What a delight this book is! Laurie Graham is at the top of her game here, with this follow-up to The Future Homemakers of America. Now the young women we first met on a US Air Force base in deepest Norfolk are all much older – if not wiser. The years have taken their toll, but the friendship between them lives on, and the loyalty and courage that marked their early friendship are still very much in evidence. It’s not necessary to have read the first book, as Graham fills in the back story when necessary, but I think it adds to the reading pleasure. As usual, Graham doesn’t shy away from exploring the darker aspects of life as illness and death are now affecting all the women and their families. And just as WWII was the backdrop to the earlier book, here 9/11 plays out before their horrified eyes. Graham’s skill is in merging the horror with the everyday, the tragedy with the fun, all with her trademark humour, poignancy and humanity. With her usual acute observations and insight into human nature, and her ever sparkling wit and dialogue, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting with old friends and remained absorbed from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

This book has heart and is about a group of people who happen to be in thieir seventes, quite like a fun chick-lit novel but with more depth.
Peggy, the central character was married to an airman and still keeps in touch with others who were young wives in the 1950s. One had died, another made it big as a TV healer, another is a brash loud-mouthed character who has a big heart. Then there is Kath. She was an English girl who married into the USAF and her phrases and outlook are seen)hilariously) as strange by the American women (who do not realise they too are strange, have an accent etc).
Peggy and her gay friend Grice answer Peggy's thug of a daughter;s plea to help care for Peggy's ex-husband who has dementia and lives with his stepson who is into conspiracy theories = and his arguments are pretty convincing!" The handling of TV coverage of 9/11 and the US perspective and how little was known or understood is masterful, and would get anyone siding with the conspiracy theorists.
I found it a really refreshing change that the central character is not a pretty, buff mindless girl but a woman who still has her marbles despite many birthdays.
As it is fun i am sure it will appeal to any age reader

I must be completely honest and say that I downloaded this for my mum to read who is an absolute fan of Laurie Graham. She said that reading this was like pulling on a comfy and familiar pair of slippers, as the characters were instantly recognisable again from the previous book. She loves Graham's characterisation, and the strength and authenticity of her female characters in particular. Another winner.

I love Laurie Graham so a new book from her is always a cause for celebration and excitement for me. It's taken a long time for this one to arrive and so I saved it to read on holiday as a treat.

This is a sequel to one of Graham's earlier novels - her first sequel I think - and we meet up with many of the characters from Future Homemakers of America at the turn of the millennium. Peg and her friends are in their 70s and age is catching up to them and the world is changing fast. This isn't as laugh out loud funny as my favourites of Graham's novels, but it is a brilliant evocation of the best of female friendships. Peg, Lois, Audrey and Gayle were thrown together by the coincidence of their military husbands' postings where they met Kath, the outsider, and formed a sisterhood that endured over 50 years.

The only reason that this isn't a 5* review for me is because I felt like it got a bit bogged down in some of the post 9/11 conspiracy theories, without necessarily tying it all up properly although I was pleased with what happened to Eugene (which raised a smile!) and I wanted a slightly more conclusive end. But a new book from Graham is better than a new book from most other authors, so it's minor niggling really. And I loved the recipes. There's even a couple I might try out. This will be best appreciated I think if you've recently read Future Homemakers - or indeed reread it in preparation (which I didn't have a chance to do) but even if you haven't there's plenty here for you to enjoy watching a group of old ladies support each other and try and make the most of the life they have left.

It has been a long time since I read Fiture Homemakers of America but this sequel was very clever in how it used the trope of an older person's memory to recap that first book without it feeling like a 'previously on....' Style. The book raises questions for discussion but us open ended and will generate great bookgroup chats.

LOVED this catch up with the future homemakers! Having read, loved and recommended widely, the earlier novel 'The Future Homemakers of America', I was delighted to find that Laurie Graham had written a second book about these girls. In this book we catch up with the ladies in their retirement years. Time has taken its toll and the girls have lived through much change and some troubles; however they are still as sparky and fun as they were back in the Norfolk of the 1950s. The story starts at the approach of the new millennium and the ladies are coming to terms with amongst other things: the millennium bug, Alzheimer's, broken hips, loss of husbands and friends, September 11th and children, as well as getting older themselves. They are still as funny and frank as they always were throughout all the difficulties sent their way. I love the writing style, where I feel I'm almost eavesdropping on their conversations. These ladies are real women, flawed but instantly lovable in spite of everything. Read and enjoy...............................!