Sheila Hancock: Just Me.......

I wonder. I read Miss Carter's war which also had 4 stars but it bored me and I didn't finish it.
Still its cheap on Kindle so I might download it

I do not like her writing and if I am being frank I find her hard to like at all. The fact that the book is called Just Me says it all really, and that is not kind of me as I don't know her just a feeling I get about some people

I like Sheila Hancock, and I was looking at this book on Amazon this morning, trying to build up a package of books to order, seeing as my stocks are getting very low, so I think I`ll be ordering this, but a used copy, for £2.

I read this several years ago because I had so enjoyed The Two of Us. It was just after DH had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and I found it very helpful in marshalling my thoughts and deciding how we were going to handle the whole thing.

I am part way through this now and cannot put it down. Her writing is fluent and very readable, and her choice of poems is excellent. I feel sure it would be a useful read for anyone experiencing widowhood.

Sheila Hancock is very different in real life, I met her several years ago;can't say more or will 'out' myself.

That sounds intriguing !!

Very intriguing as her autobiographical writing is so human and appealing. Tough woman too of course.
Sometimes I ask cab drivers about who they've met. One had carried Michael Palin and I enthusiatically asked 'Ooh, is he as nice as he seems on tv?' He turned round to look at me, with a serious expression, and said 'No' -pause- 'He's even nicer!' No feet of clay there then, what a relief!

Oh, I meant she is so kind, funny and really lovely!

I was slow to answer annsixty

I am enjoying the book and think that it might be helpful to people. I am not really interested in how she might be in real life - it is what comes across in the book that matters, and that the content is likely to be helpful to those left on their own. That is what "Just Me" refers to - being widowed and learning to live a solo life. It is not a declaration of unfettered egoism!

I've just finished'Just Me' having downloaded it after reading Luckygirls recommendation. The title didn't strike me as egotistical at all... after a book about her life as one of a pair, 'Just Me' is highly appropriate. Much as I would loathe a guided tour holiday, I would have loved to have been on one with her. Bet she was a complete anarchist. ..... dawdling, looking at things not on the schedule, asking awkward questions. What a strong woman she seems to be.

I loved reading The Two of Us and Just Me. Sheila first piqued my interest in the Quakers.
But I didn't like her novel Miss Carter's War. It read like a story hitched to a sociological essay. Shame.

Oh, thanks, loopylou! I misunderstood and was trying to adjust to your having found her less pleasant IRL! So pleased that she is one of the good guys!