The Switch – Book Review

Author: Beth O’Leary

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Flatiron Books/Macmillan Audio

Publication Date: August 18, 2020

Book Description: When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

So they decide to try a two-month swap.

Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll take Leena’s flat, and learn all about casual dating, swiping right, and city neighbors. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire: Eileen’s sweet cottage and garden, her idyllic, quiet village, and her little neighborhood projects.

But stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected. Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find true love? In Beth O’Leary’s The Switch, it’s never too late to change everything….or to find yourself.

Rating: 4 stars

Review: This is such a delightful story about a grandmother and granddaughter switching lives for two months. Leena is an overachiever at work, when she has a mini-breakdown at work she is given two months of mandatory time off. She goes to visit her grandmother Eileen, and they decide that Leena will stay in Eileen’s house and Eileen will live in London in Leena’s flat.

This story develops into a charming and heartfelt story. We know Leena has lost her beloved sister Carla and she has struggled with this for the last year. She has not visited her home, struggles to talk her mother. Taking this time to slow down might just be the best thing for her.

Eileen goes to London and starts an adventure of online dating, starts a social club and becomes friends with an unexpected circle of people. She is just so endearing, I just loved her so much.

This book delves into some tougher topics especially in regards to the death of Carla, but O’Leary writes this in a way that is not overwhelming at all. She fits everything perfectly like a puzzle.

This was my first book by O’Leary while I do have The Flarshare on my shelf since it came out (I think I will have to bump this up on my TBR). I was lucky enough to get an audio copy and surprise Leena is narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones of Hulu’s Normal People. The audio is stellar for this story, and I would not pass it up if you have the chance listen to it.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an Advanced Listening Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.