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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t even know where to begin with this book please bear with me my review will be very very long, the reason is because I didn’t feel like I was reading a book, It felt like I was sitting in the quiet of someone else’s soul. Like being trusted with something fragile. When I first started it I thought I was just walking into a story about an elderly woman and a mouse. And technically, I was. But what I found was something so much deeper, something that settled into me in ways I wasn’t prepared for.
A little background about the novel: Helen Cartwright, the main character, isn’t dramatic or loud. She’s not fighting some sweeping war or chasing a grand dream. She’s just....alone. Living in a small house with “a mustard door,” trying to make peace with the past. A son she no longer has, a husband she still misses, a life she left behind. Her days are quiet. Her pain is quiet. But the ache of it though....it knocked the breath out of me. I was crying and sobbing every single page.
["Everyone she has ever loved or wanted to love is gone, and behind a veil of fear she wishes to be where they are.”]
That line….I had to close the book and just sit with it and I wasn't even halfway maybe 10% in??
What really undid me, though, was how beautifully the author captures the loneliness that can come later in life. It’s not a kind of sadness that begs for attention. It’s the kind that folds itself into a daily routine like toast, tea, moving things in a cupboard just to pass time. It made me think of people I’ve known. Family members. Even parts of myself.
But then, this mouse. Sipsworth 🐁
This tiny, uninvited guest becomes the thing that shifts everything. Not dramatically. Not instantly. But gently. Helen starts talking again. Laughing. Feeling protective. Feeling needed. And somehow, this little mouse brings her back to life. There were so many moments I just had to stop reading because the words felt too raw. Too true. I didn’t expect to cry reading this book. But I did. Quietly. A few times. It wasn’t a dramatic sob maybe more like a slow, steady ache rising to the surface. Because the book wasn't trying to manipulate your emotions. It just tells the truth in a way that’s kind, and slow, and almost sacred. Seriously by the end I found myself thinking about my own memories; about people who are gone, about the small things we carry when big things are too heavy. I was surprised how deeply I needed a book like this that's why it took so long for me to make a review after having to read it weeks ago. A reminder that even in the smallness of our days, even at the edge of life, something unexpected, something alive—can still arrive.
Even a mouse 🐭
If you’re feeling tender, or a bit lost, or just need to remember that healing can come in quiet forms, please please please I beg of you READ THIS BOOK! It definitely changed me.
♾️⭐️
A little background about the novel: Helen Cartwright, the main character, isn’t dramatic or loud. She’s not fighting some sweeping war or chasing a grand dream. She’s just....alone. Living in a small house with “a mustard door,” trying to make peace with the past. A son she no longer has, a husband she still misses, a life she left behind. Her days are quiet. Her pain is quiet. But the ache of it though....it knocked the breath out of me. I was crying and sobbing every single page.
["Everyone she has ever loved or wanted to love is gone, and behind a veil of fear she wishes to be where they are.”]
That line….I had to close the book and just sit with it and I wasn't even halfway maybe 10% in??
What really undid me, though, was how beautifully the author captures the loneliness that can come later in life. It’s not a kind of sadness that begs for attention. It’s the kind that folds itself into a daily routine like toast, tea, moving things in a cupboard just to pass time. It made me think of people I’ve known. Family members. Even parts of myself.
But then, this mouse. Sipsworth 🐁
This tiny, uninvited guest becomes the thing that shifts everything. Not dramatically. Not instantly. But gently. Helen starts talking again. Laughing. Feeling protective. Feeling needed. And somehow, this little mouse brings her back to life. There were so many moments I just had to stop reading because the words felt too raw. Too true. I didn’t expect to cry reading this book. But I did. Quietly. A few times. It wasn’t a dramatic sob maybe more like a slow, steady ache rising to the surface. Because the book wasn't trying to manipulate your emotions. It just tells the truth in a way that’s kind, and slow, and almost sacred. Seriously by the end I found myself thinking about my own memories; about people who are gone, about the small things we carry when big things are too heavy. I was surprised how deeply I needed a book like this that's why it took so long for me to make a review after having to read it weeks ago. A reminder that even in the smallness of our days, even at the edge of life, something unexpected, something alive—can still arrive.
Even a mouse 🐭
If you’re feeling tender, or a bit lost, or just need to remember that healing can come in quiet forms, please please please I beg of you READ THIS BOOK! It definitely changed me.
♾️⭐️
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A cozy, peaceful read about an old woman who is effectively biding her time until she dies, reminiscing on her life in Australia where her now deceased son and husband lived -- and then she finds a mouse.