Paradise Lodge

De: Nina Stibbe

Narrado por: Helen Baxendale

A delightful story of growing up, getting old, and every step in between, from the acclaimed author of Man at the Helm and Love, Nina.

After succeeding in her quest to help her unconventional mother find a new "man at the helm," fifteen-year-old Lizzie Vogel simply wants to be a normal teenager. Just when it looks as if things have settled down, her mother goes and has another baby. On top of that, Lizzie's best friend has deserted her for the punk craze, which Lizzie finds too exhausting to commit to herself.

But Lizzie soon gets more commitment than she bargained for when she takes a job as a junior nurse at Paradise Lodge, a ramshackle refuge for the elderly that has seen better days. It's no place for a teenager, much less one with as little experience emptying a bedpan as Lizzie. What begins as away to avoid school and earn some spending money (for the finer things in life, like real coffee and beer shampoo) quickly turns into the education of a lifetime. Lizzie encounters a colorful cast of eccentric characters -- including a nurse determined to turn one of the patients into a husband (and a retirement plan); an efficient but clueless nun trying to modernize the place; and Lizzie's unlikely first love -- who become her surrogate family.

When Paradise Lodge faces a crisis in the form of a rival nursing home with enough amenities to make even the comatose jealous, Lizzie must find a way to save her job before she loses the only place she's ever felt she belongs. A hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age tale, Paradise Lodge proves that it's never too early -- or too late -- to grow up.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Stibbe's deadpan first-person delivery once again balances quirky charm with beady insight...Another deft helping of absurd social comedy and unconventional wisdom from a writer of singular, decidedly English gifts."
—Kirkus

"Lizzie Vogel is back. Now 15, she's picked up a job at Paradise Lodge, a Leicester home for the aging that has fallen on hard times...The home provides English writer Stibbe's novel with an incredible patchwork of characters and their eccentricities, and Lizzie's observations of her family, coworkers, geriatric charges, and sundry enemies are wise, hilarious, and of an emotional frankness that's all her own...soaked through with charm."
—Booklist

"A comic romp about aging and belonging."
—Anderson Tepper, Vanity Fair

"Sweetness and wit from Nina Stibbe. You won't find a funnier, more original confidante than Lizzie Vogel, a teen who's taken a job in a nursing home, at first just hoping to pay for some nice shampoo but eventually sucked into a full-on farce. Truancy, elder abuse, the death of Elvis Presley--there seems to be nothing the author of Love, Nina can't play for good-natured laughs and a sneaky touch of wisdom."
—Kim Hubbard , People

"The priceless, pragmatic English youngsters who put their mother on the marriage market in last year's delightful Man at the Helm, are back and practicing their skills on a spate of new victims. In Stibbe's newest novel, Lizzie Vogel is now a teenager and hard at work in her first job at a chaotic old-age home. There, she helps a nurse find a husband (who will also operate as a 'retirement plan'). Lizzie, who finds herself feeling more at home than she's ever felt in her life, helps a cast of eccentrics save the home from a rival."
—Billy Heller, The New York Post's Required Reading

"Stibbe has a gift for summoning the high-octane low-attention-span pimplefest that is adolescence."
—Molly Young, New York Times Book Review

PRAISE FOR LOVE, NINA:

"I adored this book, and I could quote from it forever. It's real, odd, life-affirming, sharp, loving...and I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so frequently while reading."—Nick Hornby, The Believer

"Breezy, sophisticated, hilarious, rude, and aching with sweetness: Love, Nina might be the most charming book I've ever read."—Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

"These letters are winning from the start...we simply like being in Ms. Stibbe's company."—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

"You'll find yourself laughing out loud but also touched by the book's depiction of family as it should be: people bound not just by blood but by shared affinities, humor and unfailing interest in hearing the answer to the question, 'How was your day?'"—Kim Hubbard, People

Funny, endearing, well-written

This is my third listen of this book. The combination of Stibbe’s writing and Helen Baxendale’s reading makes for a very enjoyable company. Soothing in a time of crisis. Excellent.

In the spirit of Ove & Harold Frye

This book is very much in the vein of "A Man Called Ove." Features a cast of characters with various flaws and fears, all joined together by a troubled teen Who is wiser than she knows.

Charming.

fun

fun little book...weird characters, some lines that made me smile. great four anglophiles. very british humour.

Paradise Lodge is charmingly funny

I first heard a clip of Paradise Lodge on BBC Radio 4 and was so intrigued that I go the audiobook. I love the story, which is about teen Lizzie Vogel's life as she gets her first job being an aid at a convalesce home. I found her character to be very relateable, dealing with her mother, sister, little brother and potential step dad plus the stress of having a job for the first time all the while trying to get a love life. I feel in love with Mike watching her fall for him. But alas, life is not always sweet to us. The novel is a fun and resonates with the antsy, school hating, freedom wanting, teen we all were once. It's about trying to find your way in the world and makes me want to stop being a grown-up. The writing is wonderful and the narration is just perfect. It has become one of my top five audiobooks.

Love the voice

The authors writing was so good but the voice just really made the story come alive. This overall story wasn't my all time favorite but with the voice work and the great writing skills of the author it was so fun to listen to. Very witty.

Fun, thoughtful and humorous

This author was mentioned in the New York Times. I have listened to all her books so far and look forward to her next one.