After suffering multiple losses in the First World War, her family became so heavy with grief, toxicity, and mental illness that Emmeline felt their weight smothering her. And so, she fled across the Atlantic and built her life in England. Now she is retired and living in a small coastal town with her best friend, Vera, an excellent conversationalist. Vera is also a small white dog, and so Emmeline is making an effort to talk to more humans. When she joins a memoir-writing course at the library, her classmates don't know what to make of her. Funny, loud, and with a riveting memoir, she charms the lot. As her past unfolds for her audience, friendships form, a bonus in a rather lonely life. She even shares with them her third-biggest secret: she has liberated hundreds of spoons over her lifetime—from the local library, Cary Grant, Winston Churchill. She is a compulsive spoon stealer.
When Emmeline unexpectedly inherits the farm she grew up on, she knows she needs to leave her new friends and go see the farm and what remains of her family one last time. She arrives like a tornado in their lives, an off-kilter Mary Poppins bossing everyone around and getting quite a lot wrong. But with her generosity and hard-earned wisdom, she gets an awful lot right too. A pinball ricocheting between people, offending and inspiring in equal measure, Emmeline, in her final years, believes that a spoonful—perhaps several spoonfuls—of kindness can set to rights the family so broken by loss and secrecy.
The Spoon Stealer is a classic Crewe book: full of humour, family secrets, women's friendship, lovable animals, and immense heart.
This book comes highly recommended from a number of sources and sometimes that’s not always a good thing, expectations are elevated.
The location drew me right in, a Canadian setting by a new-to-me Canadian author, that’s bonus points right off the bat. It wasn’t hard to like Emmeline, the story opens with her attending a memoir writing class. The Spoon Stealer is her story told in dual time periods. Making new friends is a bonus from this class that highlights how important having good friends is.
The year is 1968, it’s a lot of living for someone born in 1896. The author doesn’t hold back in all the challenges Emmeline faced, heartbreaking at times to read. However, the author has a knack for making me smile at some of her antics and dealing with family.
The Spoon Stealer is a story of relationships, good and bad, perseverance and the significance of the simple spoon. Lighthearted with serious undertones that mesh together nicely. Emmeline’s friend Vera stole the show for me, great addition that added that extra sparkle to this book.
The only thing I struggled with was the length especially towards the end, it was just a tad long winded but I totally get the direction the author was going.
When Emmeline unexpectedly inherits the farm she grew up on, she knows she needs to leave her new friends and go see the farm and what remains of her family one last time. She arrives like a tornado in their lives, an off-kilter Mary Poppins bossing everyone around and getting quite a lot wrong. But with her generosity and hard-earned wisdom, she gets an awful lot right too. A pinball ricocheting between people, offending and inspiring in equal measure, Emmeline, in her final years, believes that a spoonful—perhaps several spoonfuls—of kindness can set to rights the family so broken by loss and secrecy.
The Spoon Stealer is a classic Crewe book: full of humour, family secrets, women's friendship, lovable animals, and immense heart.
Kindle Edition
Published September 30th 2020
by Vagrant Press
4/5 stars
The location drew me right in, a Canadian setting by a new-to-me Canadian author, that’s bonus points right off the bat. It wasn’t hard to like Emmeline, the story opens with her attending a memoir writing class. The Spoon Stealer is her story told in dual time periods. Making new friends is a bonus from this class that highlights how important having good friends is.
The year is 1968, it’s a lot of living for someone born in 1896. The author doesn’t hold back in all the challenges Emmeline faced, heartbreaking at times to read. However, the author has a knack for making me smile at some of her antics and dealing with family.
The Spoon Stealer is a story of relationships, good and bad, perseverance and the significance of the simple spoon. Lighthearted with serious undertones that mesh together nicely. Emmeline’s friend Vera stole the show for me, great addition that added that extra sparkle to this book.
The only thing I struggled with was the length especially towards the end, it was just a tad long winded but I totally get the direction the author was going.
My thanks to Nimbus Press, via Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for honest review.
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