A patron recommended “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin and I was instantly caught up in the stories of Lenni, age 17 and Margot, age 83. The two women are dying and become friends while patients at the Royal Princess Hospital. Surprisingly, this book is uplifting and often funny, despite the obvious sad premise. I laughed often, and yes, there were a few tears too. This novel was published in 2021, so there shouldn’t be a long wait if you want to read it on Libby.
Lenni is basically living at the hospital because of her ‘life-limiting’ disease. She is determined to LIVE her life because she still has things to do. Margot becomes friends with Lenni and they embark on an art project together – 100 artwork pictures to represent their 100 years of living. During the project, each tells the other stories of events that mattered for certain years. Lenni’s illness isn’t WHO she is – Margot and great cast of secondary characters really bring that truth out. I especially liked Father Arthur, New Nurse, Paul the Porter and Humphrey. (I think my absolute favorite parts of the story were the conversations between Father Arthur and Lenni.)
“The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” was a really unique novel that was very touching and focused on friendship and kindness. There are sad events, but that feeling is really overshadowed by love, hope and caring for fellow humans. So glad our patron recommended this beautiful novel!
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