Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love by Marianne Cronin

 

Eddie is a sprightly ninety years old and volunteers in a charity shop. Following an unusual donation, he befriends a grieving Bella. Admitting to Bella he's never been kissed, she sets out to find Eddie someone to love.

Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love is the second novel by author Marianne Cronin. This author is new to me but I was immediately drawn to this book by the quirky title and cover. Add in the fact that it is described as "funny, feelgood, heart-lifting" and I was sold. Having finished the book I now want to hunt down the author so I can lock her away and force her to do nothing but write so that she has a huge catalogue of books to devour.

Eddie, a retired academic, volunteers at a small charity shop to pass the time. Along with the manager, Marjie, Eddie spends a lot of his time examining the items that are donated. Every so often Eddie comes across an item that can't be sold, items that are too personal such as photographs and letters. Not wanting to consign them to the rubbish, Eddie takes them home, becoming the caretaker for people's memories.

It is one such donation that sparks an unlikely friendship. Twenty-four-year-old Bella is grieving the loss of her boyfriend when she donates some of his goods to the charity shop. Eddie knows that the notebook and photographs are too personal to sell and the well-worn Converse trainers are special, so he decides to look after them in the hope that Bella will eventually want them back.

An unlikely friendship is formed between Eddie and Bella and they regularly share lunch in Pigeon Park. Gradually, we discover that Bella is struggling to move on with her life and that Eddie has never been kissed. Having fallen in love with a married woman as a student he was too honorable to do anything about it and still thinks about her. This is just the knowledge that Bella needs to give her life some impetus, she sets out on a mission to find love for Eddie. 

Eddie is such a wonderful character, one of life's optimists, a genuinely nice person. Unrequited love hasn't left him bitter, it's left him sentimental. Ever hopeful, Eddie relishes the opportunities online dating brings. Refusing to conform, and why should he at the age of ninety, Eddie is always on the lookout for new ideas (and I'm on the lookout for an emerald-green silk shirt, printed with cheetahs, prowling, paws outstretched up and down the sleeves and the chest - cheetahs, not leopards, because cheetahs are slinkier). Despite knock-backs, Eddie doesn't give up and some new and exciting friendships are formed. 

I laughed and I cried, I really didn't expect to have my heart broken (more than once) in this wonderful tale of optimism, generosity of spirit and second chances.

Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love by Marianne Cronin will be published on 15th August 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.

Author Details

Marianne Cronin was born in 1990 and grew up in Warwickshire. After gaining her PhD in applied linguistics, she worked in academia until becoming a writer. Her first novel, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, published by Doubleday in 2021, was voted 'most uplifting book of 2021' by The Independent and shortlisted for a Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction. She lives in the Midlands with her family and her cat.