Maybe Tomorrow By Penny Parkes

The latest book by Penny Parkes is a heartfelt and uplifting story of hope, new beginnings and friendships that is beautifully written and captivated the reader with its characters and storyline.

Jamie Matson had once enjoyed a wonderful life working alongside her best friend, organising adventures for single-parent families, and her son Bo’s artistic flair a source of pride rather than concern. She hadn’t been prepared to lose her business, her home and her friend. Not all in one dreadful year. Jamie certainly hadn’t expected to find such hope and camaraderie in the queue at her local food bank. Thrown together with an unlikely and colourful group of people, their friendships flourish and, finding it easier to be objective about each other than about themselves, they decide that – when you’re all out of options – it’s okay to bend the rules a little and create your own.

The story is seen through the narrative of Jamie, who like many others her life has been badly affected by the pandemic. She lost her business and business partner and works in a pompous supermarket with a horrible boss and an ever nastier landlord. The only good thing that she has in her life is her ten year old son called Bo, a gentle and creative soul who’s severely misunderstood by his peers and is plagued with asthma attacks. But support comes in the shape of Henry and Ruth, an elderly couple who invite Jamie and Bo into their lives to help with their massive home. Not only, do they give Jamie an opportunity to find her path in life but they also help Bo embrace his artistic flair and they also provide a place for Jamie and her new friends to vent about their lives. Kath is unhappy in her marriage, Amy is wanting to find a proper job whilst Bonnie is wanting to help brighten people’s days with her small hairdressing business.

I loved this story, it really focuses on the hardship of life and how the pandemic really hindered so many lives with the cost of living crisis. The women meet at a food bank, initially Jamie was embarrassed that her life had come to see, but with the friendships, it has helped her get a grasp on what she wants to do with her life. I loved her son Bo, although he’s not formally diagnosed with anything, he thinks differently to others and because of this becomes the victim of bullying. Ruth and Jamie are an interesting couple, fiercely independent, they maintain that Jamie is there to help each other, but they both have deteriorating health conditions.

Beautifully written and focusing on the important things, such as family, friendships and finding your path in life, ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ is both poignant, engaging and packed with heart. The book is an emotional rollercoaster of a story, but at 511 pages long so it can’t really be read in one sitting, so you can look forward to cosying up with it over a few days.

You can buy ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.