Emily CritchleyReseñas

Mostly unintelligible pretention, with a few good bits. Shame, as the book itself is well made and lovely to hold. I might, perhaps, get the latest edition out of curiosity to see whether it's a less deliberately obtuse collection.½

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It was a great mystery. I ready this a while ago so trying to remember this based on memory and I'm actually able to remember a lot, which is surprising. This book took place in two different time periods. One is current time when the lady is older with dimentia and so her memory isn't great. And she's trying to piece together a murder of one of her friends from years ago. Such a great idea and was really sucked into it. It was also sad on many levels because the main character couldn't remember so many things, and she was getting frustrated in certain moments and not acting like herself. Much like dementia and it was just sad. SPOILER: The mystery was good but nothing earth shattering, but still had me sucked in. The fact that it was her step-father and she knew about the murder the whole time, but just trying to pull it from her memory was so good. Very enjoyable read!

Edie is suffering from dementia. One afternoon while out walking in her small village she "sees" Lucy, who has been missing since 1951. She decides this is a sign that she must find Lucy and discover what happened to her. Thus begins the story of her search. The book takes us back and forth from 1951 to present year 2018. Pieces of the puzzle come to her in bits and pieces. Her son thinks she is silly to try to remember something that happened 60 yrs ago. With the help of her granddaughter and others along te way she finally remembers what happened. It turns out that she and Lucy were set to travel to London by train to start a new life. However, Edie forgot to pack her diary that chronicled her life and her days with Lucy. Lucy had an affair with her teacher, got herself pregnant and had an abortion. Lucy could not leave without the security of knowing that the diary was secure. Because Edie had an accident that day on her bike, Lucy decided she would return to Edie's house and retrieve the diary. When Lucy did not return and the train had come and gone, Edie went back home to look for Lucy. When she arrived, she found Lucy dead on the kitchen floor and Edie's step-dad, Reg, telling her it was an accident. We learn that Edie is told to take Lucy's bike to the woods. By the time she returns home, Reg has cleaned up the kitchen and returns home after going to his former place of employment. In 2018, Edie finally remembers and tells the police. She is not arrested as she is the only surviving person who knows the story.
The book was a bit slow, but toward the end of the book the story finally comes together.
Goodreads: A mystery she can't remember. A friend she can't forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother - who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community - she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

So well thought out and so beautifully presented. Dear, dear Edie....sliding in and out of her stage of dementia and you, as the reader, can absolutely feel her confusion and understand completely her frustrations with things that just don't hold together....all because Critchley is excellent at somehow seeming to understand what a person with dementia is experiencing. Not sure if Critchley knows someone or several people experiencing dementia but her ability to tie it in with a mystery....almost a page turner of a story.

Edie Green sees Lucy Theddle, looking exactly the same as she did in 1951. But, it is 2018, and Edie is forgetting things. Did she see Lucy, or is she trying to remember what happened all those years ago when Lucy went missing?
Edie knows that she has to find out what happened, and to let people know. Edie recounts her memories of how popular Lucy befriended her, and the secret Edie kept for her, as well as what happened the day Lucy disappeared.
Edie's family wonders how much of this is true, or is it the ramblings of someone who is suffering with dementia?
An interesting mystery, some of which was obvious-until the final scene, is that real, or also just a thought in Edie's mind?

In 1951, fifteen year old Edie Green is an unpopular, lonely teen. Her mother, Nancy, is a widow, and works by day for a greengrocer , and in the evenings she conducts seances for the locals in their small town of Ludthorpe, UK. Edie is dreadfully embarrassed by her mom's work as a medium, and unhappy with her mother's unpleasant boyfriend, Reg. When popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, Edie is delighted. But Lucy has a secret or two that Edie is not sure she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing.

In 2018 , Edie is now 82, and suffering with early stage dementia. She is still living in Ludthorpe, in her own home, with her son Daniel and her granddaughter Amy close by. One day Edie believes she sees her lost childhood friend, Lucy. Her family dismisses this as something to do with her dementia.

The story is so touching, engaging and beautifully told. For me, the more emotional aspect was that of Lucy and her secret, rather than that of Edie and her dementia. The characters were well rounded, and the plot never lagged.

Highly recommended.

2018 - Edie has started losing bits of memory, a word here, a name there, why she is in the kitchen and did she eat breakfast. But even as she loses more and more of these moments, her memories of the day her best friend, Lucy, disappeared 67 years ago begin to return after she is sure she sees her on the street although still young. Now, as so much of her life is fading, she is determined to find Lucy.

1951 - Edie is fifteen years old. She is a shy girl without friends, often bullied by the other girls. One day, she accidentally witnesses another girl’s secret. The girl. Lucy, is very popular so just knowing her secret makes Edie feel closer to her. She usually eats her lunch alone but, when she arrives at her usual spot, she finds Lucy there. They strike up a conversation and the pair become unlikely best friends. Soon, Edie becomes the keeper of all Lucy’s secrets right up until the day of Lucy’s disappearance.

One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley is a quiet, compelling, and often heartbreaking story told in the two alternating timelines. Edie is a very likeable but unreliable narrator due to her developing dementia which Critchley describes with deep compassion and empathy. The mystery, itself, was well-constructed and kept me guessing until the satisfying ending.

I received an arc of this book from Negalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Edie is feeling the horrible void of a missing word, thought, moment, more frequently and even more upsetting, she is often aware of her lapses. It is the times when she doesn’t recognize her confusion that is so troubling to her family and ultimately to herself. She believe that if she gives herself a brief rest, has a cup of teas, it will all come back to her. She knows she must keep a secret - one that she has harbored for almost seven decades to protect her best friend. But are there other secrets which Edie is holding close? If only she could find Lucy - everything would make sense, everything would be fine. But where is Lucy?

There is then - 1951 when Edie was a schoolgirl sworn to secrecy about so many things - it was more than a young girl should have to shoulder. There is the present of 2018 - Edie is an octogenarian, still keeping those secrets which are threatening to surface as her memory is disintegrating. Her moments of clarity are fraught with confusion, distress, some humor and a stubborn determination to solve a very old mystery. If only she could find Lucy.

Told with an even, compassionate and honest look at the progression of dementia, Ms. Critchley has written a very well crafted mystery within a heartbreaking story. Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for a copy.

One Puzzling Afternoon is Emily Critchley's new novel. I quite liked the cover, it looks like a puzzle.

Edie Green is fifteen years old when we meet her in 1951. She's waiting for her friend Lucy at the train station. But Lucy never shows up - anywhere. Now, in 2018, Edie is 84, and she's certain she has seen Lucy. She needs to find her. But...

"It's there at the back of my mind, a persistent, anxious flutter, like a moth trapped under glass: there is something I should know, something I need to remember."

Critchley had given us an unreliable narrator in Edie. It's heartbreaking to watch and listen to Edie trying to hold on to her thoughts and memories before they are gone. Dementia has touched my family and I think Critchley has done a wonderful job portraying this insidious condition, from not just Edie's point of view, but from her family and friends as well. There's a good cast of supporting players. I quite liked her granddaughter Amy.

And then there's the mystery of whatever happened to Lucy. Can Edie hang on to her memories long enough to find the clues? I had an inkling about what the final pages might bring us, but I was only partially right - and surprised at the rest.

One Puzzling Afternoon is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. A wonderful read on so many levels.

3.75

A quiet, sad story of a missing girl, losing yourself and finding forgiveness.

Watch: https://youtube.com/@starkissedstories?si=009JvzoZXobfKtr8

Actual Rating: 3.5

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free-copy in exchange for an honest review.*

One Puzzling Afternoon tells its story in two timelines:

Back in 1951, fifteen-year-old Edie Green is kind of a loner — until she stumbles upon a secret. And so begins a tenuous friendship with rich and popular Lucy Theddle…until Lucy goes missing.

In 2018, eighty-four year old Edie suddenly sees Lucy standing in the streets looking the same as she looked 67 years ago, she begins a mission to re-open the cold case and find out what happened. But she’s finding it difficult to remember much of anything.

I loved the “vibe” of this book right off the bat, and the dual timeline worked so well for it. The 50s feeling was captured perfectly, especially through the eyes of Edie’s innocence. And following Edie in 2018 as an unreliable narrator was also really intriguing.

The characters were all really unique, with complex (and sometimes frustrating but understandable motivations and emotions). I think the best way to explain it is that there’s a tinge of mysticism around the characters; reading this book feels like reading a fairytale.

Ultimately, the plot was not necessarily mind-blowing — it was pretty easy to predict where the story was going. I don’t think this affected my enjoyment of the book, however, and I still found the 1951 timeline to be the most intriguing to me. I knew, however, that the reveal would come in 2018, and I was excited to see how they would come together.

I did think that the pacing could’ve been tweaked slightly; there are some aspects of Edie’s home life that I would’ve loved to see more of, and I also wish both timelines extended a little longer and Edie’s stories were given more time to wind down.

Still, overall the characters were interesting and the setting was immersive, and I think this was a great read. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of historical, young adult, mystery.

If a book is described as being for fans of Joanna Cannon and Elizabeth is Missing (by Emma Healey) then I'm pretty certain I'm going to want to read it. One Puzzling Afternoon very much fits into this description.

The scenes swap between 2018 and 1951. In the 2018 storyline Edie is 84 and becoming more and more confused. One day, she gets a glimpse of her friend, Lucy, who disappeared when they were both 15 in 1951. Edie knows that the mystery of what happened to Lucy was never solved and she knows that now is the time for her to find out.

Edie narrates both timelines and it's clear that in 2018 she's getting very muddled. Emily Critchley does an amazing job at portraying this both sympathetically and truthfully. The inner workings of Edie's mind are all there on the page and because of this she's unreliable. This is where the 1951 timeline fills in all the blanks and interweaves perfectly with Edie's current situation to gradually give us the full picture of what happened in the run-up to Lucy's disappearance.

The images of Edie's youth are so evocative of the early after-war years and I was transported back to a time when so much was still on ration. Edie's mother holds séances and tells fortunes to make ends meet and Edie's home and school life were described so well that the 1950s just came alive.

One Puzzling Afternoon is a beautiful book, poignant and moving, with Edie's memories fluttering away one by one, irretrievable as they go. I love a dual timeline story, especially when there's a mystery involved, and the mystery in this book is a clever one. This is an extremely accomplished debut adult novel that really hit the spot for me. I loved it.

A dual time frame story set in 1951 and 2018. Elderly Edie Green, who
Is having trouble with her memory, looks back on her life, trying to work out just what happened to her friend, Lucy Theddle, who disappeared one day. She remembers there was some sort of secret but just can’t recollect clearly what it was.

This is a lovely, poignant and engaging little mystery. It deals with the subject of dementia in a sensitive and subtle way. I really liked Edie, it was quite sad to travel this journey with her in her search for the truth but it gave a great insight into this devastating condition. It’s beautifully written and a joy to read with some wonderfully drawn characters. I read this book via the Pigeonhole app and eagerly awaited each stave every day. Highly recommended.