Listen to a sample
Three Things About Elsie
- Author
- Joanna Cannon
- Narrator
- Paula Wilcox
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date
- 11 January 2018
- Run Time
- 10 hours 44 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Rating
- 5.0 (3 reviews)
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What to expect
‘Lovely, lovely, lovely… Sue Townsend meets Kate Atkinson meets Nina Stibbe’ MARIAN KEYES
‘Powerful and profound’ Guardian
‘Another sure-fire hit’ Daily Mail
‘Funny, melancholy, acutely observant’ Sunday Express
‘Cannon is so attuned to other people’s stories… a chronicler both of the human condition and the quotidian details which speak to who we are’ Guardian
84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, she considers the charming new resident who looks exactly like a man she once knew – a man who died sixty years ago. His arrival has stirred distant memories she and Elsie thought they’d laid to rest. Lying prone in the front room, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light …
Critics Review
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Praise for Three Things About Elsie:
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‘Compassionate, thoughtful and tender, it is a novel exploring the pain of nostalgia and personal truths so painful we hide them even from ourselves’ HANNAH BECKERMAN, Observer
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‘A tale of ordinary lives and buried secrets … a well-written, entertaining, effortless read with some arresting insights’ Mail on Sunday
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‘Charming, wise and profoundly human. I lived every page of this book’ ERIN KELLY
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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‘Powerful and profound’ Guardian
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‘Irresistibly good-hearted … captivating’ Telegraph
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‘Another sure-fire hit for Cannon … abounds with Alan Bennett-esque humour, as well as heart-wrenching sadness’ Daily Mail
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‘Emotional, sweet, funny, hauntingly sad and poignant. I loved it’ DJ Sara Cox, Stella
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‘Funny, melancholy, acutely observant … your heart will finally crack in two on the last page’ Sunday Express
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‘A warm, wise novel – brilliantly entertaining – that also manages to be a timely and profound take on ageing. I loved it’ KATE HAMER
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‘Light yet heartbreaking, a joy to read’ i Newspaper
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‘Funny, touching, and peppered with astute observations … a future classic’ CLARE MACKINTOSH, author of I Let You Go
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‘[Cannon] conveys the legion indignities of overlooked old age with touching perception’ Sunday Times Culture
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‘A moving, bittersweet story’ Good Housekeeping
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‘Cannon is on her way to becoming a national treasure – no one does quirky, funny and soul-searing the way she does’ Emerald Street
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‘Poignant, witty and original’ Woman & Home
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‘More brilliant, generous storytelling… (a) funny, melancholic tale’ Psychologies
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
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5.0 5.0
Brilliantly written.
laferme 2026-04-25 -
5.0 5.0
A wonderfully warm book. Full of intrigue. Well read. Highly recommended
Greenkiwiinlondon 2026-03-17 -
5.0 5.0
A poignant testament to friendship, a moving portrayal of life in a care home, and a mystery resolved in a series of surprises towards the end - all shot through with gentle humour, quirky inner voices and oodles of humanity. Wonderful writing, brilliant narration.
jackdor 2026-02-04
Details
- Author
- Joanna Cannon
- Narrator
- Paula Wilcox
- Duration
- 10 hours 44 minutes
- Release Date
- 11 January 2018
- ISBN
- 9780008196950
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Genre
- Fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general
- Rating
- 5.0(3 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(3 reviews)
Synopsis
The Sunday Times Bestseller ‘Lovely, lovely, lovely… Sue Townsend meets Kate Atkinson meets Nina Stibbe’ MARIAN KEYES ‘Powerful and profound’ Guardian ‘Another sure-fire hit’ Daily Mail ‘Funny, melancholy, acutely observant’ Sunday Express ‘Cannon is so attuned to other people’s stories… a chronicler both of the human condition and the quotidian details which speak to who we are’ Guardian 84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, she considers the charming new resident who looks exactly like a man she once knew – a man who died sixty years ago. His arrival has stirred distant memories she and Elsie thought they’d laid to rest. Lying prone in the front room, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light …
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