I’m a big fan of Beth O’Leary. I adored her debut The Flatshare, and was delighted that her second book, The Switch, was as equally warm, witty, and full of heart. I loved Beth’s premise of a generational location swap, and her focus on a grandmother and granddaughter relationship was as refreshing as it was heartwarming. Eileen Cotton was such a character. One, as Anstey Harris fabulously described, proves you don’t have to be in your thirties to be Bridget Jones.

A gentle, feel good romcom for 2020.

Oh wow!!! Loved the flatshare and absolutely loved this one. Had me cracking up laughing throughout. I adore Eileen!!! She was brilliant! 5 stars! A must read

I remember reading Beth O’Leary’s debut novel, The Flatshare, and loving everything about it: the characters, plot development and overall premise of the story. I was eager to read something else by Beth O’Leary.
I am glad that The Switch was an excellent read and completely different to The Flatshare. The book was beyond any expectation that I could comprehend. The premise of the plot is genius! Having the characters, Leena and Eileen, granddaughter and grandmother switch lives is iconic!! Leena, taking a two month sabbatical, wanting to escape her life in London seeks comfort in the small Yorkshire town of Hamleigh, and Eileen wanting a second chance at finding love - where’s better than London to try find it?
The writing style is witty, charming, and easy to absorb; allowing the reader to gain a great insight into both Leena and Eileen’s experiences and adjustment to their new lives post switch. This book took me longer than usual to read as I wanted to savour as much of it as possible! I highly, highly recommend! It’s a phenomenal read - I think that it would go on my ‘favourite books’ list. As a new favourite addition to my book collection, I cannot wait for the movie adaptation of it to be released! It’s the perfect book to be adapted into a movie! It will definitely be interesting to see how the book is brought to life.

I rarely rate books as 5 stars, which is what I'd rather Beth O'Leary's debut novel, 'The Flat Share'. I'm really happy to say that I also loved 'The Switch' and would definitely recommend it to my customers!

The book tells the story of Eileen and Leena, a grandmother and granddaughter pair, who decide to take a break from their lives and swap places with each other for 2 months (a similar set up to the film 'The Holiday') in order to find themselves again.

The story was very character-driven, with a slow-paced, yet charming, plot. I adored Eileen, as I'm sure many readers will, and was rooting for her the entire way through!

'The Switch' is just a lovely, lovely book and I would highly recommend it.

I received an Arc of this from Netgalley a while ago but ultimately ended up putting this book back into my TBR until I was in a better mindset to read it. I love this author but I haven’t felt up to reading this as of yet. Thank you again for sending me this Arc.

I wanted to like this book, as I thought the idea of a rural grandmother swapping lives with her Shoreditch based granddaughter was great, however it never really grabbed my interest. I did enjoy a lot of it - particularly the interesting characters like Leena’s friends/flatmates. However many of the minor characters were under-developed and I didn’t warm to the main characters enough. I also found the pace quite slow.

I was late to the Beth O'Leary party having only read The Flatshare recently but I knew that she would be an author who's work I would love and the Switch proved me right. What a lovely story. Leena is struggling with life since losing her sister so when her grandmother suggests they swap lives she takes the chance to try and change her life. It's a story about loss and love and family and it made me sad and smile and laugh. I loved the characters even cranky Arnold. There was something so uplifting about this one even though it is based around such a hard topic. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone.

The story is about Lena who is struggling after her sisters death. She takes a sabbatical from her job and switches places with her gran, Eileen, who has recently split up from her husband, and is looking for an adventure. Lena goes to stay in her gran’s house in a Yorkshire village and Eileen goes off to London.

It’s a lovely story of how both women taken out their comfort zone adapt and thrive. There are a few laugh out loud moments and lots that tug at your heart strings. I love how Eileen is portrayed she may be in her 70s but shows you shouldn’t be put into any set category of what is “acceptable” for that age. Life is for living after all! Lena was also a lovely character and you feel her grief for her sister, it’s touching how the whole village helps her. The story also touches on domestic violence which is written sympathetically.

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus Books for the ARC

Eileen and Leena are grandmother and granddaugher. Eileen lives in the Yorkshire Dales, Leena in London. Eileen has a busy retirement running the local neighbourhood watch which is just an excuse for people to be nosy. Leena has a busy job with a high powered company.
When Leena messes up a presentation at work she is ordered to take a two month sabbatical to recharge her batteries. Meanwhile, Eileen, is looking for love after her feckless husband has left. Both need a change of scenery and what better way to achieve this but to swap lives?
What follows is hilarious, touching and enlightening. Both women are out of their comfort zones and have to learn how the other lives with very funny results.
I read Beth O'Leary's first book, The Flatshare, and really enjoyed it. When I heard that her new book was going to be available as an audiobook narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar Jones I knew that I really wanted to listen to it. I wasn't disappointed. The story bowled along with both narrators really enhancing an already brilliant story.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of the audiobook in return for a fair review.

Brilliant. Simple Brilliant.

Believable characters. Fantastic set up. Great themes covered.

Buy it!

This story is told by two povs Leena a young woman who is a workaholic living in London with a bunch of roommates and Eileen her 79 year old grandmother who lives in an Yorkshire village. Eileen is just really settling for her daily everyday routine when what she really seeks is an adventure so Leena suggests that after she is told to take two months of work that her and her grandmother should switch homes for two months in order to give them both a change of scenery.

This book does deal with quite a few heavy subjects such a grief, cancer and domestic abuse within an elderly relationship so if any of these things are triggering for you I would avoid.

With all that being said I do think everything was handled really well in the book and that the romance although cute took a back step from the family aspects to the story which I did enjoy. The downsides of this story is I found that at times it jumped from scene to scene very abruptly which I was not a fan of at all. Eileens chapters was my favourite to read from, did she read like a 79 year old lady? Debatble but then again what is everyone's definition of a 79 year old lady? they're all very different but I thought she was fantastic.

I will be reading more books by this author in the future, in fact I still have yet to read the flat share so that will be further up my tbr since I do own it

I really love Beth O'Leary's tone of voice, she writes in such an upbeat, effortless way that came through here and in her previous novel, The Flatshare.

Now, small caveat, I adored The Flatshare; it was one of my surprise favourites of 2019, so I knew I would enjoy reading this book BUT I also knew that it would be tough to reach the levels of its predecessor. I don't mean to take anything away from The Switch by saying that - just my honest opinion!

The Switch tells us the story of Leena and her grandmother Eileen. They both find themselves at a cross roads in life so they decide to switch lives for a few months. Get some new scenery and a new take on life. This means a small village for Leena and an East London flat for Eileen.

Brilliantly written, you're behind Leena and Eileen every step of the way and the feel-good factor that runs through it makes it a great summer read!

Nice gentle book that I really enjoyed. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from my usual crime genre. The character development was lovely. I especially loved the gran’s dating efforts and how she opens up the London neighbours, making them realise what they were missing

The Switch by Beth O’Leary was a book that I was very much looking forward to reading. I had read, loved and gifted The Flatshare, her debut book. Then I read the synopsis for this book, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little trepidatious (is that a real word?). I had visions of Tom Hanks in Big, or of Jodie Foster in Freaky Friday, if I’m honest. I needn’t have worried, because this isn’t Big or Freaky Friday (sorry, if that’s what you’re expecting 🤷🏼‍♀️).

Instead, this is the story of two Eileens: 79 year old Eileen and her granddaughter Leena who is 29. They are both at times of great change in their lives. They’ve both just experienced the death of Leena’s sister, and Eileen’s husband has left her for a younger woman.

When Leena comes home for a visit, she realises that Eileen has been casing the men in the village with a mind to dating one. There isn’t a great choice. After a look on a dating website, she realises that the choice of men in their 70’s is far greater in London, so Leena creates an account on the dating website for her Grandma, and they swap lives for 8 weeks - the length of time that Leena’s boss has given her as a holiday, to try and recover from the loss of her sister.

I adored this book. Need I say more? OK, I suppose I should.
I loved how Eileen was treated as an adult with real feelings and sexual urges. She may be 79, but she isn’t some sexless old biddy, treated like a child. As much as we don’t necessarily like to think of our mothers/ grandmothers having sex , it’s highly likely that they do, and why not?

I loved how the death of Leena’s sister was treated. The long, slow process of grieving, and how it doesn’t just switch off, that there are no rules.

Leena’s love life is very entertaining too, and I was rooting for one particular character throughout.

So in conclusion, just do yourself a favour and go and buy this book. It’s ace. Beth O’Leary writes wonderful stories it would seem, about wonderful, quirky, normal people. I’ll be waiting and ready to read whatever she puts out there next, of that I’m sure!

This book was just delightful! For anyone who is looking for some comfort during these challenging times and who likes romance with a little more depth, this book would be a great choice. There is a cast of quirky side characters and both of the main protagonists are very relatable. It was a pleasure to watch them take their first steps outside their respective comfort zones. A heart-warming book which I have already recommended to several friends.

An utterly perfect summer read - Beth O'Leary does it again. The two heroines, Leena and Eileen, are a perfect pair, I adored them both, and so enjoyed their adventures. Totally heartwarming and utterly charming. Highly recommended to anyone who loves a classic love story, and a bit of family drama too.

What is this about?

Leena Cotton has been forced to take a two month leave from work after a disastrous presentation. It’s clear to everyone that she has not been coping well after the death of her sister and a change of scenery might be the thing she needs.

Eileen Cotton is 79 and newly single after he husband left her for a much younger woman the year before. She wants a second chance at love but unfortunately her village, in rural Yorkshire, doesn’t have that many eligible bachelor’s over 70.

But young people tend to find old people wanting to fall in love rather funny. Not unkindly, just without thinking, the way you laugh at children behaving like grown-ups, or husbands trying to do the weekly shop.

Leena comes up with a plan to help her grandmother: they’ll swap houses! Leena will stay in Yorkshire and take care if Eileen’s various projects and responsibilities. And Eileen will stay jb Leena’s flat and have the great London adventure she missed out on in her youth.

My thoughts:

I absolutely loved the authors debut The Flatshare. I remember gobbling that book up in a day. While The Switch had the same easy and effortless-to-read writing — I never felt the same enthusiasm while reading this. Maybe it was just me though.

What came as a nice surprise was how much I preferred the older characters in this book to the younger ones! I found them hilarious and charming. Eileen especially was a favourite. She was just such a joy of a character!!

These people. There’s such a fierceness to them, such a lovingness. When I got here, I thought their lives were small and silly, but I was wrong. They’re some of the biggest people I know.

Leena on the other hand was not really to my liking. It’s nothing against her, I just felt I couldn’t connect to her character and she felt very one dimensional.

In all, this book was delightful but not the shining star that I was expecting. Make no mistake, I’ll definitely still read more of O’leary’s future books.

«Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC I’m exchange for an honest review »

**quotes checked against a final copy**

Sorry but this was just not my kind of book. I didn't feel like I connected to any of the characters and found the main protagonist Leena to be boring and self obsessed. I liked the idea of the plot of a young woman, over stressing in the city, switching lives temporarily with her grandmother but for me it just didn't work and their actions were unrealistic (seriously who would give up their phone for someone else to use?!)
If you like an easy read with a predictable and sweet outcome you will enjoy this but it wasn't for me.

Leena Cotton is not coping with the death of her sister and when her workplace force her to take a 2 month sabbatical, Leena finds herself swapping lives with her 79 year old grandmother Eileen!

Eileen is newly single, as her husband of many years has run off with a dance instructor. Eileen is nervous but excited about moving to London and having an adventure of her own, something she's dreamed of doing when she was a young woman. Meanwhile Leena will stay in Yorkshire, take over her grandmother's various responsibilities and try to mend her fraught relationship with her mother.

I really enjoyed this book, I liked seeing Eileen bond with Leena's friends, get involved in their lives and also trying to help the lives of others around her, by setting up the community group in Leena's building. She's a formidable woman, armed with her to do list and still has time for herself and dating! With Leena, I loved seeing her process her grief and anger that she has towards her mother following her sister's death, it's very real and raw. And I also loved her relationship with the grumpy old man next door! I guess I enjoy intergenerational friendships! Not everything is rosy for our two main characters, seeing them struggle and hit bumps in the road adds a complexity to this novel, giving it a bit of depth and making it not so light and frothy. Overall it was an ideal read for me during quarantine, it cheered me up and was heartwarming good fun. If you enjoyed The Flatshare then you will enjoy this one too!

Lena and her grandma Eileen changed life’s, hence the title !
Two very different locations London and the countryside. Leena and Eileen’s stories were engaging as they adapted to the very different lifestyles each other lived . The reader was drawn in from the start as all the characters were strong and engaging. Eileen’s story portrayed the loneliness that can occur in later life and how it can be overcome.
A life switch would not suit everyone but Lena and Eileen embraced it and it made a fantastic story
Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus, and Beth o Leary for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review