Rating: 4 out of 5.

I absolutely loved this book. I listened to the audio and the narrators did a fantastic job. They instilled the perfect mixture of sweet, snarky, and sarcastic into their voices to bring Elsie/Mabel to life. The story is told in two storylines, present day and Mabel as a young girl. In present day the main character goes by Elsie and as a young girl, she goes by Mabel. Elsie is 81 years old and has lived on her street for over 60 years. She’s the neighborhood curmudgeon that has an opinion about everything and everyone. Her peace is disrupted by the appearance of a little girl named Persephone who relentlessly inserts herself into Elsie’s life.

When a neighbor dies and Elsie is questioned, her carefully constructed life starts to unravel as secrets from her past come to light and they learn she is the illustrious “Mad Mabel” who allegedly murdered someone. People start to side-eye Elsie and shun her, except Persephone, of course. She is fully invested in making Elsie her best friend. Despite her protestations, Elsie’s life begins to intertwine with Persephone and her mother. This is a new feeling for Elsie, and it’s a big deal. When two students approach Elsie and ask her to be the feature of their documentary about her life, Elsie finally agrees to talk about her history.

There are a lot of moving parts to this story, but it is so engaging that you won’t be able to stop reading/listening. The story flows seamlessly from present day to Mabel’s past and you begin to see the full picture of this fascinating and tragic woman. The cruelty she endured while growing up was staggering. The author did a great job of portraying it without going too far. I loved that the more Elsie revealed about her past, the more she became accepted by those around her. Her relationship with Persephone also opened up parental feelings Elsie never thought she’d have.

This is my favorite book by this author and highly encourage you to read it. I received a complimentary audio copy from Macmillan Audio. All opinions are my own.