Jane RileyBesprekingen

A fun little read, not always a light one, but I think he figures things out.

Geraldine Verne can’t get over the death of her husband. An unexpected friendship with a young meals on wheels volunteer helps her recover.

Jane Riley’s unusually titled debut novel The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock was something special – feel-good fiction at its finest and one of my favourite reads of 2020. And so I knew, despite this novel’s grief-stricken premise, that I would be in safe authorial hands.

Geraldine Verne’s Red Suitcase is a far gentler story than Riley’s first novel, but nonetheless impactful. Her capacity to craft believably flawed characters is again on full display in retired librarian Geri’s compulsion to obstinance and seclusion despite her loneliness. The first-person narrative allows readers to appreciate first-hand as it were, the layered depths of her love for her husband and thus comparable grief in his passing. And, how even the most vital of personalities and quick-witted, staunchly independent of minds can knowingly be held prisoner to grief.

The latter element is the well-spring of this novel’s more subtle, principally dark geeky humour. Also notable is Riley’s talent for visual humour and visual impact. For me, some of the most striking, bittersweet scenes depicted in this novel are those simply involving Geraldine Verne’s interaction with her scuffed and battered red suitcase. In this sense, this narrative’s lack of adornment is a real strength. Read full review >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2021/07/geraldine-vernes-red-suitcase-jane-...

Seventy-two-year-old Geri is a widow; Jack, her husband of 50 years, has been dead for three months when we meet her. He asked her to scatter his ashes “somewhere exotic” but Geri finds it difficult to leave her house, feeling “stuck in a loop of self-isolation and brain fog.” She describes herself as “frozen in time, shackled to my self-pity, my grief, my fears.” A friend arranges for Meals on Wheels when she has a minor accident; Lottie, one of the volunteers, befriends Geri and tries to get her to rediscover her zest for life.

The book is about grief, about learning how to let go and move on. At one point Geri compares their love to a pair of shoes: “Jack and I complemented each other like a pair of shoes. A right shoe can never become a left and a left shoe can never become a right, but together they bring out the best in each other.” She has difficulty letting go “Because if I let him go, what would be left? The half that was me. One left shoe without its partner.” The red suitcase that she takes everywhere is a wonderful representation of her unwillingness to let go.

Geri is a likeable character. She is grieving and so not herself. She abandons personal hygiene and housekeeping and becomes anxious when she leaves her house, even if she has to walk only nine metres to pick up her newspaper. When a friend comes to her door, she doesn’t let him in: “I was happy to see him. I just didn’t want him to see me. To see the state I was in. How I no longer felt like the person I was before. How I didn’t know who I was anymore.”

Even though she is depressed and lonely, we are given glimpses of the Geri that could emerge if she can get past her grief. Her sense of humour is wonderful: “I slid under the covers feeling as dispirited as a non-alcoholic beverage.” Because we see these glimpses of a spirited woman, readers will cheer every positive step she takes.

I appreciated Geri’s emergence from her chrysalis. Because it is gradual, her change is convincing. And there are some steps backward too. I imagine some readers will feel that there is repetition as Geri seems to backslide into depression; I, however, found that her recovery is more realistic because of her emotional regressions.

This is one of those easy, heart-warming reads. Though it examines grief and the difficulty of moving on after great loss, it suggests there is hope: it is possible to bring new people and experiences into one’s life without dismissing or diminishing what one had with a beloved.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).½

Oliver Clock is an Australian funeral director in his late 30s with a bad case of both indecisiveness and unrequited love. If not quite a Manic Pixie Dream Boy, he comes close: he's supposed to be a bundle of Endearing Quirks and Oddities, but instead is just a character who manages to be both dull and inauthentic. His eventual love interest, Edie, is definitely a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, though too vaguely sketched to be as annoying as MPDGs usually are. Bland.½

Timid, introverted Oliver Clock runs the dated funeral home he has inherited. He let’s love escape & finds himself reluctantly pushed out of his comfort zone by an incompatible girlfriend.

The premise of this first novel was interesting, but the story developed at a funereal pace with a lot of repetition, and the writing was pedestrian. A lot of the subject-matter was about the making of scented candles to evoke people, and it was maybe unfortunate that I had just finished reading Perfume, an astonishing novel about scent & obsession with the virtuoso writing of Süskind, and found myself unfavourably comparing this offering.

Sweet book. Easy read. I like the bit about candles and memories

I tend to approach buzzy new publishing terms with a little scepticism. So when people started referring to ‘uplit’ as a genre I thought, here we go again. But, having begun 2020 by reading The Flatshare (heartwarming) and now this wonderful novel, The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock, I am now a convert. If ever there was a time for life-affirming fiction, it is now.

Typically I struggle to engage with overly submissive protagonists, but Jane Riley’s skilfully depicted leading man Oliver is a character that I really warmed to. Yes, he can be socially awkward and compliant to his own detriment, but his life experiences and genuine desire to not cause others distress has shaped this behaviour. Continue reading >> https://bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/02/the-likely-resolutions-of-oliver-clock-...½

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is a delightful story, quirky and moving.

Oliver Clock is the third generation in his family's funeral parlour business. He doesn't like change or disorder, and struggles with relationships. He's been in love with Marie, the florist who supplies the flowers for the funerals Oliver arranges, for years but she's married and even if that marriage doesn't always seem happy, he doesn't feel in a position to do anything about his feelings. Until one day it's too late and Oliver realises he could have had it all after all.

I loved Oliver. I thought he was a fabulous creation. He's awkward and spends a lot of time making resolutions that don't really come to anything. But during this story he goes on such a journey of discovery about himself and his life, and his resolutions start to mean something to him. I really enjoyed the other characters in the book too such as his mother, Doreen, Jean who is the administrator at the funeral parlour, Edie who he meets in the course of his work, and his best friend, Andy. Each one helps to make this a very endearing read.

I often found myself giggling at Oliver, the way he behaved, the things he came out with and the situations he found himself in. Setting his story in the serious environment of a funeral parlour was a stroke of genius on the part of the author as it mixes death with life in the most brilliant way. It's a really easy book to read and so engaging, and I was really hopeful that Oliver would find a greater peace within himself by the end.

This is such a heartwarming, lovely read. I found it a pleasure to read. In the style of one of Oliver's resolutions: thou shalt enjoy it!

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is a delightful novel of a man who has lost his way. He loves to make resolutions and has a notebook full of them, not that he does one thing to make them happen.

Oliver is approaching middle age and while he owns his own business (a family funeral home he inherited), he feels he has missed out on life, on having a family and children. He is in love with the florist, Marie, but by the time he realized he loved her, she was already married. He comes to believe she is unhappy, but before he can muster the courage to tell her how she feels, she tells him she is dying and soon.

When her husband angrily confronts him after her death and he discovers she loved him, the realization that he could be loved revitalizes his hopes for himself. While he falls into a funk, his friend and college roommate drags him out and somehow he finds himself making resolutions again, resolutions he might actually try to achieve.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock was a fun, short read. I liked Oliver Clock and his friends and family. I loved seeing his change and how his changes prompted others to change. There is a scene with his mother that was endearing and touching. There is this gentle wry humor in this book. There are no real laugh-out-loud moments. It’s not slapstick. It is a quiet humor rooted in human understanding an empathy.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock will be released on February 1st. It is available for pre-release through Amazon Prime

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock at Lake Union Publishing | Amazon Publishing
Jane Riley author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/9781542008143/