An utterly delightful heartwarming book. A lovely story about a group of council tenants in a small Worcestershire village trying to save their homes from being demolished by ruthless developers. Charming quirky characters so well drawn all with secrets and various issues which eventually come out. So true the main storyline with developers buying up land in small villages. This main plot stuck a personal note as I live just outside rural Worcestershire in an equally blighted area where locals can't afford to live with new builds being bought up as second homes and pushing up the prices. Plenty of sub plots bubbling beneath the surface but so sensitively dealt with that they intertwined perfectly with the story. Totally charming, with an unexpected but perfect ending.

A beautiful, emotional uplifting read: Connie has returned home from London after leaving her job which she couldn't cope with. Home with Mum where no-one notices her is where she wants to be. Next door is an old lady, Matilda, who has also kept herself to herself until the day she couldn't. Connie noticed that one of Matilda's goats had got out and the animals were making rather more noise than usual- was something wrong? Whilst Matilda is in hospital Connie strangely finds herself drawn to the animals, doing things she thought she could never do, and that it's helping her mental health and confidence being around them and in the garden. What transpires is a friendship and pathway of care and help for more than the intended recipient which is more than needed when the council has plans for the estate and Matilda although feisty is not as physically strong as she once was.

I was drawn to this straight away. There are times when we all want to shut out the world and often it's difficult to ask for or even find help. Animals don’t judge, will listen for hours and always give the right feedback. We can find help in the most unlikely places and that first hand (or paw) of friendship can mean the world. There are some wise words in this perhaps for us all. A story of finding yourself whatever your age and being true to who you really are. A truly wonderful uplifting read with a message of hope.

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Thoroughly enjoyed this book, a beautiful tale of how a little community of neighbours come together to help out Matilda one of the residents and then in turn have to campaign to save their collection of homes.

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Book 31 of 2023

Thank you to @victoriascottauthor, the publishers and @netgalley for the advanced copy of 'The Women Who Wouldn't Leave' due for publication later this year in August. After having read Victoria's previous two books (reviews also on my page) I knew that this would be a book I'd really enjoy as Victoria writes with warmth about characters we become totally invested in.

Connie, utterly broken from her life in London, moves home to be with her mother Ellen. Her experiences have made her not only deeply depressed and reclusive but dependent on alcohol. Connie walks before sunrise and goes back to her bedroom with vodka and re-runs of 'The Gilmore Girls'. Her neighbour, OAP Matilda is similarly reclusive and apart from her animals, prefers her own company. That's until she has a fall which brings in the attention of the local council who then realise there is some benefit to selling the whole of Roseacre Close. Their council housing would be demolished to make way for more expensive private housing.

Connie and Matilda are similarly tortured by their previous experiences and realising that they need to join together to fight the council's decision, they form an unlikely but beautiful friendship. Their respective stories are ones which are tragic and with Victoria's usual narrative style, we are given a book that is life-affirming, heart-warming and satisfying. Just lovely.

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I love a relatable, funny story of friendship and The Women Who Wouldn’t Leave had all these in spades. The characters are beautifully developed, and there is an excellent mix of humour alongside more serious parts of the plot. If you enjoy a heartwarming and uplifting story, you'll love this.

Connie and Matilda are unlikely friends, however, much like family, neighbours are something you can't always choose, however, when the chips are down, it is Connie who comes to Mathilda's aid and from there a friendship is born. This is a lovely book about two feisty and at times funny women, who stole my heart and had me rooting for them from the very beginning.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Once again Victoria Scott deftly combines sympathetic and appealing characters, some heart-warming conclusions, and social commentary. Such a combination provides an enjoyable read, while raising questions that are worth pondering. The Women Who Wouldn’t Leave is a book that, while raising such questions, does not lose sight of the need to develop characters who are attractive at the same time as identifying their failures, and story lines that are absorbing.

The ‘women who wouldn’t leave’ are tenants on a council estate. Their homes become the focus of a fight between residents and the local council. A decision is to be made on whether the land should be sold to a real estate company which will demolish the council houses and substitute expensive housing. The women and their neighbours determine to bring the council to account, by ensuring that their arguments against the changes become part of the debate. At the same time as this political venture takes place, the personal changes that need to be made to ensure success, are pursued. At the heart of both processes, the political endeavour and the personal, are Constance and Matilda. Both women have suffered, made egregious mistakes, and as a consequence are wounded. Their damaged lives impact on the people around them.

The at times gentle, and at others harsh, unfolding of Connie and Matilda’s stories is poignant, humorous and edifying. At the same time, the women are shown to be flawed, difficult for others to understand, and as movingly depicted by Scott, with significant failings. Scott is adept at combining the egregious nature of Connie’s descriptions of her neighbours with elements of humour. When Connie recognises that she has misunderstood much of her neighbours’ behaviour her humility is well drawn.

The Women Who Wouldn’t Leave makes a valuable contribution to debate around council tenants’ needs and rights and the impact community political action can have on decision making. It also treats personal trauma, its long-term impact, and the nature of some manifestations of that impact. At the same time, the novel meets many readers’ need to find happy resolutions that are plausible and satisfying. At times I am one such reader. Victoria Scott’s work meets the desire for books that combine absorbing social commentary advanced by engaging characters whose lives are enhanced by the novel’s end.

Some battles are fought on major battlefields and some are fought in the pricacy of single hearts and minds.
Connie and Matilda, in The Women who Wouldn't Leave, are each fighting demons of their own making, Connie, depression, alcohol dependency and guilt and trauma from her past life, and Mathilda, deep sorrow,guilt and mistrust of others.
The story of these two, vulnerable and broken, women battling to save their council homes from being taken from them and sold for profit while they are displaced and rehoused, could seem depressing on first impression and
And there is an irony in that first impression, for all of Connie and Mathilda's first impressions of the people around them are turned on their heads as they reach out to join forces with their neighbours.
Victoria Scott creates warm and relatable characters, each with their own back story, and, just as we, the readers, have our own stories which have made us who we are, these characters are who they are, because of what they have lived through.
It is a story of how we can all support one another, and how much kindness and goodness there is in the world if we just open ourselves up to it.
I was rooting for Connie and Mathilda all the way through the book, although you would be very wrong to cast them as saints. Each of them is prickly, difficult and, occasionally stubbornly hard to help!
Perhaps the completely happy ending is a bit too sweet, but for a feel good read, The Women Who Wouldn't Leave ticks all the right boxes and gives us some strong, engaging women characters into the bargain.
Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for and advance e copy of this title

Connie (Constance) lives with her mother, Ellen, in a small town in England. They call their neighborhood a close and in my head I think of it as a cul-de-sac. They don't know their neighbors and they don't want to.

Connie leaves her mother and goes to live with her father in London, she's looking for more in life. Little did she know she'd find her own version of hell, in many different ways. She finally returns to her mom's house full of fears and unable to function, relying on alcohol and "Gilmore Girls" to dull her pain.

Their next door neighbor, Matilda, is very old, cantankerous and has a bunch of animals in her backyard "garden." When her goats are bleating for days Connie is sick of it and goes to find out why. Matilda has fallen in her house and hasn't fed her animals in days and is in need of an ambulance.

This all sets of an amazing story of resilience, friendship, forgiveness, trust and love. People aren't always what you think they are and are capable of so much more than you can imagine.

This book was lovely and really gave me a reason to smile. I would definitely recommend this book!!!

Connie and Matilda are unlikely friends, however, much like family, neighbours are something you can't always choose, however, when the chips are down, it is Connie who comes to Mathilda's aid and from there a friendship is born. This is a lovely book about two feisty and at times funny women, who stole my heart and had me rooting for them from the very beginning.

A heartwarming, uplifting read that would be perfect for book clubs or just curling up quietly with in the garden on a sunny afternoon. Utterly, utterly fabulous!!!

Another wonderful book, with a great, feel good and uplifting. It is full of heart and also heartwrenching. A lovely well written book about Connie annd Matilda. Connie has had a troubled life and is is trying to get away from all the things that have caused her traumas. Which leads her to returning to the small council estate that she used to live on when she was young. It is here that Connie meets Matilda. Matilda has a fall one day and all of a sudden she can't get out and about and can't do the things that she used to do. So she has to ask Connie for some help. The pair form an unlikely friendship which is very heartwarming and they both show each other the ways of the world and introduce each other to different experiences then they would have had normally. However just as they are getting settled into their new roles and new lives the council tell them that they are going to be selling the estate that they live on. But Connie and Matilda are ready to fight for the things that they love and the home that makes them feel safe.

Firstly I would like to thank aria and Aries and the author Victoria Scott for access to the women who wouldn’t leave.

The review I am going to make is an honest review regardless of the access I received for this book. It should be noted I was not paid for this review and ensure honesty in all my reviews.

Connie has run away from past issues and finds herself back home 20 years later. Matilda turns to her strange neighbour Connie for help. The council is trying to sell their estate and they have to work together.

This book is beautifully written and explorers an unlikely friendship. The messages I learnt from this book I will take forward with me to not judge a book by its cover.

I would recommend this book to friends and read other books published by this author.

This was such a lovely book! Very emotional at many times. The friendship that blossomed between Connie and Matilda, two women of completely different ages, generations and backgrounds but who had a lot in common once they let each other in. Both women hiding from the world because of their own traumas, but bringing each other back into it. It was very moving. The community aspect of the book was also heartwarming. It shows that we can have perceptions of those around us but have no real clue about who they are or what they've been through. And that if you take a chance to get to know those people, they can enrich your life. So beautifully written and a book I will remember for a long time.

A lovely story about feisty women, regardless their age, background, or history. People have their faults, yet there is kindness to be found in this small community.