days pass by, Rose makes an impact in Eudora’s life. The word “FREEDOM” gives Eudora a whole new reason to cherish life as much as she can.

Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You by Annie Lyons is a magnificent book. Some books make an impact on our lives forever and Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You is one such book. This book talks about death in a way we have never heard before.

Death is one topic nobody wants to talk about – it’s like a taboo. Though we are aware that one day we would die, we still push that lingering thought away. Embrace death and live life to the fullest. It is normal to be afraid of death. We really do not know how death feels like, do we?

The story alternates between the past and the present. We see Eudora reflecting on her past – the times she spent with her mother Beatrice and her sister Stella. Eudora has always put her loved ones’ needs before hers. The decisions she’s made so far has molded her into who she is now, a grumpy, no-nonsense old woman.

When a little packet of energy called Rose walks into Eudora’s life, Eudora gets a second chance at life. But… Eudora still wants to go through the easy way when it comes to death. Will Rose, Maggie and Stanley finally be able to change Eudora’s mind? Only time will tell…

Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You is a beautifully written book. The credits goes to the author Annie Lyons for capturing many a heart through this story. This book makes you laugh and also makes you cry. Whoever said ‘behind a rude and grumpy person is a dark and hurtful past’ is true and we see the proof of it in this book. Also, family does not mean the ones with whom we share a part of DNA. Family can also mean those who are there to support us – laugh with us in happy moments and cry with us in our sad moments.

A heartfelt story of friendship, love and death, Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You is a must-read book (in a lifetime).

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Many thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC.

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