Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin #EddieWinstonisLookingForLove @itsmcronin @DoubledayUK #BookReview

Eddie Winston is ninety years old. He has lived and he has loved, but he has never been kissed.

A true gentleman and incurable romantic, Eddie spends his days volunteering at a charity shop, where he sorts through the donations of the living and the dead, preserving letters and tokens of love along the way. It is here that he meets Bella, a troubled young woman who, aged twenty-four, has just lost the love of her life.

When Bella learns that Eddie is yet to have his first kiss, she resolves to help him finally find love, sparking an adventure that will take them to unexpected places and, they hope, bring Eddie to the moment he has waited for all his life.

As Bella helps Eddie and Eddie helps, well, everyone, a soul-stirring story of friendship and kindness unfolds as we see how those we love are never forgotten and it is never too late to try again. 

Eddie Winston is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin was published in hardback on 15 August 2024 by Doubleday. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

I originally read this one quite a few months ago, my review was published in The Mature Times, September 2024 edition. 

Marianne Cronin has delivered a wonderful follow up to her debut novel; The One Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot which was published a couple of years ago.

This author is incredibly skilled in creating intergenerational relationships. Her two main characters; ninety-year-old Eddie and twenty-four-year old Bella are a joy to discover. Their evolving friendship is powerful, funny and utterly feelgood. 

Eddie Winston was previously an academic but now spends his days volunteering in a charity shop, along with his quirky and quite eccentric boss Marjie. Eddie loves his job, he carefully sifts through the donations, keeping aside a few little things that may be rubbish to some, but seem special to him. 

Bella is grieving, her boyfriend Jake has recently died and she meets Eddie when she donates a box of his belongings to the shop. 

There’s an instant spark between this unlikely couple and their friendship begins. Bella discovers that Eddie has never been kissed, and it becomes their joint aim to change this. 

However, Eddie has been in love,  and he is really looking for ‘Birdie’, the woman who stole his heart back in the 1960s. The author cleverly and beautifully interweaves that early story of Eddie and Birdie into the present-day tale. It is subtly and compassionately done.

Packed with a cast of colourful and larger than life characters, this is a novel that is full of hope and love. There is humour and laughter, sadness and grief but there is always so optimistic. 

A truly beautiful book, one to treasure. 

Marianne Cronin is the author of 'The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot', which
was voted 'Most Uplifting Book of 2021' by The Independent, won the American Libraries Association Alex Award, and was shortlisted for a Goodreads Choice award for fiction. It has been translated into over 25 languages.

Marianne's second novel, 'Eddie Winston is Looking for Love' was released in 2024.

Marianne was born in 1990 and after gaining a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, worked in academia until becoming a writer. She lives in the Midlands of England with her family and her cat.

You can find Marianne on Instagram at: @itsmariannecronin