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Lenni, a terminally ill teenage girl, befriends an elderly woman (Margot) in an art class at the hospital where they both are residing. Lenni is looking for somewhere to fit in, in this odd situation, and decides the class for the older folks is where she feels best, rather than the groups designed for those of her own age.
If you were going to paint memories from all the years of your life – which moment or memory would you paint first? revenge is the only thing you can do to satisfy your anger, but you might find that after time has passed, forgiveness is what has done you the most good, is what you are most proud of.” Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South. I am a huge fan of the audio production of “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin, narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson. Warning, the last hour you will be crying….ugly crying….you are warned. Lenni is 17 years old, has a gift for painting, is dying from a terminal disease and… wants to know why?
Lenni is 17 years old, she is dying. Margot is 83 years old, she is awaiting heart surgery. These two normally would not have had occasion to meet each other. However because of their health status, both find themselves occupants of wards near each other in the “Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital.” With a sensibility that's as compassionate and quirky as those of her two indelible heroines, Marianne Cronin offers a deceptively lighthearted response to life’s heaviest questions. As Lenni and Margot leave their mark on one another, so too does this tearjerker of a book leave its mark on the reader.”— Kathleen Rooney, author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walkand Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey An amusing chance encounter between Lenni and Margot, followed by an actual meeting in the new art therapy class sees an unlikely blossoming friendship form. Together they decide to paint one hundred paintings, each representing a story from their combined lives – 83 pictures for Margot, 17 for Lenni, 100 in total. A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances, this is the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and The Giver of Stars. They meet in the hospital and develop a friendship in art class. They embark on an amazing project, a painting for each year of their lives. Along the way they tell their stories to go along with each painting and we get to know their whole life story. An unlikely but sweet and powerful friendship.
This is a wonderful and beautiful story despite the fact that Lenni is dying, she’s living her last months with as much joy as she can. It captivates, grabs you by the heartstrings and makes you laugh out loud at some of a Lenni’s actions and innovative thinking. The ending is a deeply emotional tear jerker and really touches you as you feel as if you have become friends with the characters. Ensure tissues at the ready. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is a remarkably good novel. That being said, the voice acting of Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson takes the story to a new level. The accents are beautiful, and the emotions are pure. If you are fortunate enough to have a choice, listen to this book. You will want the narrator’s voices speaking Lenni, Margot, and Father Arthurs words. This is one of those cases where the voice actors take the story to an entirely new level. Book Club and Discussion Questions (SPOILERS) Follow seventeen-year-old Lenni and eighty-three-year-old Margot as they celebrate their shared century. Together they decide to paint their life stories: of growing old and staying young, of giving joy, of receiving kindness, of losing love, of finding the person who is everything. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is not a book about illness – it is a joyous, heartfelt and sometimes funny story about life. The two unlikely friends provide strength to one another as they face the inevitable. In addition to Lenni and Margot, there is a wonderful cast of characters who add warmth, depth and humor to this incredible tale. Lenni is an inquisitive and funny 17-year-old girl. She is also terminally ill. The Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital is now her home. When she meets Margot, a gravely ill, 83-year-old fellow patient, they form a close bond. Lenni is intrigued by the fact that their combined ages total 100 years. Together in their art therapy class, they decide to create 100 paintings to document each year of their lives. Through the details behind each of the paintings, we learn their stories.
I think the same is true of dying. We can’t know why you are dying in the same way that we can’t know why you are living. Living and dying are both complete mysteries, and you can’t know either until you have done both.” Lenni will tell us about her first kiss, her alcoholic mother, the father who ultimately leaves her. What moments would you paint from your life, excluding marriages, births, and deaths? Are there any simple, everyday moments that you would describe for Lenni?
This multi-generational novel about friendship is something special: moving, joyful, and life-affirming.”— Good Housekeeping, UK (Book of the Month) Sharp and funny, warm and wise, a remarkable friendship sparks two lifetimes of shared stories in one unforgettable book. I loved it.”— Jess Kidd, author of Himself I started this book with zero expectations. I didn't know what story I was reading or what this book was about but I can tell you that it has been one of the best books I have read in my life. Lenni and Margot’s story definitely made me cry a few times, and the journey was worth every tear. This book isn’t just about Lenni’s terminal illness. It’s about the depth of friendship and love, overcoming immense grief, and the beauty in humanity.The “assignment” for the project is to paint a memory, through which we learn the brief tale of Lenni’s life, along with the complicated, and fascinating, past of our elderly heroine Margot. Lenni, of course, as we easily predict she will, dies before the end of the novel. Margot, age 83, has a serious heart condition. She had one surgery and is staying in the hospital until she is strong enough for a second surgery. Margot is a talented artist, so when the new Rose Room art studio opens in the hospital, she is one of the first to sign up for the over 80 class. She is very surprised when the young Lenni confidently marches into this octogenarian class and makes herself at home. When Lenni realizes that she and Margot have been alive a combined 100 years, they embark on a journey to make 100 paintings to celebrate their lives. As their extraordinary friendship deepens, it becomes vividly clear that life is not done with Lenni and Margot yet. Lenni, já te aconteceu perder algo importante como as chaves de casa, os óculos ou o telemóvel e… procurares, procurares, procurares… até que… já frustrada e esgotada… finalmente desistes?!
A gorgeous, heartbreaking story readers won't soon forget." — Elle (Most Anticipated Books of 2021) Set in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, Marianne Cronin's debut novel is sprinkled with magic and star dust as it relates the intergenerational friendship and love that develops between the vibrant, full of life, Swedish born, 17 year old Lenni Pettersson and 83 year old Margot Macrae. Lenni is a resident of the May ward, for those with life limiting/terminal illnesses, she goes searching for answers for fundamental philosophical questions of life from Father Arthur, her candour a joy to behold and have a host of characters enter her life, providing her with a family she could hardly have forseen. Whilst her life is to be cruelly cut short at such a young age, she is to metaphorically live a longer one through the experience of the joys, love, losses, and grief of Margot's well lived life, who is in hospital for heart surgery. Seventeen-year-old LenniPetterssonlives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though the teenager has been told she’s dying, she still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital’s arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined.The chapters alternate between the two women. Most cover a slice or slices of one of their lives from the past, each of which is inspiration for a painting. Other chapters take place in present time. For reasons you will find out, neither Lenni nor Margot has a close family member nearby. They just have each other. Then there are New Nurse, Father Arthur, Pippa the art facilitator, and Paul the Porter. All these people eventually become a part of the makeshift family as well.
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