Tuesdays with Ambrea: How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

Reviewed by Ambrea

Veronica McCreedy has spent much of her golden years alone.  Unless you count her nosy housekeeper, she has no family, no friends, and no patience for anyone who wants to take up her very valuable time with frivolous conversation—and then, one day, she discovers she has a grandson named Patrick.  After a less-than-favorable first impression, Veronica decides she isn’t about to add Patrick to her will any time soon.  Instead, Veronica becomes enamored with penguins in Antarctica and, after watching a particularly fortuitous documentary about scientists on Locket Island, and decides she wants to leave her fortune to penguin studies.

There’s just one catch:  Veronica wants to see the penguins, first—and she won’t take no for an answer.

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior is a nice, heart-warming book about second chances and making changes.  Although I was initially hooked by the cover—I mean, who can resist cute little penguins?—I quickly became absorbed by Veronica’s story.  Soon, I was diving into her tempestuous relationship with Patrick, reading about her painful past, and cheering her spontaneous (and rather impetuous) trip to Locket Island.

I fully expected to fall in love with the penguins—spoiler alert:  I did—but I didn’t think I would become as emotionally invested in Veronica as I was by the end of the story.  She’s a complete curmudgeon, sure, but she’s also kind of charming and, in a very roundabout way, she’s very sweet.  (She’s also a bit conniving, too, but all for the greater good.)

I suppose my one complaint about Prior’s novel is that it builds very slowly.  How the Penguins Saved Veronica often dips its toes into the past, moving back and forth in time, as Veronica slowly reveals her past to both the reader and her grandson.  While I understand this was a brilliant method of showing how Veronica was gradually opening herself up and letting her heart grow a little bigger, I was always impatient to get back to current events.

I was curious to learn about what happened to Veronica as a girl and I wanted to learn why she became the ways she was; however, I very much wanted to see how she would build a relationship with Patrick—would she be able to look past one very bad day?  Would she be willing to fully reach out, and would her grandson learn to forgive her?—and what her adventure on Locket Island would be like.

Overall, I enjoyed reading How the Penguins Saved Veronica.  It’s quick, easy read, despite its size at just over 350 pages, and it’s the perfect thing to read on a chilly, rainy day or a cold, snowy afternoon.