The Unretirement by Penny Mirren - Book Review

Publication Date: 23rd May 2024 

Genre: Feel Good Fiction, Contemporary

3.7 Stars 

One Liner: Entertaining 

Maggie Lawford is back home after traveling the world post-retirement. However, she knows she needs to find a project/ job to be productive. Being in the food and catering industry, Maggie is passionate about cooking. When her daughter Hannah takes her to their favorite restaurant, Maggie finds her purpose. The restaurant is struggling. The chef is at his wits’ end. 

Maggie takes charge and resolves to save the restaurant. Soon, she has a plan ready to be put into action. With help from her daughter, Hannah, and granddaughter, Alice, and the people at the restaurant, Maggie is determined to make this a success. 

The story comes in the third-person POV of Maggie and Hannah. 

My Thoughts: 

Well, the vibrant cover and heartwarming premise made me grab this book. As much as I like the concept and the characters, I need to first ask – why did it have to be an Indian restaurant? Why do we still need a white person playing savior to a brown family? It could have been any restaurant! 

Now the rant is done, let’s move on to the rest. 

The book starts at a slow pace but picks up momentum after 30% or so. Maggie, Hannah, and little Alice are easy to like. They have their flaws, but that makes them realistic. Alice is a sweetheart. I like books with cute kids, and this one hits the right notes. 

The dual POV from Maggie and Hannah helps advance the plot. It also prevents the book from being too repetitive and only about Maggie. However, I was confused a few times and had to reread to determine who spoke the dialogue and whose internal thought it was. This should be sorted in the final copy. 

The found family and community tropes are well done. The other characters are distinct, be it Joe, Ben, Jade, or Sav. Maybe Sav could have had a little more depth, given his role, but what we have is good. I like that Raj and Gita’s characters also have some strength and are more than just names. 

There’s a lot of food in this one (obviously!), and since some of it is Indian, I did want to get a taste of it (the vegetarian stuff). I’m not a fan of fusion dishes, but some of those in this book have been tried in cooking shows by chefs and contestants, so we aren’t dealing with anything that unique (at least to me). 

On that note, thank you for not messing up the names of the dishes. There are recipes at the end (not formatted properly in this ARC). The Fajita with an Indian twist reminded of me the Frankie Rolls we ate in college. 

Naturally, we have a happy ending. Everything gets sorted. The bad guy (of course, there is one, even if his presence is limited, thank goodness!) is put in place, and the found family is looking forward to a brighter future. 

To summarize, The Unretirement is a fun read with delicious recipes, nice characters, and a second chance at achieving one’s dreams. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon Books UK, for eARC. 

#NetGalley #TheUnretirement