Book Review: "The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot" by Marianne Cronin

“Somewhere, out in the world, are the people who touched us, or loved us, or ran from us. In that way we will live on. If you go to the places we have been, you might meet someone who passed us once in a corridor but forgot us before we were even gone. We are in the back of hundreds of people's photographs - moving, talking, blurring into the background of a picture two strangers have framed on their living room mantelpiece. And in that way, we will live on too. But it isn't enough. It isn't enough to have been a particle in the great extant of existence. I want, we want, more. We want for people to know us, to know our story, to know who we are and who we will be. And after we've gone, to know who we were.”

- The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

I was on my Kindle yet again, looking for something good to read and yet, I didn't really know what I was in the mood for. I have to admit, I have not been feeling great lately and have been, as they say, a bit under the weather. However, that does not mean that just yet I shall give up on new genres and switch back to reading horror. I wanted something that could restore my faith in humanity a bit and so decided to give a book a go that was nowhere in my recommendations. Instead, I had found it how many people find things they didn't think they were looking for: by peering around the real world.

Lenni is a terminally ill 17-year-old (oh, I'm sorry, they call it 'life limited' in the care she's in) and she is determined to try her best to remain positive though she does have a lot of questions. She goes to the church for an hour here and there not only to discuss how the Father can afford a sandwich if he doesn't get paid by the church but also to talk about death and dying. Lenni doesn't feel like her prayers are being listened to and tells the Father some strange stories about her and her then friends. As the story goes on, Lenni tries to find an outlet for her pain and her boredom, convinced that she has to have some amount of fun before she dies.

This is how she meets an 83-year-old woman named Margot who has seen everything from World War 2 to its aftermath. Lenni asks to be in Margot's painting class and so, the two tell each other stories about their lives and as we learn more about each of them, we start to draw similarities. For example: Margot once got married and had a child and one day, her child was simply gone - just like her husband. When Lenni was younger, her mother was suffering some affliction which meant she was always asleep, even when Lenni was trying to talk to her.

We learn about how Margot lived through the war and how Lenni's Swedish upbringing had a big influence on her. We learn about how the two of them bond over things that are remotely related to each other. This idea of abandonment which circles Lenni's life dissapates when she meets and starts to spend time with Margot. One thing you have to love about this book is the endless communication between two very unlikely friends. Eventually, the book evolves into something else entirely. We have two terminally ill friends who make it their priority to have one final adventure together. It is a truly beautiful thing.

All in all, I have to say that this book did make me feel better for a while. There is something incredible about human beings connecting on their pains and turning that into a friendship, or something else that is good. The book shows us that we may not know how much time we have left but we always have to make the most of it without discrimination, whether it be productive or not, as long as we are enjoying ourselves and making that extra step - something good is sure to come of it. I absolutely adored this book. It is highly recommended if you have not read it already.