“Love is love like a tree is a tree. It can be a sapling or a hundred years old oak, but it still has a rout, lifetime and is left on mercy and disfavor of the seasons.”
Why Did I Read This Book?
This was the Beth’s Book Club pick for July/August and our book club discussion was held last Sunday! I have to admit that I probably would have never picked up this book, despite how beautiful it is, so it was a great way of pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
What Did I Think?
This book is an extremely heart-warming tale and so different from what I normally read. Kate is a young woman who has moved to London to pursue her dreams but is struggling with life in the big city, and Rosemary is a 60-year-old woman who has been widowed for a number of years and relies on the local lido to keep her happy. So when it is threatened with closure to build some more flats, Kate and Rosemary build an unlikely friendship, working together to help save the beloved lido.
What Libby Page does eloquently is highlighting that loneliness can affect anyone of any age. Rosemary and Kate are both lonely but for two very different reasons. I found it beautiful that Kate needed Rosemary as much as Rosemary needed Kate. I suppose we need older people as much as they need us.
In the back of the book, there was an interview with the author, Libby Page, and she discussed how it is extremely important to conserve and celebrate the odd and unique buildings within your local community because they may not always be there.
Other than the two main characters, Rosemary and Kate, we also get an essential insight into how the lido affects the lives of all the people in the community, no matter what their age. Whether it’s pregnant women, students, the lifeguard…the lido means something different to everyone but without it, people would lose the very thing that brings them happiness.
It definitely made me think about the beautiful buildings in my community and how we should work to look after them more because our community wouldn’t be the same without them.
A very heart-warming story and one that allowed me to mix up my reading.
“You’re allowed to feel lonely, you’re allowed to feel panicked. It doesn’t make you any less of a person.”
The Lido
Publisher: Orion Books
Published: 2018
# of Pages: 368
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Adult, Romance
Trigger Warnings: Death, loneliness, depression, mourning, loss
Links: Goodreads, Amazon, Blackwells
Stuck In The Book 
It doesn’t seem like my kind of read but I really enjoyed your review, Jessica. It certainly seems like a nice relaxing read and I’m glad you mostly liked it 😊
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Yeah I wouldn’t say it’s usually my kind of read either but I enjoyed reading and discussing it with the book club!
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This book sounds like a soothing book to read during not-so-good moments 🙂
I like a lot how you wrote the review, without spoilers and with genuine thoughts about it.
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Yes it is EXACTLY that! I’d say it’s a good book to read if you’re in a reading slump!
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This book was sweet…. Not great, but a nice read.
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I completely agree!
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Adored this book/audiobook. As you said, it was heartwarming, uplifting and just feel good. Btw, have you see how many different LIDO book covers there are? 😀
~ Corina | The Brown Eyed Bookworm
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Yes it was! Oh my goodness I had no idea, but they all look beautiful 😍
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That sounds like a ‘warm’, feelgood book. There don’t seem to be too many books being written on ‘community’ these days…
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Yes definitely! I went into thinking it would be some sort of thriller or something but it was just a lovely tale about friendship and community! I loved it!
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