How the Penguins Saved Veronica – Hazel Prior
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: A nature program on the plight of penguins triggers a memory in 86-year-old Veronica that prompts a reconciliation with her painful past, and a visit to Antarctica to see if the penguinologists are worthy of her fortune.
Expectation: A dramedy about second chances with a strong main character and a colorful supporting cast of the non-penguin variety.
Reality: Predictable and outlandish, it is saved by a solid foray into Veronica’s past, but the contemporary chapters, and almost every other character, are forgettable.
Recommended For: Fans of mostly light-hearted redemption stories.
Why I Read It: When stories like this work, they usually become among my favorite reads. Spoiler alert: this one didn’t make the list.
My Take:
Well, readers, it appears I’m in one of the biggest book slumps of my life. While mostly driven by work stress and pandemic fatigue, for the past two months very few books have grabbed my attention and taken me out of reality — something I’m desperately needing right now.
I had high hopes that Veronica’s penguins would save me, and they did to a point, but overall I found Hazel Prior’s story of redemption and reconciliation with the past an amalgamation of more original, character-named novels -- most notably Fredrik Backman’s “A Man Called Ove,” and Maria Semple’s “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?”
While I try to shy away from comparing books to one another, it’s hard to ignore the similarity in themes from those stories and this one. Instead of a crusty widower ready for death (aka Ove), we meet Veronica who can best be described as making Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess Grantham seem like Mister Rogers.
At 86, she’s suffered enough fools, and is quite happy living in near isolation with her millions of dollars in coastal Scotland. But Veronica’s not completely heartless. She has a soft spot for animals (who doesn’t) and is pulled into the plight of the Adélie penguins of Locket Island, Antarctica, via a nature program.
Locket Island triggers a memory, which sets in motion a reconciliation with her past (aka Bernadette) that culminates when she meets her grandson, Patrick — previously unknown to her — who ends up being a ne’er-do-well that does drugs, works one day a week at bicycle repair shop and lives off state benefits.
As the antithesis of Veronica, she promptly decides that the penguins deserve her wealth when she dies, so the octogenarian plans to visit the penguin research center for an extended period to ensure the penguinologists — and penguins — are deserving of her generosity.
“Penguins” isn’t a comedy, but it’s not a straight drama either, which made it difficult to see exactly where the story was headed. Just when I was getting bored, we learn about Veronica’s teen years (via a found diary). This section, about a third of the novel, is the strongest.
Living in London with her family during the German blitzkrieg, she’s sent to a boarding school for safety, and it’s where life as she knows it starts to fall apart.
As the layers start to peel away, and we understand the full scope of her tragedy, it’s easy to understand why Veronica established her gruff demeanor – survival. Credit to Prior for bringing a different perspective to some overused plot devices.
While the story is far-fetched and predictable, it wasn’t a complete waste of time. Prior has fun with the setting and penguin costars — exactly what you’d expect — and while Veronica and Patrick are the only fully realized characters, the penguinologists are good, if rather stock character, foils.
The audiobook narrators do a solid job of bringing the novel to life. Helen Lloyd, as Veronica, stands out from the rest and really embodied the character. Andrew Fallaize as Patrick phoned in a Seth Rogan impersonation from his slacker era, and Mandy Williams as Terry, a penguinologist, was rather dull. I honestly thought it was Lloyd using a different voice until the credits!
Ultimately, I hoped for more originality, but I think anyone with even a passing interest in the plot — or “Ove” or “Bernadette” — will probably find a lot to like here.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5
Formats: Audiobook (SIL’s library)
Dates read: April 18 - 29, 2021
Multi-tasking: Good to go. I mostly gardened and rode my bike.
