Growing older doesn't necessarily mean growing wiser.

Gin in one hand, paintbrush in the other, Franny Calderwood has turned her back on the world, or at least the world she used to love. Then the Salernos move in next door. The troubled but charming trio - beleaguered mother Sallyanne, angry teenager Dee and eccentric eight-year-old Josh - cannot help but pull Franny into the drama of their lives.

It’s a story about one woman, two dogs and the family next door. It’s funny and uplifting. It’s raw and honest and explores the loneliness that getting older can get. There’s something I love about an older, slightly bitter, protagonist and Franny is my favourite kind. She reminds me a bit of Ove, from A Man Called Ove (one of my favourite books). She has to comes to terms with the fact that she has to widen her circle, now that her husband Frank is gone.

Such a beautiful read!