FICTION

Three Things About Elsie By Joanna Cannon, Borough Press, £14.99 Review by Rachel Howdle

It is rare to come across a book that is thoughtful, insightful and filled with suspense until the last page.

Joanna Cannon’s previous novel, The Trouble With Goats And Sheep, was equally well thought-out.

In Three Things About Elsie, we are introduced to 84-year-old Florence, who has had a fall in her nursing home.

Florence lives at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly and keeps herself to herself, apart from her inseparable life-long best friend, Elsie.

Then a face from her distant past returns. She can’t put her finger on why, though, and his name isn’t right.

Can Flo work through her tangled memories and remember long-buried secrets before her time runs out?

Cannon’s characteristically smart handling of Flo’s misadventures through her memory to find that missing block is both light and yet heartbreaking at the same time.

A joy to read.