Book Review: One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

by Bonnie Tollefson

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, Marianne Cronin, Harper Collins Publishers, 2021.

I stopped by the RVM library the other day to check out a book for my quarterly book review. I try not to browse there too often because I end up with way too many books I want to read, but I was looking for a book that would say something different to everyone like Phone Booth at the End of the World or a book that would teach us something like the one about Fish Owls. I went home with the first in Janet Evanovich’s new series, Recovery Agent, and with Snowblind, a debut novel by Ragnar Jonasson. I got home and returned to reading The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot which I had checked out of the Jackson County Public Library. Have you ever had a book reach out and grab you by the neck and not let go? Meet Lenni and Margot in The One Hundred Years of Lennie and Margot.

Lenni is 17 years old and has a “life-limiting condition” the current trendy term for terminal. Margot is 83, and has a heart condition. They are going to do surgery but the prognosis is not good. They both live at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Between Margot and Lenni they have lived 100 years. Lenni is funny, precocious, and curious. Margot is feisty, fruitcake eating, and a rebel. After meeting the hospital chaplain Lenni comes up with a marketing campaign to increase usage of the chapel while Margot almost ends up in the trash cart after a letter is accidentally thrown away. Lenni manages to join the over 80 class in the art room and meets Margot. They decide to paint a picture representing each year of their 100. As well as painting, they each share the stories of their lives. The reader learns about Lenni’s life in Sweden before moving to Glasgow and her dysfunctional family. Margot shares stories of her first husband who left her, her baby son who died of a heart defect, and her second husband who got Alzheimers. The book is about friendship no matter the age, love in all forms, and the desire to leave a mark on the world. Yes, the ending is sad (having a box of tissues handy would not be remiss) but it is uplifting as well. Lenni learns that death may not be as scary as she was afraid it was.

This book is Marianne Cronin’s debut novel and took her seven years to write. I hope we don’t have to wait another seven years for her next offering. Although I checked this book out from the public library, you can too. The shopping bus goes there every Wednesday and library cards are easy to get. Maybe next quarter you will get a review of either Recovery Agent or Snowblind.