Still here Book

Well if I wasn't depressed about approaching 50 then I would be after reading this. Grant writes about middle aged women as though their lives have ended now their bodies are sagging. Either she was being ironic or I was being over sensitive but I felt there was a bitter edge to the females portrayed in this story. All the characters struck me as narcissistic except for the Liverpudlians who were stereotypically portrayed as thieving scum who were descendants from those that failed to make the successful trip across the sea to be saved in wonderful America back at the turn of the previous century.

I also struggled with Grant's writing style, continuously having to go back and re-read sentences because they didn't make sense the first time I read them. There was nothing wrong with the grammar, I just found it really hard to fathom out at times who was talking or who was sharing their thoughts.

I'm still not actually sure what the book was supposed to be about. I think it was meant to be a love story between two middle aged people but it didn't strike me as that at all. Perhaps once you reach middle age it is impossible to experience romance.

Aside from all this, the book had lots of strengths. It gave some really interesting facts about Liverpool that I didn't know about and Grant's idea of putting an amazing boutique hotel on Chavasse Park was quite perceptive. A year after the book was published, Liverpool won the Capital of Culture for 2008 and so began the amazing transformation of the city. It is almost hard to recognise it now, the city has once again reinvented itself and is working hard to cast aside it's harsh and largely unjust reputation that it still wears following the hard times and wanton neglect it has had to bear. Now Chavasse Park is the centre of style and boutique hotels are a plenty.

I also enjoyed the insight into the Jewish lifestyle and the migration of those that managed to escape Germany before the Holocaust. And the book touched on the Six Day War in Israel which up until now I hadn't had much exposure to.

Something kept me turning the pages of this book and as you can see, has given me enough fodder to share in a review. If you want something with strong discussion points for a book club read, then this book is an excellent candidate.