After a breakdown at work, Leena is told to take a 2 month sabbatical to recuperate. Eileen, her grandmother, is looking for love again after her husband has left her for another woman, but finds that her small village has slim pickings with gentlemen suitors.
Leena goes to stay with Eileen and finds that she is looking for love and comes up with the idea that they switch lives for 2 months whilst she’s off work; Eileen can find love in London as Leena refocuses on her life in rural Yorkshire.
Are they able to separate from their lives completely to find what they are looking for or is it all not as easy as it seems?
I loved this book and how wonderful their community is. I want to be a part of it so badly; the fetes, the Easter egg hunt and the neighbourhood watch that doesn't really watch out for the neighbourhood. There are some charming characters and relationships across generations.
I was however slightly concerned by the amount of meddling Eileen did! Although the outcome was mostly good, it seemed to have a positive light on it and I couldn't help but wonder that it wouldn't happen like this in real life as she could potentially get herself hurt. I love the character so much I didn't want anything to happen to her!
The Cotton’s are still reeling from the death of Carla, Leena’s sister and Eileen’s other granddaughter, and Leena is not talking to her mother, Marion so Eileen finds herself in a weird Piggy in the middle situation with her daughter and granddaughter. They are all feeling differently about her death, Leena is not coping well but denying her feelings, and because of this hasn't thought about how it could be affecting her mother. There is a nice touch on depression without it pulling away from the story.
I felt the story was especially strong in the area of the love between this family, even if at times it seemed hard for them. I also fell in love with their friends and how they welcomed Leena and Eileen into their worlds and communities. They both brought joy to their temporary homes and learnt to grow and learn more about themselves as well.
I especially enjoyed the mix of wonderful and eccentric characters. Eileen is just magical and such a delight, anyone would be lucky to have a grandmother like her. Arnold has to be one of my favourites and I love his and Eileen’s silly rivalry and that Leena manages to get more out of the grumpy old man.
The Switch, is an adorable story with strong willed ladies who stole my heart. I laughed and cried and I didn't want the story to end. It is a wonderfully uplifting story and perfect to read in these uncertain times. It is not a genre that I would usually read but I am so glad I did, I would recommend this to everyone!
Thank you NetGalley for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it. I read The Flatshare so I was looking forward to this. I wasn't disappointed. Eileen lives in Yorkshire, she's 79 and is looking for love. Her granddaughter Leena lives in London and is suffering from burnout. She needs a change. The swap lives for 2 months which results in some life changing, often amusing results. The cast of characters made me smile. I loved Eileen and how much she could get away with because she's an old lady. London is not ready for her straight talking and no nonsense approach! I raced through the book and was sad to come to the end, I'll miss Leena and Eileen. The Switch is just a lovely book, full of heart, laughter and the opposite of social distancing. Just the tonic I needed in the current climate.

This is the tale of 2 eileens. This is also the tale of grief and coming to terms with it and what happens if you ignore it.
Lena cotton named after her grandmother Eileen is struggling to cope since the death of her sister Carla. She’s always been successful at her job,she has it all, great job, boyfriend and a swanky apartment she shares with her friends but lately she’s having panic attacks and is close to a breakdown. After nearly costing her company a new contract Lena is made to take 2 months of by her boss.
Heading home to the Yorkshire village where she grew up. Lena decides to visit her grandmother and to tackle her relationship with her mother which has broken down since Carlas death. Lena blames her mother for not helping her persuade her sister to get treatment.
Granny Eileen (the village stalwart) is also grieving and trying to get over the breakup of her marriage, plus run all the village comittees and support daughter Marion. She feels stuck in a rut - so when Lena suggests she try dating again, the pair discover there are more men over 70 available online in London.
Feeling unable to leave all her commitments to go on an adventure, Lena suggests they switch lives for a bit.
Eileen will go to London and stay at Lenas flat and leena will stay in the village and handle all her grans mayday plans and run the neighbour hood watch club plus keep an eye on her mother.
After recently reading Beth O’Leary’s first book the flat share (which I loved) I was very excited to read her new novel.
This novel has a charm of its own and the further into it I read the more I fell in love with its cast of characters.
The modern young friends in London and all the oldies of the village are all wonderful supporting characters.
This story is charming,delightful and funny and I’ve been totally bewitched by both eileens. Would highly recommend.

What a wonderful book - Eileen Cotton and her granddaughter Leena trade places in this absolutely wonderful and uplifting book. Eileen swaps country for bustling London to follow her teenage dreams while Leena moves to the country to try get away and find herself. Beautiful. I would recommend to anyone

This book is just lovely. It deals with some hard issues but there is an underlying thread of goodness, community and kind heartedness. I really loved the characters and watching them develop and bloom throughout was great. Ended it with a great big smile on my face. Definitely recommended.

The Switch is a story of two very different women, with two very different lives, but with one common denominator - they share the same name. The first Eileen Cotton (known as Leena) is a 20 year ago, London career woman who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her sister Carla from cancer. The other Eileen Cotton is Leena’s 79 year old grandmother who lives in a small, rural village in Yorkshire. When her husband Wade left her for another woman, she regrets all the adventures she turned down in her youth. And so, here begins the story, the grandmother and granddaughter decide to swap homes and lives for two months to see if they can find themselves again and start to live life again.

This is a story of grief, happiness and unusual, cross generation friendships.

I read, and loved Beth O’Leary’s first book, The Flat Share, but have to share that I enjoyed this one even more!

Sorry to say just 3⭐ from me for this. I so wanted to fall in love with this book in the way I did with The Flatshare however this wasn't in the same league. It was an enjoyable book and I loved that one of the main characters was an older lady but the quirks that made Flatshare so intriguing were missing. I also loved that not everything focused on London (which is not the centre of the universe). I'm still glad I read it but it fell into the charming, light read category for me (not that that's a bad thing).

Simply wonderful, there's no other word for it.

Leena and Eileen need a change so they decide to swap places: Leena heading to her grandmother's Yorkshire home and Eileen to her granddaughter's London flat. It's what they learn along the way that makes this such a heartwarming read. A true tale of love; romantic, platonic, familial. Of finding who you are by living someone else's life.

I adore Beth O'Leary's writing, it grips you and keeps you enthralled until the last sentence. I wanted to savour every page of The Switch, not wanting to ever leave the lives of Leena and Eileen.

An absolute must read.

We are all healing from something we don't talk about. And sometimes we have to put ourselves into a strange situation to reconnect with ourselves and have an adventure that will rejuvenate us for what lies ahead.

Leena Cotton, a meticulous planner, and an overachiever has a panic attack during an office meeting. She hasn't processed the loss of her sister Carla and tries to cope up by immersing herself in work. Eileen Cotton, 79 and moping about the paucity of desirable men in her small village of Hamleigh-in-Harksdale, wants to enjoy her life, experience sex, and companionship, which her estranged husband Wade failed to give her. As they swap their lives, they see the world through a different angle, once that changes them for good.

The Cotton women show remarkable strength in the face of loss and have so much love to give that they befriend almost everyone immediately. 'The Switch' is a character-driven story, with very little romance. The focus is on this grieving family of three, and their relationship with the people in their immediate vicinity. Eileen and Leena bring unbridled joy to each one they meet and it rubs off on the reader.
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Eileen, however, won my heart. A woman with enough juice left within her, she goes to London and dates men with a vigor that's missing in most oldies. She (with the help of Leena's friends) brings the otherwise self-indulgent community in London together with remarkable efficiency and forms the Silver Shoreditch Social Club for old folks who are forced to live a lonely life. As O'Leary mentions towards the end, I have truly been Eileened.

'The Switch' is as refreshing as 'The Flatshare'. The character development, the setup, and the plot are charming, the dialogues witty and entertaining. It's just the kind of book you wanna curl up with during this extended period of isolation. Beth O'Leary has a remarkable talent for creating lovable characters and she has proved it again.

I have so much LOVE for this book! After reading The Flat Share last year, The Switch was one of my most anticipated reads for 2020 and I certainly was not disappointed. It is a beautiful story, with lovely characters and settings and I really couldn't get enough.

Now you might think that a swap between a 29 year old and a 79 year old is ridiculous - but you have not met Eileen. She is a newly single women, since he husband walked out on her, and she lives with her cats Ant and Dec (I loved this little detail!!) She wants to find love again but her little village in Yorkshire has slim pickings. meanwhile, her beloved grand daughter Leena is struggling in her high powered, highly stressful job in London. She has messed up royally and been ordered to take a 2 month sabbatical to sort her head out. She head to Yorkshire to visit her grandmother and the pair decide to swap lives for a while. Leena will stay in Yorkshire and look after Eileen's life while Eileen heads to London and moves in with Leena's flat mates and looks for love.

It is a hilarious and at times sad adventure for the both and they really discover who they are and what is missing from their lives. Friendships, family, love and priorities are all important to both women. I was immediately immersed in the lives of these wonder characters and was sad when it was over. I cannot recommend this book more.

I've been Eileened!

Leena falls apart at the most inopportune moment and is given no choice but to take a two month sabbatical from her job; she heads to stay with her grandmother, Eileen, for a few days. Eileen, in turn, is feeling that live is passing her by and would like a bit of excitement and possible romance in her life but there's a lack of eligible men in her small village. So Leena proposes a solution for them both; she can stay in Eileen's cottage whilst Eileen heads off to live in Leena's London flat. However, neither of them really understood what they were letting themselves in for . . .

After reading Beth O'Leary's first novel, The Flatshare, I didn't hesitate to take up the chance to read and review this second one. Entirely different, and so very entertaining! The characters are both warm, endearing and beautifully drawn - and that includes the wider cast, not just the two main ones. I just loved everything about this novel, and I want a wristband (read it, you'll find out what I'm on about)! This is a well thought out and cleverly planned story; there is always something going on to keep the readers focus moving from one character to another with plenty of humour along the way. Yet again, I've had to explain to my OH what I'm giggling and laughing about at the strangest moments. A really fun read, absolutely perfect for these times of isolation, one which will lift every reader's spirits. Worth every one of the five sparkling stars I'm very happy to give it and the highest recommendation to add this one to your list today!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

Leena Cotton is horrified to be forced to take a sabbatical after messing up a presentation at work.  She doesn't mess up, it just isn't her!  She uses the time to visit her Grandma, Eileen, who is 79 and recently single.  Eileen is looking for love, but her options in the village of Hamleigh are limited.  Whilst discussing their problems, the two women decide to change places for 2 months.  Eileen will go to London for the adventure she never had when she was younger, and Leena will stay in Hamleigh and look after her Grandma's projects, taking a well earned breakfrom London life.  Both women love the change of lifestyle, but it isn't without problems.  Will they manage the full 2 months? And what will happenwhen it's time to return to their old lives?


Having enjoyed Beth O'Leary's first book, The FlatShare, I was looking forward to starting this one and seeing if it measured up.  It definitely did, and if anything I liked The Switch more.

The first few chapters of the book get the scene set pretty quickly.  We get a whirlwind introduction to Leena, Eileen and their family history.  It doesn't take long for us to get to the point where the two women have swapped places, and whilst I thought at first that it seemed rushed it actually works well.  It means that the bulk of the book focuses on the lifestyle swap, rather than setting the scene.

I was a bit unsure if I was going to enjoy this or not because of the undertone of grief that seemed so heavy in those first few chapters.  Once the book gets going this becomes much less of an overriding theme, although it is still present.  On the whole I thought it was addressed well, without making the book too dark and serious.

There's a lot of humour in the book.  I love the various characters we meet throughout the story.  Arnold was one of my favourites, a grumpy old man who maybe isn't ao grumpy after all.  The escapades of both Leena and especially Eileen are great fun to read about, and made me think of some of the things my Nan does.  She's not on the dating scene, but definitely doesn't act like she's eighty!

A lighthearted and heart warming read, this is definitely a good one to pick up if you need something to make you smile.  It was a bit predictable in places but that didn't really impact my enjoyment of the story.  I'll be keeping an eye out for future books by Beth O'Leary

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus books for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book, it was the first Beth O'Leary book I've read having heard good things about The Flat Share.
It took me a couple of attempts to get into the first couple of chapters, but after that I was hooked.
Really loved the characters, everyone should have a Granny Eileen to sort them out, and I want to go and live in a lovely village like this one.
Loved hearing about things from each character's perspective and how they took turns telling the story and about all their adventures.
The story succeeded in having me laugh out loud, and cry my eyes out and I liked how things behind closed doors weren't always as they seemed.
By the end the characters felt like old friends and I wanted to read more about them.
Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy in return for my honest review.

Warm and funny, The Switch by Beth O’Leary is the kind of uplifting book I think we all need just now. The storyline may feel a little familiar but I loved the sense of community, family, friendship and love that runs throughout.

As a massive fan of O’Leary’s debut, The Flatshare, I was ridiculously excited to get my hands on an advance copy of her new book The Switch. Unfortunately however while I did very much enjoy it, I’m not sure it quite lived up to expectations (although to be fair these were probably unreasonably high).

The story is great, the characters are likeable and it’s warm and funny and incredibly sweet. It’s pretty much a big hug in book form. However while I more or less devoured the whole thing in an afternoon, I feel it’s missing that special something to lift it from a great read to a stand out one and I have a horrible feeling that in a few weeks I’ll have forgotten all about it.

It may be that I’ve been overdosing on romcoms and contemporaries lately (they’re pretty much the only genres I can focus on right now) but I felt The Switch was a little lacking in originality. The story seemed a bit too familiar and I’ve read more than one book where different generations of women discover they have something to learn from each other.

I did love the characters and the way they developed over the course of the story. Also really loved how many older characters had starring roles. Eileen in particular was a joy to read and I thought the author did a wonderful job of portraying an older person whose body may be slowing down but whose determination and passions are as strong as ever. I loved her adventurous spirit but I also loved how she created a community everywhere she went and how protective she is of those she cares about.

Leena took a little longer to grow on me. I could certainly relate to her but I think it’s safe to say she’s a bit of a mess at the start of the story and she’s keeping a lot bottled up inside which makes her come across as uptight. I found her inability to stop and relax frustrating, I mean, who complains about being given a couple of months paid leave (and I don’t mean because you’ve been furloughed and can’t go anywhere or see anyone). She does however develop quite nicely over the course of the story and I grew to really like her.

I also loved the relationships within the novel, the friendships old and new (some of which are unlikely) and also the romance. There are quite a few sparks flying and while it is a little predictable I was happy to go along for the ride.

I maybe would’ve preferred less secondary characters so they could be developed a bit further but each and every one does have a role in the story and they do all feel authentic if a bit eccentric at times.

Overall a great read that’s perfect for a lazy day or when you’re in need of a bit of cheering up.

This is a class above the author’s previous work (which I also enjoyed). In an earlier review, I debated how many ways older women, paired with a younger person (in that case, it was a child) could teach each other about the joys of life. Once again, I have to alter my estimation of the successful combinations possible because this was pure joy. I was a blubbering mess for vast chunks of it, but that is something I have to take into stride when venturing into this genre.

The only thing that put me off a little was the age of the elder Eileen, who is going to turn eighty. I have a grandmother at that age and even giving the allowances that being from different cultures could mean, I think the clarity of thought was a little too sharp. I would have digested her part of the narrative easier if she was a decade younger. But that’s probably just me, and the rest of the tale was so engrossing and so in keeping with the nature of UpLit that I felt buoyed by the end. Also, despite it being a pretty big book (at 400 pages), I read it in one sitting.

This is about two Eileens, the younger is still unable to come to grips with her sister’s death. The older is facing her eightieth and is unhappy with her life. They decide to switch their lives to try something new. We have the usual suspects of caricatures of a small town, their roles being equal parts irritating and heartwarming. The younger(Leena) moves into an elder dominated town whereas Eileen ends up in London and finding out things about her granddaughter’s life that she never paid any attention to! The romance for both halves of the story is more in the background, while still being a prominent player in the whole picture.

It is a fun read, a must for those who like the genre and for anyone who is looking for something remarkably cozy to read.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I loved The Flatshare, (didn’t everyone?) so I had high expectations and hopes for The Switch, I’ll admit, I was worried the author wouldn’t be able to follow up The flatshare with another success, but I needn’t have worried, because I loved this book. If I’m honest, the start was a little slow to get into, but once I got to know Leena and Eileen I couldn’t stop reading. I loved them both, and desperately wanted to see them find their happiness. This book had another interesting premise, humourous and light yet with serious undertones. A very uplifting and heartwarming book that I HIGHLY recommend you read!

Completely charming, with not just one heroine but two! Leena is an over-achiever with a high powered job in consulting. On facing burnout, she is ordered to take a sabbatical. She is close with her grandmother, Eileen, who is also looking for a change and is no ordinary old lady. They agree to a two-month house-swap with unexpected results. Eileen turns out to be a hit on the city dating scene and Leena starts to question her long term relationship while enjoying the slower pace of country life.

This rollicking story is full of fun and irony, but also touches on deeper topics of burn-out and loss to give balance and substance. Leena is very relatable but its feisty, no-nonsense, loyal, practical Eileen who steals the show. There are lots of interesting support characters and the story flows so easily. A lovely, romantic easy book which leaves you feeling positive and happy.

3.5 stars

THE SWITCH grabbed my attention from the first few pages with characters that were interesting from the start. In fact, the first 20% of this read was so strong, getting you on board with ‘the switch’.

Told in alternating POVs between Leena, a 20-something ambitious professional and Eileen, her 79 year old grandmother, these two swap residences. I did wonder how into Eileen’s POVs I would get, but honestly she was truly engaging and incredibly fun. The Yorkshire Dales versus London contexts were a fun contrast.

I would describe the storyline as cutely predictable and generally enjoyable. The characters in the dales were a little bit like ‘The Vicar of Dibley’, an eclectic mix and sometimes a bit stuffy. I did sometimes want to crank things up a bit. Meanwhile, Eileen in London was funny and her storyline was adorable. There were some serious tones to the story and while that was in the background, it brought somber notes to the characters and made them real.

The culmination and wrap up rushed to a sprint at the end but it made for a satisfying ending to this light and funny book.

Thank you to Quercus Books for the early review copy.

*** ARC kindly received from NetGalley, re-read via purchased copy of the Audible audiobook ***

If I could pick one word to sum up The Switch by Beth O’Leary, it would be gorgeous. A gorgeously joyous read, gorgeous, well written characters (Eileen is the near octogenarian that I didn’t realise I needed for a best friend!) the whole book leaves the reader with a gorgeous warm feeling which is so desperately needed in our current climate. I was worried as to whether Beth O’Leary’s second novel could be a patch on her debut, The Flatshare, but I really shouldn’t have had any concerns. This was equally well written and brilliantly entertaining. Also, as a big audiobook fan, special praise should head the way of Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones who both gave the perfect voices to Eileen and Leena. 5 stars all round!

This is one of those book that makes you think and are heartwarming and entertaining at the same time.
I think that Beth O'Leary is a talented storyteller and she does a great job at creating enjoyable story full of food for thought.
The story of Leena and Eileen made me smile more than once but there a darker undertone in the description of their trip to face and accept the loss of Carla. The grief is one the main elements in this story and there are moment when the description of the raw sufferance moved me to tears.
Being a consultant I also love the realistic description of the consultancy and laughed as some characters are typical of that environment.
I loved every moment of this story and I think I need to read it again.
It is a brilliant story and I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.