The Lido: The most uplifting, feel-good summer read of the year: The uplifting, feel-good Sunday Times bestseller about the power of friendship and community

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The story takes place over twenty-four hours at Stella’s, a London café that has a style all of its own, sharing glimpses of the lives of two of its waitresses, best friends Hannah and Mona, and some of its customers. Over the course of the day we get to know these people, see what they’re going through, what matters to them and how their interactions with each other affect their lives, some in ways they don’t expect. It is a story about life, love, friendships, dreams and heartache. We see people at their best and their worst, when they are at their happiest and when their life is falling apart.

This book is like a hug! Kate, is on the brink of a journalist career and feels more comfortable in her books than she does in real life. Rosemary aged 86, is upset to think the lido might be closing and wants to try everything she can to save it. Kate starts to write a story about it and their joint friendships and campaign begins in earnest. There is a real warmth, gentleness, kindness and sensitivity to the novel, and it has a cast of well-drawn characters. The cafe in question is near to a busy London mainline and Tube station and is an oasis for those who need a coffee and a rest at anytime of the day and night. Those who work there are the main characters , but the customers provide us with cameos and short stories within the novel. I thought this worked really well and I could envisage every one of them. Another major issue I have with The Lido is the fact that nothing was a surprise, nothing was “new” either in the story or the way it was told. Every change seemed to follow an old script and was telegraphed well ahead. Yes it is a nice story and there are people to feel for, but there is no edge, no true surprising detail to grab me, the reader, and make me take note. Perhaps I am asking more than this book is purporting to provide, but when I read, I want something that might surprise me, perhaps treat an old subject in a slightly new way. This book simply did not do that for me. Now, Rosemary's beloved Lido, which has been in existence since 1937 is under threat of closure. It seems a large property company want to buy the real estate it sits upon to build a gym and tennis courts for their tenants.I devoured this book in under twenty-four hours and just couldn’t put it down. It was an easy but immersive read, with interesting characters that felt real and relatable. I immediately cared about Hannah, our first narrator, and felt the same about each character as they were introduced. I loved the different stories the author created for each narrator and how she made me genuinely care about them individually. The writing was uplifting and alluring, transporting me to this world that felt real, the vivid descriptions of Stella’s making me want to hop on a train to London and go there.

When Kate thinks of Erin and her life “she feels left behind, as though Erin has run off into the distance and Kate is left frozen on the starting line terrified by the sound of the gun marking the start of the race” (55). Compare Kate’s view of Erin’s life with its reality. Are there any issues that Erin struggles with? What does Erin think of Kate? What causes the two to open up to each other? Were you surprised by any of their disclosures? Along the way, the reader becomes immersed in the community of Brixton. The myriad cultures represented in its population. Even the wildlife get a few mentions. We meet Rosemary's many friends. The gay couple who run the local bookshop. The man who sells her produce, a teenage boy who swims at the lido, a new mother who brings her baby to the pool. .. Welcome to the café that never sleeps. Day and night Stella’s Café opens its doors for the lonely and the lost, the morning people and the night owls. It is many things to many people but most of all it is a place where life can wait at the door. A place of small kindnesses. A place where anyone can be whoever they want, where everyone is always welcome. Kate is told she should interview eighty-six year-old Rosemary Peterson, who has been coming to the pool almost daily for eighty years. Rosemary agrees to the interview IF Kate will go swimming in the pool. And that one acts changes Kate's life. Soon she and Rosemary have become fast friends and Kate is helping to organize a protest to stop the sale.

This item contains adult content

Now that I have finished The Lido, I have found that nothing happened that I hadn’t anticipated early in my reading. During the second half of the book, the impact of interpersonal emotions did feel more real and earned, as the characters slowly revealed themselves to each other. An early problem for me was that Kate, a very prominent character, dominated much of the early chapters but was too closed off, even from herself, to make those chapters feel as real as they needed to be.