Sipsworth - Simon Van Booy - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Simon Van Booy
NARRATOR: Christine Rendel
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
PUBLICATION DATE: April 5, 2024
RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A beautiful contemporary fiction about an old lady and a mouse. Covers several dark as well as light themes. Loved this unusual story that isn't like the other golden-years fiction novels thronging the book market. Recommended!


Plot Preview:
After sixty years in Australia, eighty-three-year-old Helen Cartwright has returned to Westminster to spend her final years in her childhood hometown. She knows she doesn't have much time left and she has made her peace with it. After all, she's alone in the world, and has no one and nothing to live for. However, one day, due to her own error, a mouse enters her house. And suddenly, her life has a new purpose.
The story comes to us in Helen's close third-person perspective.


At its simplest, this is just the story of a lonely old lady and a lonely not-so-old mouse. But can a simple premise turn into a memorable reading experience with good storytelling? Indeed, it can!


Bookish Yays:
🐭 There are so many books these days with geriatric characters in the lead, all focusing on the beauty of these so-called golden years, with the characters still spry and enjoying life to the fullest. They join various clubs, enter new romantic relationships, come out from the closet, and even solve murders. As such, this new genre has become too formulaic too soon. This book breaks the pattern in a refreshing way.

🐭 Helen is such a lovely character. A typical old lady and yet not so typical. You can feel her loneliness and grief even when she denies it. I especially enjoyed her random mildly-crotchety observations on today's world.

🐭 Sipsworth. The titular character. Also the name of Helen’s murine housemate. Most of us love books with dogs and cats, but this book will make you look at mice differently. (But not *so* differently that you would begin to welcome mice in your home! 😉)

🐭 The various secondary characters who become a part of Helen’s life, whether she likes it or not. I won't reveal their details as it takes a while for them to pop up in the story, but they are all nice and loveable. Perhaps a bit too good to be true, but who cares!? This is feelgood fiction!

🐭 The easy storytelling with many heartwarming moments and even a few tense ones. There is also enough humour, with the comic elements being more subtle than slapstick. Loved all of this!

🐭 Short chapters that are put to great use without making us feel like the story is rushing.

🐭 Just because this is a straightforward narrative, don't think that there's no twist. There's one surprising reveal that truly impressed me!


Bookish Mixed Bags:
🐁 The ending is a bit too abrupt. Don’t get me wrong: it's complete and even quite satisfying. But I wanted much more! Especially keeping in mind that this is feelgood fiction, I would have loved a Bollywoodish happy-hugs-galore kind of ending, though without the final group song. 😆


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 5 hours 10 minutes, is narrated by Christine Rendel. She is EXCELLENT! Her voice brings Helen's personality to life. It was so refreshing to hear a voice for an older character actually sound older. Her tempo was too slow for my liking, but this was a non-issue as an increase in the speed worked wonders. I'd definitely recommend the audio version. The straightforward timeline and the fabulous narration, combined with the shorter listening length, would make this a great option even for audiobook newbies.


All in all, I'm glad I read this book when I was in the mood for something slow and sweet. The characters and the storyline both work excellently in unison. It's nice to have feelgood fiction that's light without being comic or romantic.

Much recommended when you want something heartwarming and mellow and somewhat quirky.

My thanks to HighBridge Audio for providing the ALC of “Sipsworth” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

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