#MacmillanAudio review of The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Today I'm featuring yet another fantastic offering from Macmillan Audio a delightful Brit-Lit that's funny, poignant and full of hope and where the narrators make the audio edition a highly entertaining way to enjoy this wonderful novel.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:
 9781250751850

Publisher: Macmillan Audio


Release Date: 8-18-2020


Length:
 10 hours-11 minutes

Source:
 Publisher through Netgalley for review

Buy It: Audible

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in The Switch, a charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary, who has been hailed as “the new Jojo Moyes” (Cosmopolitan UK)...
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

So they decide to try a two-month swap.

Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll take Leena’s flat, and learn all about casual dating, swiping right, and city neighbors. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire: Eileen’s sweet cottage and garden, her idyllic, quiet village, and her little neighborhood projects.

But stepping into one another's shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected. Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find true love? In Beth O'Leary's The Switch, it's never too late to change everything....or to find yourself.

Listen to an excerpt:

MacmillanAudio · The Switch by Beth O'Leary, audiobook excerpt

My Macmillan Audio review:

The Switch
Beth O’Leary
Narrated by: Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones

Beth O’Leary’s latest is a sweet, heartwarming Brit-chick-lit about love, loss and starting over. With a combination of humor and somber, a steady paced plot and exceptional visualizations Beth weaves her intriguing entertaining tale starting with a realistic dose of dysfunctional family dynamics and fixing those dynamics by the end of her story. The two main protagonists Eileen and Leena are the genuine real deal and both are stand outs in the novel, Eileen is insightful and wise and Leena is compassionate and caring and it’s fun to watch them both get the nudge they need to be the best they can be. If you love chick-lit, women’s fiction or just a good story with fantastic family dynamics, the novels of Kristan Higgins or Susan Elizabeth Phillips this is your next must read.

NARRATION:
The narration duo of Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones is brilliant both are spot on for their respective characters bringing all the crucial emotions and perfect voice intonations and making the audio version the way to go.

Grandmother Eileen Cotton and her granddaughter namesake Leena Cotton haven’t dealt well with the death of Carla, Leena’s sister. Eileen is also dealing with her husband leaving her for a younger woman and Leena can’t seem to put her head into her work and its starting to cost the company clients, so they decided to switch lives for a while. Leena will take a sabbatical from work and move into her grandmother’s cottege in the country and Eileen will move into Leena’s London flat. This will give Eileen the chance to dip her toes into big city online dating and it will give Leena the chance to slow down while taking over her grandmother’s live. At first the two are both fish out of water but soon they start to get into a rhythm and pieces start falling into place. Can it last for the two months they’ve planned for or will something else happen to upset the apple cart?

Praise:

"Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman team up as a fun, quirky grandmother and granddaughter pair in this lively narration...The two narrators, each portraying her respective character's point of view, are a perfect match." (AudioFile Magazine)

This program is read by British actors Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, star of Hulu's Normal People.

“The Switch brilliantly encompasses all the humor and whimsy of The Flatshare while delving into emotional topics like grief and the importance of watching out for neighbors. Charismatic Eileen stands out as the star of this witty, joyful show, illustrating that mature women need love, too.”
—Booklist, starred review

"[A] cozy, hopeful escape that will make readers laugh, cry, or feel inspired." —Kirkus, starred review

“The Switch was refreshing, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. This story has everything you could ask for: witty characters, strong female relationships and a view about love that’d make anyone hopeful.” —Helena Hunting, New York Times bestselling author

“I am SO LOVING The Switch! It's so sweet and uplifting and SUCH a balm in these wretched times.” —Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author

“Reading this felt like checking in on old friends. A bright, life-affirming story with beautifully rich characters.” –Abby Jimenez, bestselling author of The Friend Zone

“I loved it! It was a total joy to read. I loved the concept, the relationship between Eileen and Leena and the wonderful cast of friends both in London and Yorkshire. And it was such a breath of fresh air to read about a 79-year old woman dating (and even – hurrah! – having sex!) The exact kind of thing I believe we need to see more of in books and films. Eileen gives me great hope for the future! I shall be recommending it to my friends.”
—Libby Page, author of The Lido

About the author:

Beth O’Leary worked in children's publishing before becoming a full-time author. She is also the author of the Sunday Times bestselling novel The Flatshare, which has been translated into more than thirty languages. https://www.betholearyauthor.com/