How the Penguins Saved Veronica, by Hazel Prior was our book club choice for our online book club this month. We have been playing fruit basket turnover with dates in both book clubs with members travel schedules. I thoroughly enjoyed this light story. It is an easy read, with a lot of fun facts about penguins. I read it in one sitting as I was flying to Hawaii.
The basic plot is a rich, cantankerous, lonely, old woman living in Scotland, who allows no one to be close to her, decides she needs a plan for her end of life. Divorced and not having any known heirs, and thinking she is nearing the end of her life, she attempts to find any potential family members. She learns she has a grandson who is in his 20’s and arranges a meeting. Things don’t go well, and she decides she needs to find another outlet for her money. She finds a television nature series on penguins, and gets enamored with them. She takes off for Antarctica to stay with the penguin researchers in very basic accommodations.
Parts of the plot are a bit unbelievable, and character development could have been better, but it was a nice, feel-good book with a happy ending. Since I read it on the way to vacation, it was the perfect book for me at that time.
You like most of the characters, especially as they evolve and change in relation to each other. The baby penguin who they take into their care is the catalyst for change in many of the characters, and it just keeps going from there. It also points out that you don’t always know the reasons people act the way they do.
Even though the title says Veronica was saved by the penguins, almost every character in the story is saved by one thing or the other. It was a heartwarming read. Lowest rating was a 3.5, and surprisingly, the highest rating was mine at a 4. Overall, it got a rating of 3.7. I have already recommended this to others. Don’t expect Ulysses, but it was a fun read.