Sipsworth | Simon Van Booy

What a charming, sweet book! I would put this in the subgenre of "I'm not dead yet!" literature. Those are books about older people who think they're ready to be done with it, but discover that they're not quite ready after all. A Man Called Ove, One-In-A-Million-Boy, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, you can add to the list. As an aside, I love the idea of subgenres. I used to refer to a number of Oprah books in the 90s by a name that would now be considered inappropriate but I'm thinking this one will be good for a while.

Helen Cartwright has moved back to her hometown in England from her decades in Australia. Her husband and adult son have died and at 83 she's decided she's done with it all and is renting a cottage to meet her end. We learn more about Helen's (turns out, extraordinary) life as the story goes on, and when she meets up with a mouse, stranded in her home, she sees her path forward and builds a community that she didn't realize she wanted. It's a short book with simple but visual language. It's smile-funny throughout and there's a sweet, tidy ending.