Sally Battel is at loose ends. In her late 60's, recently widowed, attending her best friend's funeral at the start of then novel and selling her greeting card business in Manhattan in anticipation of retiring, but without her husband she seems untethered. The book starts in 2001, around the time of 9/11, and chronicles Sally's life over the next year as starts dating, finds love, and worries about developing Alzheimer's. This is a coming-of-age story, even though Sally is almost 70; maybe a coming-of-old-age story? Without her husband and best friend to lean on, and the societal constraints she grew up becoming outdated, Sally is finally be discovering who she is and to do things for herself instead of her family.

This is not a book that will appeal to everyone. I recommend it for older, senior readers. It is somewhat heavy, lots of ideas and thoughts to make sense of. However, it is also life affirming. Being old, finding romance and new love is a not a common theme in books. I praise the author for going somewhere new and I appreciate the sly humor and wit throughout the book. Thank you to Roundfire Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC. This review is my own.

This book was amazing, the tone reminding me of books like apA Man Called Ove and many others. Nice developement and description of Sally as she progresses through retirement , aging, finding a new love, developing memory loss and all it entails. Really loved it.

I thought this would be a quick read, but it turned out to be slow and thought-provoking. It starts out humorous, with a sassy senior named Sally falling into her best friend's grave. As the story progresses, there are brief glimpses of humor, but the tone is much more serious. The story takes place in New York right after 9/11. Sally is a widow and is regretting her recent decision to retire. An old acquaintance comes back into her life and a romantic relationship ensues. At the same time, Sally's children and grandchildren are struggling in their relationships. Sally also begins dealing with a life-altering health condition. I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't love it either. I thought it would be funnier and more emotional.

Thank you to John Hunt Publishing Ltd, Roundfire Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

#ThreeLegsintheEvening #NetGalley

4.5★s
Three Legs In The Evening is the third novel by American author Bette Ann Moskowitz. Some five years after losing her husband Artie to cancer, sixty-eight-year-old Sally Battel has moved to retire. Her successful greeting card shop, Seasoned Greetings is located in Maiden Lane, not far from the World Trade Centre, and post-9/11, the streets are deserted.

She dismisses her son’s concerns about her safety, but does wonder about a certain seemingly-abandoned red car, and an absent tax preparer in a nearby office. And she’s not entirely sure she wants to retire.

It's after her best friend Susie’s funeral, at which Sally somehow accidentally falls onto the coffin (no, she did not throw herself in, she was pushed!) and breaks her ankle, that she really has to fight off her children and their well-intentioned interference. They are suddenly freer with advice, as if she’s lost the ability to think for herself.

Both Bradley the hospital pharmacist and Joe, her husband’s oncologist, want to spend time with her. She’s really only interested in companionship, nothing more intimate, so does she really want to go on a cruise with precise Bradley?

Joe seems content now to just sit and chat and watch TV with her, but will he be satisfied with that? “Talking to him was like having Susie back, in a way. He gets the way she thinks. They talked about everything and nothing. He liked hearing about the greeting card business. It made her remember how interesting it was, digging up sayings, getting ideas.”

Her children all seem to be divorcing, making her wonder about the example she and Artie set them. Her daughter is hooking up with Sally’s much-older-than-Emily neighbour, and her grandchildren seem to be facing crises of their own. At first, Sally tries to be diplomatic and understanding, but then she finds herself disinhibited and speaking her mind, to their dismay. Is she losing it?

But sometimes the straight talk of disinhibition is more effective than the subtlety of diplomacy…

Eventually, Sally mentions to her doctor the signs she has noticed that seem to indicate her mental health is deteriorating, and her family opt for love and support, rather than something more extreme. As do Joe’s family, for his declining physical health. What a pair!

Moskowitz’s style is reminiscent of Anne Tyler’s work, describing ordinary people leading ordinary lives with the odd quirk or funny incident to make them a bit more interesting. Sally’s habit of translating her feelings into greeting card sentiments is amusing and sometimes endearing. This is an entertaining, moving and uplifting tale.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

This tale covers a lot of ground and topics, which is impressive. Humor can be tough to pull off and this works most of the time. It's not necessarily a light read, but the characters and subjects are handled well.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Three Legs in the Evening is such a gem of a book – gentle and charming, but still packs a punch.

The headstrong main character, Sally, is instantly likeable and props up all the supporting characters in her life with her wit and charisma. Through her writing, Moskowitz covers a plethora of life's biggest challenges: illness, divorce, sex, death.. seen through Sally's eyes this isn't a depressing story, but rather a funny and, at times, heart-warming journey through the later stages of life.