The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

A cracker ! There is such wit and humour in this book. Despite being difficult Winnie is a real character. I can imagine someone without the resilience of Ben would have moved out before long. It sounds like Winnie has had an interesting life and Ben winkles it out of her. The claustrophobia of lockdown is very well portrayed and the small things that make up a lockdown day. Really good read.

I heard this book talked about on Radio 4 and managed to get an uncorrected proof. A true story. Winnie, a recently-widowed 80-year-old, begrudgingly takes in a lodger at her family's insistence. Ben - the lodger - is in his 30s. Soon after, the UK goes into the 2nd lockdown and the two are forced to only have each other for company for several weeks. Getting used to each other's quirks and habits.

An entertaining read. Nice to read something positive written in relation to the pandemic.

My thanks to NetGalley and Icon publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
I absolutely loved this account of Bens time living with 85 year old Winnie during the outbreak of Covid.
Both funny and poignant a joy to read. Now want to check out Ben Aitken’s backlist.
Can highly recommend

Even though I read the summary of this before requesting the ARC, it was still not quite what I was expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed this vicarious view of two very unlikely people who were thrown into lockdown together, and what they learned about - and from - each other during that time.

It's a sympathetic, touching and easy to read story about two peoples' experience during the lockdown of late 2020. The concern and worry that Winnie has for her son with cerebral palsy, despite the care he is getting at his independent living facility, is palpable. I think this is enhanced because she is so recently widowed and now living alone herself, part of the reason Ben is there.

I think everyone has their own story or two about lockdown(s), but this is one that will appeal to many folks as two very different people trying to navigate the sudden imposition of stay-at-home orders, and the funny, moving and frustrating things that can arise from being 'trapped' in an unfamiliar situation with someone who is so different from yourself.

The story ends rather abruptly with Winnie having to go into a care home after a terrible fall, leaving you feeling a bit wrong footed and wondering what, ultimately, happened.

Overall, a well-done, enjoyable way to spend a couple of days.

❤ this book have me all the 'feels'

I've read a couple of books recently that have been written through the pandemic that we have all had to live through these past few years but I can honestly say this is the ONLY one I have read that didn't just spend the whole time in the dark recesses of the regulations, meaning about how tough life has been. YES life has been hard but through all of the darkness there is always light and Ben has managed to capture it beautifully.

A true tale told of two generations living together through a year of the covid pandemic. 34 year old Ben (the author) was looking for a new housemate/house share. 84 year old recently widowed Winnie was in need of some company.. just maybe the perfect match!

To start with both are rather unsure of each other, somewhat suspicious but the eventually start rubbing alongside each other nicely.

I absolutely adored the cantankerous Winnie and reading just how their relationship grew made my heart happy. The little 'life lessons' she gave Ben actually had me laughing out loud!

Winnie's overriding love for her disabled son is so so clear to see and so heartwarming to read. I think anyone with an elderly relative will be able to somehow relate to this story, especially if they are as set in their ways as Winnie is!

This is an amazing story told with such wit and heartwarming humour, I cant recommend highly enough.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Icon Books for the ARC.

Everyone needs a Winnie in their life!

When hunting for a place to live in London during the Covid pandemic, Ben Aitken comes across one place for a great price in a lovely part of the city. But there is a catch: Winnie, an 85-year-old widow who doesn't suffer fools.

It is an endearing story, written from day to day from Ben's point of view, with the occasional flashback of Winnie's life. It shows how an unlikely friendship is built up over time, with Winnie set in her ways, wishing to remain independent but who is also seeking help from those around her. Ben is her lodger, who learns from Winnie, helps her out, and almost looks on her as a beloved relative by the end.

The ending was rather odd, with a flashback looking at an event in Winnie's life that left me feeling disappointed and wanting more.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Reading The Marmalade Diaries was pushing on an open door as I find Ben Aitken's books funny, poignant and acerbic in equal measures. The intergenerational relationship central to the book highlights what a character Winnie is and how well they complement each other. I couldn't put it down and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a humorous yet gentle tale.

Delightful book, written by an author whose books I have enjoyed in the past . This book follows Ben and Winnie who are almost thrown together by circumstances beyond their control. Ben needs somewhere to live, Winnie needs a lodger, companion , handyman and chef ! Years seperate them but a sense of humour brings them together when covid rears its ugly head and wr have a second lock down . Not a moaning book by any means , they just get on with with it , some brilliant one liners from Winnie will bring a smile to your face .
I really enjoyed this book .

Also reviewed on Amazon .. dated 22nd March

What a loving, warm, generous book! Ben, in his 30s, goes to live with 85 year old Winnie - he needs a cheap room and her family don’t want her living by herself. Not long after meeting, this odd couple find themselves plunged into the first Covid lockdown together!
It’s a funny, warm, thought-provoking read - charming and witty but it doesn’t flinch from the difficult things: the reality of ageing, the care system and lockdown. Everything is here: love, loneliness, grief, family and friendship.
It was a privilege to share in their lives and I miss Ben and Winnie already. Thank goodness there’s always marmalade!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

I've always loved the premises for Aitken's books but before this one have never been completely won over by them but something about the Marmalade Diaries just clicked for me and I found it a very moving read.

Ben moves in to Winnie's house not as a carer and not as a lodger but something in between just as the second wave of the pandemic is about to break. Together they navigate the lockdowns, restrictions and odd couple setting and this gave me a completely new viewpoint on the pandemic - including the terrible cost to people living in sheltered housing/care homes.

Ben and Winnie are both awkward people and their ups and downs made me smile a lot - both need rewarding for their patience I think.

I'm not sure that intergenerational living like this is for everyone and the blurred lines between carer and lodger need working on carefully but this was an interesting and moving read.

Given that Aitken's previous books have been mainly focused on travel, it would seem that a Covid lockdown might put a crimp in his style.

Not so.

This book covers the period of national lockdown when Aitken, in his thirties, ended up living with 84-year old widow, Winnie Carter. She needed a helping hand round the house, he needed a cheapish room to rent - but neither of them then needed a period of national shutdown to be announced that threw these unlikely housemates together even more intensely!

I'll admit that I wasn't coming to this book cold - I have already read and enjoyed some of Aitken's previous books and had high hopes for more of his gentle humour and observations on life. In particular, I loved 'The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders' in which he embarked on several coach tours with the older generation - so I hoped 'The Marmalade Diaries' would hit similar witty, bittersweet intergenerational material.

The book was everything that I had hoped for and it was an absolute pleasure to immerse myself in the story of Aitken and Carter's unlikely and slow-developing friendship. In fact, I was so invested in the story that I then had to immediately Google Winnie Carter to check on her since the period covered by the book ended!

As with previous books, Aitken proves a thoughtful and affable guide to his own life. He has a commendable way of throwing himself wholeheartedly into situations that others might not, seemingly without much consideration - a year in Poland in a previous book, for example. He has an eye for interesting details and a real fascination with people who he presents with genuine insight and clarity in his writing.

Here, the star of the show is Winnie Carter - and Aitken's portrayal of her and their sometimes-rocky relationship is glorious. She is a brilliant food critic, it turns out, and isn't impressed by Aitken's culinary efforts - there's some lovely comments! She has a complete disregard for best before dates on food, a blase attitude to timekeeping and a wicked way with words. While often funny and dwelling on the differences between Ben and Winnie in terms of background, age and life experiences, this is also a picture of a strong and often contradictory woman. Along with the pithy put-downs, she is also dealing with the loss of her husband and caring for a son with cerebral palsy who lives in a residential home near to her. It is this familial context that gives this book true depth and heart.

Indeed, we meet some of Winnie's extended family (lockdown rules permitting!) and start to understand the dynamics behind this woman in an unlikely house-share in this unprecedented period of history.

This is a charming and funny book about an unusual friendship forged over shared breakfasts - Winnie is absolutely proprietorial over the good marmalade! It's also a look at lockdown and the effect it had on people's lives, a journal of domesticity and the small things we came to rely on when the big things (friends, family, social lives, travel, culture) were taken away by Covid.

Thanks to NetGalley for my chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review/

Can't stop laughing give me a moment to breathe. nope, I'm starting again. this is already a recipe for hijinks I mean an old woman and a young man rooming together in lockdown. it is every bit as funny and sweet as you'd think, just a charming read.

The story tells of two different generations that share a home together during covid for different reasons. The book was somewhat repetitive and I found that I needed to dip in and out.

It’s not often I venture into the world of non-fiction but I was attracted to this one – and it is one terrific read!

Ben is a young man of the 21st century; with little hope of affording to buy a home in London, he is looking for a room to rent when he comes across one at a cost which appeals in a great part of town – so what’s the catch? Well, it comes in the shape of 85-year-old Winnie, whose family, deciding she can no longer lives alone, have advertised for a lodger to help out a bit, hence the affordable cost. Very much set in her ways, this is the story of how Winnie and Ben managed to rub along together during lockdown – when they weren’t rubbing each other up the wrong way!

The first thing which strikes me about this one is how absolutely perfect the title is! Whoever came up with that earns a very big pat on the head – it couldn’t be bettered. Ben is a young man who freely admits that he doesn’t know much about the privileged kind of life that Winnie has lived; Winnie, on the other hand, is a woman who likes to think she knows it all and, let’s face it, she does know an awful lot! The house is huge, but she has lived there for a long time and is grieving for her late husband, Henry, but – as women, especially of her generation, are wont to do, she carries on with her day to day life. Ben is, to begin with at least, a necessary evil in her life which allows her to remain in her beloved home and, to begin with, she views him with suspicion. However, as any two people who are thrown together, they soon learn how to live with each other and who knows? They may even learn something to their benefit! This is a truly wonderful story, entertaining all the way through and at times I could recognise anything from a little to a lot of myself in each of them. A delightful read which shows the ‘May to December’ relationship quite beautifully and the story is told with warmth and humour. Marvellously entertaining and honest to the very core, I just adored everything about this novel and can’t recommend it highly enough. Add it to your reading list – you won’t regret it! Easily earns all five glowing stars!
My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this novel via NetGalley; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

This is really a story of the current age, we’ve all been through the same period(s) of lockdowns and restrictions and have our own tales to tell but The Marmalade Diaries presents quite a heartwarming story of a rather eccentric odd couple.

I was worried starting out, that this book might become a bit repetitive given that it was written under Covid conditions when many of us were living very limited and repetitive lives ourselves. But that is not the case, sure there are the daily tasks that Ben completes for Winnie, like lighting the fire but these are a unique perspective to a wider discourse at the time.

As Winnie’s and Ben’s relationship develops this becomes a much more heartwarming story. If you’ve ever had an elderly relative living alone like Winnie I’m sure you’ll be able to relate to some of the diary entries. Winnie’s memory issues and her love for her family, particularly her disabled son is clear but you can’t help think as the diary entries unfold that time is not on Winnie or Ben’s side.

This is a great story told over a relatively short period of time of two people stuck together in unlikely conditions. Ultimately Winnie has a very quick wit and really steals the show from Ben but the ‘odd couple’ appeal and interactions between them are a bit of soul food for the pandemic age.

I’d recommend reading this, but I think would advise that if you have an elderly relative in a similar situation then you might want to have a box of tissues handy for some of the more touching moments.

The Marmalade Diaries is a lighthearted memoir of a young man, Ben, and Winnie, an 85-year-old widow who form an unlikely friendship when he goes to live with her during the pandemic. Winnie is a great character and Ben portrays her very well. This is a book to dip in and out of.

Thanks to NetGalley and Icon Books for the opportunity to read and review The Marmalade Diaries.

Recently widowed, Winnie, 84, was in need of some companionship. Someone to help with the weekly food shop and offer tips on the crossword. Ben, 34, was looking for a new housemate.
As the UK was locked down in 2020, Ben and Winnie's lives interwove, forming an unlikely friendship, where lessons were learnt (heat the red wine in the oven with the plates; preserve or pickle whatever you can; never throw anything away) and grief, both personal and that of a nation, was explored.
Charting both their time together, and the details of Winnie's life that are shared with Ben in fragments, The Marmalade Diaries, from the author of The Gran Tour, is a very human exploration of home, of the passage time, of the growing relationship between an odd couple, told with warmth, wit and candour. Recommend this one.

Hmmmm I didn’t love this book and I didn’t hate it. I had to keep picking it up and pushing myself to read it - it didn’t really hold my attention as much as some books. But I did enjoy the almost mundane, every day stories. I’m glad I read it but it wasn’t my favorite read. 3.5 stars

Quite an unusual and quaint read this, I really enjoyed it.
Thousands of people have used the lockdowns and breaks in work and 'real life' to write books but I think this remains an interesting and refreshing approach.
Characters are well developed throughout and the reader grows to care about what happens to many of the key players.
With some emotional twists and turns along the way there is plenty to keep you turning the pages and very little sugar coating of some of the difficulties we have all learned to live with and the differing ways we have developed to cope with pandemic life.