This novel is both funny and sad . The main characters are Lenni who is 17 and Margot who is 83 . Both are terminally ill. They meet in hospital in the art class run by Pippa. Lenni is immediately drawn to Margot and they strike up an extraordinary friendship. They plan to paint a hundred paintings to represent their hundred year age together. Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South. This story is so full of life and a lot of the story relates to Margot's journey, a story of a beloved father devastated by war, a young marriage torn apart by the heartache of loss, an unrequited love, another deep and shared love of 30 years, and more. Through Margot's pictures and stories, Lenni is able to live a life she will never have but she also allows Margot to reflect on what has passed and what she wants to do, if she survives her next surgery.

Friendship is a big theme of the book, how do Lenni’s friendships with Margot, Father Arthur and New Nurse change her?Instead of troubling herself and others with a question she couldn’t answer, she embraced her gift for painting and… celebrated the rest of her life exploring that talent… Thank you to #netgally, #mariannecronin, #harpercollinspublishers for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book. They’ve started to say “life-limiting” instead now. “Children and young people with life-limiting conditions . . .” I’m thankful for my early reviewer friends who loved this book, as it wasn’t really on my radar. Meaningful and wonderfully written books aren’t easy to find!! This debut novel by Ms.Cronin is extraordinary.

Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. Definitely a good read and holds your attention waiting for the next chapter . The story is about sadness and humour and hope as well as friendships and bereavement. She stopped. She seemed so small that I wanted to scoop her up and lay her down in a pile of soft toys and cushions, and cover her in a warm blanket.” This author really did a good job of bringing out the tears. This book is good. It's well written and has that feeling you look for in a book. The feeling that you are there. That you are a part of it. That you are involved in these two people's lives. You will feel it. I certainly did.When she meets 83-year-old Margot, a fellow patient offering new friendship and enviable artistic skills, Lenni's life begins to soar in ways she'd never imagined. As their bond deepens, a world of stories opens up: of wartime love and loss, of misunderstanding and reconciliation, of courage, kindness and joy. Stories that have led them to the end of their days....” What do you think happens to Margot after the end of the book? Do you think she makes it to Vietnam to see Meena again? Captivated by Margot’s long and storied life, Lenni concocts a creative scheme. They will make paintings of pivotal moments from their lives, one for each of their combined 100 years, as a way to chronicle their stories and transport themselves away from the reality of hospital beds and surgeries. As they paint, their creative body of work begins to surprise them, as well as their fellow artist patients and excited art teacher, Pippa. With the encouragement of hospital chaplain Father Arthur and a favorite nurse, Lenni and Margot press on through memories both painful and breathtaking.

This was a beautifully-written inspiring story of hope, destiny, wisdom and spiritual awareness, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot focused on living life to the fullest, no matter how much time you have left. It was about making peace with your own mortality, finding a place where you belong, and that family is not always blood-related. Sharing and preserving their best and worst memories helped Lenni and Margot define what moments of their lives they truly cherished, and reconcile with those that were painful. Ok…. one more thing: and not the books fault — but I’ve read a few books recently that I soooo passionately loved, [“The Paper Palace”, and a few others], that I find myself still wishing for that ‘gut-exciting’ rush-read.As their friendship deepens, it becomes vividly clear that life is not done with Lenni and Margot yet. This heartbreakingly beautiful and moving debut novel details an unlikely but powerful intergenerational friendship that develops when it’s needed the most. Lenni, a 17 year old who is hospitalized with a terminal illness, meets Margot an 83 year old who is hospitalized with heart problems. While together in the art room Lenni realizes that between them she and Margot have lived 100 years. They decide to each paint a picture for each year of their lives. Through their paintings and the stories told about them we learn the details of both of these characters lives. Through the course of her hospitalization, Lenni finds Margot as well as several other friends who provide love and support and who help strengthen her resolve to live life fully. MY THOUGHTS: "Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” - Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer to his Pupil.