Away with the Penguins
Hazel Prior
Having read it
★★★★☆
An enjoyable read that, despite its slightly plodding middle section of diary entries to help provide perspective and some reasoning for why things are like they are for the lead, had good supporting characters, well-observed moments and a dash of humour that helped propel things, just like a tobogganing penguin!
A good passage
It takes some time to convince her [Eileen, Veronica’s cleaner] that, yes, I am absolutely in possession of my marbles.
A second good passage
‘Your policy?’ I [Veronica] enquire, imbuing the word with scorn. I detest policies. People are forever constructing policies to cover a general purpose, then they get trapped by those policies and become slaves to them; they feel they must obey them in every situation, blindly ignoring common sense or kindness. This policy is a prime example of such absurdity.’
A third good passage
I [Patrick, Veronica’s grandson] bet the scientists are miffed. First they get an eighty-six-year-old who’s spicy as a vindaloo and stubborn as a wild goat. Next she goes and gets herself dangerously ill. Then, on the ship that should have taken her back, they have me arriving instead – looniest grandson on the planet.
Mind you, they’re a bit of a bunch themselves, these three snow-musketeers.