Curmudgeon Avenue

The Terraced House Diaries

Fiction - Humor/Comedy
212 Pages
Reviewed on 03/07/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Samantha Henthorn was born in 1970something in Bury, England; where she has lived her entire life. Readers who enjoy Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes, Nick Spalding and the Bridget Jones's Diary series will enjoy her writing. Her books include the contemporary comedy-drama series set in Whitefield, Curmudgeon Avenue. The historical fiction '1962' (An Uplifting Tale of 1960s Lancashire), the short story collection 'Quirky Tales to Make Your Day' and the novella 'Piccalilly'.

She has two cats, one dog, one gorgeous grown-up daughter and one husband. When not reading or writing, she is listening to heavy metal (particularly the grunge years of the early '90s). Samantha would be thrilled to bits if someone read - or listened to her books.

Samantha had a twenty-year nursing career in the NHS, working both in hospital and community settings in Salford. After a diagnosis of MS in 2005, she eventually accepted early retirement in 2014. Looking for a career where she can work for herself within a paced routine, Samantha remembered her love of reading and drew on her observation skills and imagination to start writing. Samantha often feels as though she is living in a sit-com and this is reflected in her style.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Ankita Shukla for Readers' Favorite

After an elephant crushed Mr. and Mrs. Payne to death, Edna and Edith moved back to their parents' house. The lives of these sixty-something-year-old sisters hadn't quite turned out as well as they had expected. As a result, relocating to Number One Curmudgeon Avenue was in the best interests of both of them. With their limited resources, they needed money to fix the roof of the house. The next logical decision was to take in a lodger, and they put an advert in the window of Mrs. Ali's shop. Little did they know that the text of the advert now said "todger" instead of "lodger." Amidst all the confusion, Edith began a romantic interlude with one of Edna's ex-boyfriends, Maurice. He wanted revenge on Edna, and dating Edith gave him access to their house. Indeed, the result was absolutely hysterical.

Curmudgeon Avenue: The Terraced House Diaries by Samantha Henthorn is a hilarious take on the preposterous lives of Edna and Edith. The author has made an excellent decision in assigning the role of the storyteller to the house in Curmudgeon Avenue. Place a bunch of nincompoops in the most absurd situations and, voila, you cannot stop laughing. The ludicrous episodes range from Maurice conspiring to slow-poison Edna to a plot to sell the house while Harold is still living in it. The rib-tickling conversations ensure that the comedy does not stop. I highly recommend Curmudgeon Avenue by Samantha Henthorn to humor-lovers. Who knew that a house could be such a marvelous storyteller? But, Curmudgeon Avenue is just that - a phenomenal narrator!

Martin Dolan

A humorous tale concerning the residents and visitors at the house on number one, Curmudgeon Avenue. The story is being told by the house, albeit a very articulate house; and it describes all the characters and their faults, foibles, and idiosyncracies as perhaps only a house could. Of course, this is not meant to be taken too seriously; and that is what I liked most about the book -- a pleasant, relaxed read. Unfortunately, it is a story with no real beginning. and no end; and seems to make no apologies for being just the first book in a series. Nevertheless, I think I can rate it at four stars.