Every shade of happy is a story of family, love, fear, loneliness and acceptance.

Algenon is an old man who lives alone following the death of his wife. Anna is a 15 year old girl whose life is turned upside down when her mum’s boyfriend breaks up with her and leaves them homeless!

The two lives become entwined and, as expected, they both teach each other a lot about life. The story is a lovely one, however it did feel quite slow at times.

I really loved the character of Jacob and his relationship with Anna and the family was brilliant and made me smile many times.

A good, solid read that gives you what you expect from this style of book. Somehow the main characters didn’t grab me as much as I hoped but I was still invested in them and enjoyed learning their stories.

I cried, I smiled and loved every moment of this heartwarming and poignant story. it's a story about life, about finding happiness and changing.
Algernon, Anna and the other characters are able to learn to live and not to survived. I loved how they learned and how the author plotted this story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

We follow Anna, 15 years old, a young teenager full of life, who sees her daily life change abruptly from one day to the next when her mother separates from her stepfather. She has to move away from her room, which has become her cocoon, her friends but also her school. With little choice, they move to Essex to live with Anna's grandfather, Algernon, whom she has never met. Algernon is a centenarian old man who, after having experienced painful moments in his youth, has decided to close himself off. Grumpy, he lives to the rhythm of his carriage clock.

On the face of it, everything opposes Anna to her grandfather Algernon: their age, their generation, their education but also their character. But one thing unites them without them knowing it. At the age of 7, Algernon was sent to boarding school by his parents. While he was a happy and adventurous child, he found himself far from his parents, harassed by his new classmates and mistreated by the teachers. Anna, on the other hand, arrives at her new school where the rules are strict: she can no longer wear the bright colours she likes or dye her hair. In this new school everything is dull and grey, like her new uniform. She is also harassed by her classmates because of her differences.

It is in discovering Anna's problems that Algernon opens up to her, sharing memories from his past including those he has tried to bury as deeply as possible. He even decides to take Anna on a trip to Cornwall to follow in his footsteps.

This is a beautiful intergenerational novel that unites a grandfather and his granddaughter. Behind his grumpy side, Algernon actually has a very big heart, which we discover throughout the novel. He had foreseen that the move would be a difficult one for Anna and had made her a little cocoon to make her feel at home. He is not very good at putting his feelings into words, but he does it by gesture. For her part, Anna discovers that her grandfather is not the man her mother introduced her to. It just takes a little digging to find out who he really is. We find out that Algernon has not had an easy life as his dreams have been slowly fading away.

I was very sceptical when I started reading, I had a little trouble getting into it. But then I gradually became attached to the characters and their story. I wanted to find out more about Algernon, why he had become this bitter person. Anna made me smile and they both manage to give the reader hope.

This was a great read and I highly recommend it.

HOW DARE the author write such an emotional book and make me cry 😭😭😭

I absolutely loved this.
I knew from the title, the cover and the fact that it was about a grandad and his family, that I was going to love this.

Think "Up" minus the house flying away. And Kevin.

It was a beautiful story. I loved the grandad, he was so grumpy but he was so REAL. And Anna, oh Anna, I loved her so much as well. There is so much she goes through but I loved how she was written, how it all ended for her and overall just everything about this was incredible

We can't choose our family but we can choose how we are going to forgive and love them despite their imperfections and mistakes. This book is a heartwarming story of a father, a daughter, and a grandaughter who embarked into a journey of healing, reconciliation, and rediscovery of filial love.

"This little schoolhouse was the place where broken hearts had been mended. It was the place where fragile love had found a way to grow." This book is about a granddaughter who brings warmth and colour into her grandfather's life and a grandfather who brings insight and meaning into his granddaughter's life.
After her long-term partner breaks off their relationship, Helene and teenage daughter Anna end up moving in with Helene's estranged father Algernon. The story is told from two perspectives - Algernon's and Anna's.
Algernon has become hardened over the years. He is aged, lonely and a stickler for routine. Anna's life has been uprooted and she mourns the loss of the life that she had. They begin to get to know each other and form a beautiful bond.
Every Shade of Happy is an emotional and heartwarming read.

I stumbled across this book through a series of happy coincidences and boy, am I glad I did. Up-lit is one of my favourite genres to read because a happy ending of some kind is guaranteed, but it's always tempered with a hearty dose of reality, which takes it away from the saccharine sweetness of other genres. In Phyllida Shrimpton, I've found another author to add to my list of 'look out for their next book.'

I knew within a couple of pages that the book was going to be a good one and that the author's writing style was one I was going to enjoy. The line that caught my attention was this one:

'A single pillow, where he was to lay his head that night, whispered to him of other schoolboys' nightmares still caught inside its cotton slip.'

For me, it conjured up the most beautiful and heart-rending image that perfectly encapsulated the sense of loss and isolation that the character felt on his first night at boarding school. I seem to have read a lot of books recently that involve young children being sent to boarding school. Many of them have captured that same sense of feeling bereft, but none of the others managed to capture it in a single sentence and I think this is a testament to the quality of this author's writing.

The book opens in 1929 at a moment of change in Algernon's life (when he goes to boarding school) and then shifts to 2019 and another moment of great change in his life, when his estranged daughter (Helene) returns home with her own teenage daughter (Anna) in tow. What I found interesting about this - and what makes it stand out from other books which deal with the issue of the prejudices surrounding unmarried pregnancies - is that Helene was not a teenager when she fell pregnant. It's a small point, but for me as both a reader and a writer, it was another reason to laud the book. It is those subtle differences that make a book stand out because they make it just that little bit different to others which deal with similar themes.

Helene and Anna slowly rebuild their lives but as Anna’s relationship with Algernon develops, her one with her mother begins to deteriorate and she loses all sense of herself. However, with the help of her family and her friend Jake, Anna rediscovers herself and helps Algernon do the same. This section of the book was particularly interesting for me, as the parent of a teenager and a six year old because Anna slowly begins to realise that her mother is not perfect and my own experiences of the different relationships I have with my own children is testament to the authenticity of the difficulties of helping children to make that transition between thinking their parents have all the answers, to realising that sometimes they are floundering just as much as their children are. However, like Anna, my eldest came out of the other side of that transition with a much better understanding of his parents and a far stronger, healthier relationship with them.

Love is the strongest theme in this story and it underpins everything that happens in the book. What makes the book what it is, is that that love is familial and based in friendship, not romance. It explores the fragility of even the most confident and outgoing of personalities and the complexity of parent-child relationships. Through Anna's story, Phyllida Shrimpton perfectly captures the terrors of starting a new school beyond the usual admission years and I could see my own son’s experiences reflected in Anna’s when she uses exterior confidence to mask the crippling self-doubt inside. Ultimately, however, love sees her through these trials and the family dynamic is restored to what it always had the potential to be.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book and it's definitely one I'll be recommending to everyone.

This was a truly heartwarming read! Although we have the grumpy - sunshine trope on the grandfather and the kid, it's done in a way that you can't help but feel for the characters. We get the reasons Algernon is the way he is and how he realizes that Anna needs him to move forward with her life. Also, I really liked how the relationship between Anna's mum and her Grandad is presented, I feel it's a good representation of my generation's struggles. I enjoyed this book a lot!

Every Shade of Happy is the first adult novel by award-winning British author, Phyllida Shrimpton. Ninety-seven-year-old Algernon Edward Maybury has been virtually estranged from his daughter Helene for sixteen years, since she fell pregnant, so he’s only ever had a far-off glimpse of the baby that is now his fifteen-year-old granddaughter, Anna. But then he gets a very unexpected call: Helene and Anna need somewhere to live.

Widowed sixteen years, Algernon is very set in his ways, very much comforted by his rigid routine. He still misses Evie terribly, reminded by so many things in their little cottage, a former Essex school house, of their life together and how alone he is now. But eleven years of boarding school taught him how to tuck difficult feelings away and put a lid on them: talking about them is utterly foreign to him.

Trying to reconnect with his daughter seems fraught: “Algernon stayed mute, astonished by his own stupidity. Once again, the right words had come out of his mouth yet the meaning of them had glitched somewhere on the path between his brain and his vocal cords.”

He’s not at all sure how he feels about this child who dresses up in whacky colour combinations, in which she is indulged by her mother, but he imagines the school dress code will likely put a stop to that. Quirky, artistic and vibrant, Anna is unhappy to have to leave her private painted universe behind in her bedroom, to leave her school, her city and all her friends who enjoyed and encouraged her flair with colour.

When they arrive at the cottage, Anna and Helene are shocked to be told that Anna will be sleeping in the garden shed. It turns out to be not so bad as all that: not the bedroom at their former home, but it’s a space she can retreat to. And that turns out to be necessary: at her new school, no one likes her or is interested in her; in fact, they exclude her, laugh at her and seem intent on bullying her, and any colour other than school uniform grey is forbidden.

Behind the old man’s frequently grouchy mood and fearsome eyebrows, Anna sometimes glimpses a granddad she might be able to love, but it’s not until Jacob from No 5 tells her a bit about Mr M. that her interest is truly piqued. Algernon has watched his bright and unusual granddaughter slowly fading, but is surprised that her questions have him sharing his past. They discover that although there may be over eighty years difference on their ages, they have more in common than anyone might expect. Algernon resolves to steer Anna away from the mistakes he made in life.

This touching story is told through alternating narratives from the perspectives of Algernon and Anna, along with flashbacks into Algernon’s past. The author’s note reveals her very personal connection to the protagonists. These are characters that capture the reader’s heart, for all their very human flaws. A story that will draw both laughter and tears, this is a poignant, heartfelt, and uplifting read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Head of Zeus/Aria.

Every Shade of Happy is the story of 15-year-old Anna who abruptly learns that she and her single mom must move in with her elderly grandfather, Algernon. Anna and Algernon have never met before, and there is a period of adjustment for all involved. However, as the story progresses, they learn that they have more in common than either of them could have imagined.

Told in dual perspectives, Anna and Algernon show that it is never too late to make a change for the better in your life. Heartfelt and uplifting, it is a solid intergenerational story.

This is a wonderful intergenerational story of a crusty old man (97 year old Algernon), his estranged daughter (Helene) who he has never understood and the bubbly, quirky granddaughter he has never met (15 year old Anna).

When Helene’s partner of six years finds a new love, Helene and Anna find themselves evicted from his comfortable, modern home. Until Helene finds a job, the only option they have is to drive 300 miles across country to move in with Helene’s father in his run down cottage. Not only is Anna ripped away from her home and the only father figure she’s ever had but also from the city she knows, the school she loves and her close group of friends. Arriving at her grandfather’s home, she discovers that he is indeed a very old man of few words, set in his ways, who expects her to sleep in his garden shed. At her new school Anna with its strict, drab grey uniform and unfriendly students, Anna finds herself lonely, heartbroken and bullied with all her usual confidence and love of colour and art is sucked out of her.

What follows is a delightful and touching story as Algernon decides he must help Anna find her way back to her bubbly, unique self and not be thwarted from living a full life as he has been. He decides the best way to do this is a road trip to Cornwall where he grew up and hires the boy next door, a senior student at Anna’s school to drive them there in the summer holidays.

Told by Algernon and Anna in alternating points of view, it was lovely to watch the relationship between Algernon and Helene thawing as they come to understand each other better and to see the strong bond growing between Anna and her grandfather. Jacob, the boy next door who befriends Anna is also a lovely character and also helps her to understand how her grandfather has been shaped by the life he has led. A beautiful tale which is in turn funny and sweet and is sure to touch every reader’s heart.

What a beautiful story, one that offers hope when we stumble in life.
Bringing a multigenerational, dysfunctional family under one roof brings with it the opportunity to assess past mistakes, misjudgements and a chance to find happiness again
Truly a joy to read

Thank you NetGalley, Phyllida Shrimpton and Head of Zeus for the copy of Every Shade of Happy. This is my personal review.
This was a book I will always keep in my mind and heart. The author did a beautiful job of making Algernon and Anna so real and make me want to know more about them. Everything about this story was perfect.
This book is one that I will let everyone I know it is a book they will want to read not just once but many times.

Anna and Algernon tell the story of how they change each other's lives in this novel about a family reuniting. Algernon, now 97, and his daughter Helene, have been estranged for years- ever since Helene became pregnant with Anna now 15, He's set in his ways (of course) and Helene has a chip on her shoulder but now she- and Anna- have moved in with Algernon because Helene and her boyfriend have gone kaput, So much adjustment! Luckily, Anna has a good friend in next door neighbor Jacob, and Algernon is open to more than a bit of change in his life, Thanks to netgalley for the ARC It's a lovely novel with good characters and will make you smile (and maybe bring a tear as well).

What a wonderful book. Lives thrown together, people related but never really knowing each other, life throwing you into chaos and how will you cope. That is this book.

There is humour, there are parts that will make you sad, there are probably even parts you can relate to. The characters are great, Grumpy Algernon makes you laugh and cringe. 15 year old Anna brings youth, colour and innocence to the story and her mother Helene although a big part of the story is a bit of a background character.

The story is wonderful, it flows well, it makes you laugh and cry. It is just one of those books that that you can relate to in some ways as we all have stories to tell. It is heartwarming, inspirational and just a good book to read.

Heartwarming and uplifting this book made me cry and laugh. This is one magical book that I will think of again. I felt for the whole family. I wanted to just hug them all. I smiled as I cried through the last page. Brilliant writing. Five stars!

A lovely read. I requested it for something different to my usual crime/thrillers and enjoyed it a lot. Simple story, uncomplicated read, my life affirming and a good insight into the complexity of family relationships.

I loved this book. Although it began as a bit slow, it was well worth the read to continue. Algernon is a stodgy Englishman, now in his ninth decade of life, having survived a very strict upbringing. Born to posh parents, he was sent to boarding school at age 7 and that loneliness he endured seemed to be with him his whole life. Living by himself as a widower, he is set in his ways and doesn’t like change. Helene is his daughter who left home when she got pregnant and mother of Emma, the granddaughter whom he never met. Now as they are without a home, they move in with him as he begrudgingly welcomes them. But Emma has to live in the shed in the garden that he has fashioned just for her. Lost and without a rudder, Emma is a free spirit who struggles to belong in her new school and find friends and acceptance, to belong in this world of no color. Algernon seems to recognize himself in Emma and is surprised that she has entered his heart. This is a story of a granddaughter and granddad who struggle to connect and find their way in the world and with each other. To move forward rather than backward. Algernon realizes he has a second chance and strives to help the granddaughter whom he has grown to love.
In this story of hope and second chances, it is so heart-warming and well written. I found myself laughing at times, smiling, and yet also tearing up. Letting go of the past, learning from it, and moving forward to seize the day seems to be the theme here. The characters are charming and I loved the dynamics between the characters. They are so multi-layered that as their character unpeels, you get to like them even more. There is more beneath the surface, some people express themselves better through their actions than with words. This is a feel-good story that is for those who have enjoyed story like “The Story of AJ Fickry” or “A Man Called Ove”. Beautifully written, this is a story that will make you sigh and remember long after the last page. I loved it.

Many thanks to #netgalley #everyshadeofhappy #phyllidashrimpton for the opportunity ot red and review this book.

Algernon is a loveable 97 year old curmudgeon living alone for many years. He is set in his ways and lives life with military precision.

Anna is his granddaughter, and her life is uprooted when she and her mother (Helene) have no choice but to move in with Algernon. Anna is free-spirited, full of color, and heartbroken when she abruptly leaves her home, school, and friends. The day that she meets her grandfather for the first time is the day that she is forced to move into the shed in his back yard.

Algernon's peaceful world is rocked with the arrival of Anna and her mother. Anna's entire world collapsed when she left her former home. Algernon, Helene, and Anna begin with taking baby steps to know one another and to not step on each others' toes. Jacob, a neighbor teen, befriends Anna and helps her begin to make sense of her new circumstances.

Algernon and Anna take a literal and figurative journey with the help of Jacob along as a driver and Helene supporting the adventure from the home front. Regardless of age, all characters grow in the understanding of each other and how to live life in the fullest.

Be ready to have your heart stolen as you read this story.

I was provided a free copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When 97 year old Algernon takes in his estranged daughter Helene and her 15 year old daughter after a relationhip breakdown .... his comfortable, predictable (but slightly dull) life is turned upside down

As he gets to know his quirky, artistic granddaughter Anna he rekindles  memories of his own youth and they start to make connections.

This is a beautiful and endearing story about both the strength and fragility of family bonds. This is a lovely book, I really enjoyed it. An emotional read, though, a box of tissues is necessary!