A lovely, poignant, and well written story that talks about grief and people. The author can write and I appreciated the storytelling and the characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

“‘This is what normal people do. This is how they manage.’”

Other People Manage is the story of Marge and Peg’s relationship - from them meeting in the 70s to twenty years later, where Marge is alone and grieving Peg’s death.

“Most of the time, in those years before I met Peg, I wasn’t anything like happy but I was young enough still to believe in possibility, and from this distance possibility looks surprisingly like happiness itself.”

The novel was quiet and slow, reflecting the mundane parts of a long term relationship well - showing the ups, the downs and the just okays, and showing how life events can change the dynamic of a relationship. However, I did wish that we were shown a bit more depth - both to the main characters and the relationship itself.

Being focussed on a lesbian couple who met in the 70s, I was expecting there to be a bit of resistance to their relationship, but it seemed that everyone around Marge and Peg accepted them. Which is great for them, obviously, but I’m not sure this would have been realistic at the time. I’m all for the depiction of lesbian relationships without the focus on coming out or any trauma as a result of the relationship, but here it just felt like one of the characters could have been substituted with a man and it wouldn’t have made any difference.

“When I try to remember the stage [of grief] now, I come up with denial, bargaining, something else, another something else and acceptance. No matter how often I come back to fill in the blanks, I can’t name the missing stages, and that seems oddly right. I live in one of those blank stages.”

Marge’s grief and subsequent trying to figure out where she fit in with the world, especially alongside Peg’s family, who she had adopted as her own, was done really well. The depiction of regret, memories and loneliness after the death of a loved one while going through the motions of everyday life was written realistically and pulled at my heartstrings.

It was a quick and easy read, but ultimately, it’s not one that will stick with me.

Other People Manage is released on 14 April 2022. Thank you to Swift Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book tells the tale of Peg and Marge and their life together. It's from Marge's POV an she's like a narrator of her life with Peg and their family. It was a nice read but it was kind of sad a lot of the times. Could be that this is what the author intended or just my state of mind.

An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely and slow unfolding of a life together. It begins and ends with Peg, the partner of Marge, when they first meet in the late 1970s as the story unfurls through their life together. It's a very quiet, oddly peaceful novel about a life lived together and a space carved out within a family. There are no grand overseeing narratives but instead it resonates with an ordinariness of life and love that creates a deeply contemplative and touching story.

The premise of this book is catching, following Peg and Marge from when they meet in the 70s through various challenges including a stalker, a runaway sister, and a troublesome niece. Marge's inner monologue, whilst emotionally sparse and in line with her character, is enlightening and opens up a depth that isn't translated elsewhere across the book. There's a lack of connection between Peg and Marge, something I would have liked to see more glimpses of to show why they were together, why they stayed together.

Marge and Peg meet in the Coffee House in the late '70s. This is their story. One of togetherness, of loving another person in thousands of unsayable tiny ways. It's also a story about family, about putting one foot after another and doing the next best thing, and the next best thing in the hopes that someday you might just be able to make sense of it all. It's a story about grief. About not knowing how to do the next best thing and somehow still doing it anyway.

I didn't expect this story to knock me sideways in the way that it did. I thought that it'd be yet another story about relationships and loss that would somehow miss the mark. But Hawley writes a visceral story about setting yourself alight for another person. About being present. About noticing. Her observations about the everyday are incredibly insightful. She writes about the sentimental things while somehow not edging across the line into being overly sentimental.

Hawley does a lot within these few pages. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

This was a lovely little read that gave a peephole into love, loss and grief. It was well written with good characterisation and a cute storyline. A quick and easy read.

A beautifully written portrayal of grief.
Marge and Peg begin their lives together after meeting in a cafe.
This is a beautifully told love story that narrates the ups and downs of their relationship.
The loss that Marge feels for Peg when she dies is visible on the page and you feel that you can see these characters and their complex lives.
Theses of family, love, grief and conflict jump off these pages.
Well told and recommended.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

A beautiful, tender look at a relationship between two women, Marge and Peg, in the 1970s. It's a reflections of a very real relationship with all its highs and lows and misunderstandings and resentments. Its a tale about what brings and holds people together in spite of family dramas and disagreements. It's funny, sad and insightful.

This is a really interesting snapshot of a read. Great insight into a period of time and relationships.
Felt real and quite hard hitting at times.

Set in the 70’s, Marge and Peg meet in a women’s coffeehouse; only Peg’s ex refuses to move on from their brief fling, and her antics threaten their relationship before it can even properly begin. Despite the challenges thrown by a jealous ex, Peg’s drunk and flighty sister, and a family dynamic completely alien to Marge, the pair stay together for the next twenty years; until suddenly Marge finds herself along again, recalibrating her life after the loss of Peg.

Hawley’s writing style reminded me of Sylvia Brownrigg’s Pages for You, and the novel starts out with all the hope of a new relationship that changes over time. At the beginning, I found it reflective of a true relationship, rather than a fluffy fairytale romance. It describes the fights where you stay mad even though you know you’re over it but can’t switch it off; and captures the mundanity of a long-term relationship, where the love comes in crashing waves followed by millpond lulls. I could also see myself reflected in Margie- getting mad at the coffee cups left around the house, clothes tossed on the floor, and unnecessary sweaters purchased when the wardrobe is already bursting…

But as the novel wore on, I couldn’t help but feel the characters were remaining together out of a sense of obligation, rather than love, and it began to feel quite heavy and depressing, especially when we know from the beginning that Peg’s ending isn’t a happy one.

It was an interesting read, and different to what I’ve been reading lately, which is always refreshing. If a slow-burn, conversational read is what you’re after, I recommend giving it a whirl.

I’m unfamiliar with this author, but what drew me was the book’s lovely cover photograph. The description sounded good, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I’m really glad I did as I enjoyed this story a lot. The blurb on Good Reads is right; quite serious subjects are tackled with a light hand. (Apart from the first main event and I kept wondering why not the police? Why not just tell them?)

There are some interesting metaphors and ways of expressing how Marge feels, mainly about her family and her childhood, her relationship with Peg and the rather complex relationships of Peg’s siblings and children. You see her evolve throughout the book. I think the style of writing and low-key tone reminded me of an Anne Tyler novel.

I wonder if I’m the only one who fancied making a meatloaf by the end? I bet not!

I will definitely look out for more by Ellen Hawley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

'Other People Manage' by Ellen Hawley.

Firstly, this is the first book I've read by this author, so a complete newbie to her work. Other People Manage is basically about life. About what happens between the two main characters, Marge and Peg, from the beginning of their relationship. But (to me) it's is mostly about people who are close to them, the ups and downs, and the slight impact it had on their relationship. I would have loved it if the story had more about the couple. They didn't seem to want to be together, more like they were there as an obligation. A bit more love, chemistry, the spark would have been lovely.

I choose this book because I've recently read another story which was set in the '70s, so when I read that 'Other people Manage' was set in the 70's I was excited to read it, but really left disappointed as it could have been set in any era, I was hoping for descriptions of that time, etc, a feeling of the '70s and beyond. But there was nothing.

But, the storyline is good, the ending as some 'feels'... leaves you wondering, what is left for Marge. On the whole, the book is readable and I did enjoy it but left slightly disappointed with certain areas.

I've given 'Other people Manage' a 3 star's

I’m so confused about what the purpose of this book is. It’s hard to rate it because I feel like it stopped suddenly….surely this can’t be it? Not everything has to be roses and sunshine but my God this is dark and miserable and everyone is just unhappy and sad. The actual writing is not bad actually, it’s just feels unfinished. 2 and 1/2 start from me.