Reverend Author said he was better with ‘what’, ‘who’ , and ‘how’ questions, more than ‘why’ questions. No-one knows that better than seventeen-year-old Lenni. But as she is about to learn, it's not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.

Fiercely alive, disarmingly funny and brimming with tenderness, THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT unwraps the extraordinary gift of life, and revels in our infinite capacity for friendship and love when we need them most. I loved this comment by Margot “Into a room full of octogenarians she strode, with a confidence beyond her years. She was fierce, thin, with that bright blond hair of Nordic children. She had a face full of mischief and a pair of pink pajamas”. Margot and Lenni start to draw, paint and tell stories about the years of their lives.

Set in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, Marianne Cronin's debut novel is sprinkled with magic and star dust as it relate Your heart is beating and your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing. You’re sitting in this room completely alive. And so you’re not dying. You’re living.” We have practiced for death every night. Lying down in the dark and slipping into that place of nothingness between rest and dreams where we have no consciousness, no self, and anything could befall our vulnerable bodies. We have died each night. Or at least, we have laid down to die, and let go of everything in this world, hoping for dreams and morning.”

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?! 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. Lenni is 17 and is in the May Ward of the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital because she has a terminal disease. Ooops, sorry. Lenni tells us staff are supposed to say “life-limiting” now instead of terminal – and anyway, terminal makes her think of an airport terminal. Note her reference to the airport children, above. She is bright and funny and openly questioning of everything. From one of the nation’s most beloved writers, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who seek refuge in an old Connecticut beach house. Lenni and Arthur have very different opinions, but they manage to be friends anyway. What do you think makes them so compatible?Join us for the next meeting of the WWN Book Club. We will be reading The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. We hope you will join us for a great discussion. New members are always welcome! What I mean is, you’re not dying right now. In fact, right now you’re living.’ Margot and I both watched her try to explain. ‘Your heart is beating and your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing. You’re sitting in this room completely alive. And so you’re not dying. You’re living.”

They paint pictures for the years of their lives and during these times.. they tell each other the stories of their lives so far. Narrator Sheila Reid performs fantastically as Father Arthur. Lenni has questions and concerns, and Father Arthur is earnest in his duties to answer Lenni the best he can. Their exchanges made me giggle and snort while listening. The life stories Lenni and Margot tell are the heart and soul of this book. I dare you not to feel the full impact of the richness and depth of their stories. The humor and tears, joy and heartbreak, the isolation and loneliness of illness, grief through the loss of a loved one, and the power and love of friendship will hit you like a punch to the gut!A beautiful friendship if formed between 17 year old Lenni and 83 year old Margot during their hospital stay. They celebrate each other and their life experiences in this wonderful story of life, memories, friendship and love. It was heartening that she connects with eighty three year old Margot, a heart patient awaiting surgery. A loving relationship develops between them as they join forces in their one hundred years, the total of their ages by taking an art class and painting memories of years in their lives. But it isn’t just the paintings that have meaning, it is the stories behind them that they tell each other sharing memories, joyful and sad, of loss and love. This is how they become a light in each other’s life. Lenni makes other friends as well, including the elderly priest Father Arthur, who really can’t answer Lenni’s questions about life, death and God. But it doesn’t matter as another beautiful friendship is forged with Lenni bringing understanding and joy to Father Arthur. 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.

Eighty three year old Margot is at the same hospital due to heart problems that required surgery and will require more surgery. Lenni and Margot first catch sight of each other as Margot is trying to fish something out of a recycling bin and Lenni distracts the porter and nurse so that Margot can accomplish her rescue effort. Later Lenni gets herself enrolled in the art class for eighty years and up so that she can spend time with Margot. Margot and Lenni decide to record their combined 100 years of life with their artwork. Margot is a talented artist and for her 83 years of life Lenni records the stories that Margot tells with each picture she creates. Lenni's artwork is not of the same artistic talent but I would love to have gotten to see the pictures she made of her 17 years. What do you think happens to Margot after the end of the book? Do you think she makes it to Vietnam to see Meena again? No,' she said gently, linking her arm through mine, 'it's not depressing, it's beautiful. They've been gone for who knows how long, but we can still see them. They live on.' The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson and takes you on a memorable one-hundred-year journey during the 11 hours of listening time. A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.I was astonished to learn that this book was written by a debut author. Marianne Cronin admits herself it took her six years to complete this novel and it was wholeheartedly worth the wait. Lenni and Margot will be forever etched on my memory and on learning that this book is being adapted into a movie by a top Hollywood studio, I wait with bated breath for this touching tale to come to life on the big screen. Does the Temp and the Homeless Man’s relationship mirror Lenni’s relationship with her father? Margot’s relationship with Johnny? They’ve started to say “life-limiting” instead now. “Children and young people with life-limiting conditions . . .” 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.