Chris Manby

This was a well-written and quick-moving book. I sped through it and I enjoyed it somewhat. However, the main character is just SO obsessive and excessive, it stops being funny and just becomes cringe-inducing. I happen to love bizarre characters, but Ashleigh just left me feeling depressed and disturbed, and I don't think was the author's intention. I understand what the author is trying to do, I think, but I just don't think this book works as a satire of women going crazy over men (who show more aren't worth it at all), but it didn't strike me as funny so much as pathetic. Perhaps Manby intended to go the social critique route and was told to change it into standard chick lit by her editor? Or vice versa? It doesn't work as either. show less

I have discovered that I really enjoy books about feisty older people, especially older women. I don't know if it's because I myself am getting older or if there's some less obvious reason, but I do delight in the way that women who are looked over, underestimated, and treated as harmless manage to be expansive and wickedly intelligent and, by the end of their novels, the undisputed heros of their worlds. In short, they are just being the same women they were when they were younger, only show more sporting wrinkles and grey hair now. Getting old doesn't mean turning into a sweet old lady, not in books, and not in real life either. The two nonagenarian main characters in CJ Wray's delightful novel, The Excitements, prove that in spades.

Penny and Josephine Williamson are in their nineties. The sisters served their country during WWII and are about to go to Paris with their much beloved great-nephew Archie to be awarded the Legion d'honneur for their wartime efforts. This trip is not just a trip to France for any of the three as all of them have other connections to and memories of Paris that make the trip a fraught one.

The narrative swings back and forth from Penny and Josephine's time in the FANYs (Penny) and WRENS (Josephine) during the war, the post-war years, and the present. The story centers on the women but great-nephew Archie's past and how he came to be so connected to his aunts is also covered. Archie adores Penny and Josephine, devising "excitements" to keep their days entertaining, worrying about perceived cognitive declines, exasperated by the trouble that seems to follow the sweet, little old ladies, and dreading the day that these much loved women won't be there anymore. The aunts took Archie under their wings when he was young and have doted on him forever. But that doesn't mean that they have told him their many secrets. He has no idea what their wartime service included, no ideas about their most important loves and losses, and not a full picture of their current day activities either. All three characters are charming and as each of their backstories unfold, the various plot threads thicken deliciously and havoc ensues.

The novel starts off as pure entertainment but turns out to be filled with joy and great sorrow, touching on heavier topics than the reader might suspect. Despite that, it still maintains a madcap, caper-like feel. There's a supporting cast of irrascible elderly women veterans, shenanigans, love lost, DNA testing, social justice, the mores of the war years, especially as applied to women, and the occasional shoplifting and jewel theivery. The ending is a bit chaotic but fun, as is the spirit of the book as a whole. Reading about the Williamson sisters and their adventures is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. show less

Laughed my head off with this book. I just loved Chrissie Manby's style of writing that put us right inside the head of the spurned Ashleigh. Many of the things that our hero went through were admittedly absurd but that made them all the funnier.

My only problem with the story was the ending. Not that I'm against a happy ending, but when one goes from losing not only a boyfriend, but a job and a home only to suddenly become rich and have all worries banished, it's just too much. I'd settle show more for finding a new job and then being able to get a new flat. But the whole suddenly wealthy part is too easy. Sort of like, having the main character wake up at the end of the novel and have the entire thing be a dream! show less

The Excitement by CJ Wray is a charming and engaging cosy mystery centred on two eccentric World War II veterans, sisters Josephine and Penny Williamson. Their unwavering devotion to one another, their family, and their country forms the emotional heart of the novel. Wray skillfully weaves together past and present, moving between wartime Europe and contemporary England to reveal long-buried secrets and family tensions. With its memorable characters, gentle humour, and intriguing blend of show more mystery and family drama, The Excitement is an enjoyable and heartwarming read. show less