This was one of the books recommended to me (by Pam at Read! Bake! Create! – thank you!) when I discussed how much I enjoy intergenerational friendships. But this book has the refreshing twist of not just being about an intergenerational friendship, but being between two people who need each other and being quite the action-packed adventure!
It all starts with two people who are each in their own tight spot. Tanner is having a rough time and has withdrawn from the world, spending most of her time in her bedroom playing video games. If she’s being honest, that’s about all she wants out of life. Until her mother puts her foot down and tells her it’s time for her to get her life together, starting by moving out. Meanwhile Louise is fuming because, though she may not be a spring chicken, she’s doing quite alright on her own, thank you very much. Unfortunately for Louise, her daughter has overreacted to a recent slip-and-fall and insisted that Louise hire a caregiver. She is not best pleased.
This is how these two end up sharing a house, despite neither of them actually wanting to do so. It’s not an easy adjustment, it’s a bumpy one marked by not only generational differences and misunderstandings, but complete personality incompatibility. And then things start to get…. strange. Tanner starts to notice some odd things about Louise and her home. Starting with the fact that Louise keeps a gun in her bedside table. Even stranger, she has a garden shed that is better secured than a bank vault. But nothing, even these strange quirks, prepares Tanner for what is to come. Before she knows what’s happening she has to decide whether she’s going to go on the run with Louise and fulfil her job requirements, or shop her to the police who are currently pulling into the road outside.
I won’t tell you any more about what happens next or why, but I will say you won’t be expecting any part of it! I enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns this story took. I liked the odd couple feel to Tanner and Louise, and how they play off one another. I liked that the two women have to learn more about their own limits and abilities in order to decide what they are willing to do for one another, and I liked that it provides some great stereotype-busting moments. It wasn’t absolutely perfect – the plot wasn’t quite as tight in places as I would have liked, and the characters were interesting, but not ones who jumped right off the page and made me feel like they were now part of my life. But it didn’t need to be perfect for it to be a great read. It was a quick, fun book that I’d happily recommend if you’re looking for a book that’s entertaining and offers some unexpected elements and decisions. Worth a read if it appeals to you!
Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Preferably one where she can continue sitting around in sweatpants and playing video games nineteen hours a day. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited, so when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it.
One slip on the rug. That’s all it took for Louise Wilt’s daughter to demand that Louise have a full-time nanny living with her. Never mind that she can still walk fine, finish her daily crossword puzzle, and pour the two fingers of vodka she drinks every afternoon. Bottom line — Louise wants a caretaker even less than Tanner wants to be one.
The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things—weird things. Like, why does Louise keep her garden shed locked up tighter than a prison? And why is the local news fixated on the suspect of one of the biggest jewelry heists in American history who looks eerily like Louise? And why does Louise suddenly appear in her room, with a packed bag at 1 a.m. insisting that they leave town immediately?
Thus begins the story of a not-to-be-underestimated elderly woman and an aimless young woman who—if they can outrun the mistakes of their past—might just have the greatest adventure of their lives. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise
Author: Colleen Oakley
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: Berkeley
Released: March 28, 2023
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mismatched Roommates, Intergenerational Friendship
Pages: 337
Date Read: August 22-24, 2024
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.04/5 (29,779 ratings)