Dash Hoffman

I was so disappointed with this book. I had seen and shared the social media post about how wonderful it would be to have a little old lady be the Chosen One, and as a little old lady myself, I happy to learn that someone did take that as a writing prompt. But oh, goodness.

For one, the author changed the title character's age from 85 to 60. I'm 71, and I assure you, none of the 60 yr olds I know are not as helpless as the author portrays her. Eighty-five, I could almost buy it, but 60? Most women I know in their sixties are still working. Then he makes her terribly shy and put upon by younger folk who things she's helpless. She (at 60!) is refused a volunteer position in her neighborhood because she is seen as too old. How old is this author and where are they getting this ideas? Anyone in the volunteer world knows that little old retired ladies are the lifeblood of the volunteer system. They wouldn't be snubbing her, they'd be rolling out the red carpet. I kept thinking the pseudonymised author had learned everything they knew about the elderly by watching old Mrs. Marple dramatisations.

As to the plot, it's a very clever conceit, I'll hand the author that. But although lip service is paid to the title character's status and the Chosen One, she doesn't really do much except inspire other characters. I swear author gives her cats more to do. And no particular reason for her to be a Chosen One, either.

If someone else wants to take a stab, this is the setup from social media: "...I would read the hell out of a series of a chosen eighty-five-year-old woman who goes on epic journeys throughout a dangerous and magical land, armed only with a cane and her stab-tastic knitting needles, accompanied by her six cats and a skittish-yet-devoted orderly who makes sure she takes her pills on time."… (altro)