Away With The Penguins by Hazel Prior was published in 2020.
It was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and and a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. It was hailed as a feel-good read, which is just what I was looking for.
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Plot
Veronica McCreedy is 85 years old and spends the majority of her time alone in her mansion by the sea. Other than her trusty assistant Eileen, Veronica never has any visitors. She has no known relatives and no friends to speak of and has no idea where she’s going to leave her considerable wealth when she dies.
However after a nature documentary sparks an idea, Veronica embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.
Away With The Penguins Book Review
I really enjoyed this book. Veronica is an unlikely heroine with her cantankerous demeanour, but I found myself warming to her almost immediately. Her character softens as the book goes on but I really liked how stubborn and feisty she was. She was eccentric but generous with a passion for environmental issues.
The story is told over dual timelines. Veronica’s youth during the second world war is told via her diary before switching back to the present day. The current sections were told from the perspectives of Veronica, and two other characters, Patrick and Terry. These sections were all really well connected and there was no confusion considering the different viewpoints.
The story made me laugh and had some surprisingly emotional moments within it too. Is it entirely credible that an 85-year-old woman could just book her own passage and turn up at an Antarctic research station with little to no assistance? Probably not, but I’m willing to overlook that.
I particularly enjoyed the sections from Veronica’s diary detailing her youth and lost love. It really explained her cynical nature but also showed a gentler, softer side to quite a formidable character.
Overall I really enjoyed it, and I’d happily seek out more of Hazel Prior’s novels.
What to read next
Hazel Prior has written a sequel to Away With the Penguins titled, The Call of the Penguins so I’d definitely recommend reading that next.
If you enjoy feel good fiction I’d also recommend books by Libby Page, especially The Lido and The Island Home. I also felt like A Man Called Ove had a similar feel to it.