The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

By: Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg, Rod Bradbury - translator

Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson

79-year-old Martha Anderson, with the aid of her Zimmer frame, is robbing a bank. She’s not past it yet and intends to fund her way to a much more exciting life-style. Except all the cashier can see is a little old lady. So Martha is bundled into a cab and sent back to her atrocious care home.

But Martha and her four old friends – otherwise known as the League of Pensioners – are tired of all the rules imposed upon them and decide to rebel. They cause uproar at the home with their antics, protesting against early bedtimes and plastic meals. Then, as the elderly friends become more daring their activities escalate and they come up with a cunning plan to break out of the care home and land themselves in a far more attractive Stockholm establishment. They resolve to stand up for old aged pensioners everywhere, Robin Hood style by stealing from the young to give to the old. And that’s when the adventure really takes off . . .

Already an international bestseller, The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is an incredibly quirky, humorous and warm-hearted story about growing old disgracefully - and breaking all the rules along the way!

Translated by Rod Bradbury.

The Winner Takes It All; or Practise Makes Perfect

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It is a long book. Within it there are 3 sections in each of which a significant crime is committed. This is a great structure. But the book is filled with back story and explanation of character's observations and responses. Personally I think it needs a very severe edit in order to bring the focus much more clearly onto the crimes and their intentions and results.

What could Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Less words. Too many descriptions and backstories.

Which scene was your favorite?

None of the scenes was particularly memorable to me. In spite of all the explanations and descriptions, the characters did not come alive to me. Having said that, I still think the concept in the book is terrific - that of elderly people grabbing life by the throat and shaking the gold from it.

Did The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules inspire you to do anything?

I haven't started planning a crime spree, but I think I will be very vigorous in editing my own writing.

Any additional comments?

So - I think - listen to this story when you need a long and meandering tale that has excellent concepts in it - grey power and the Zimmer Frame Gang standing up against the inequalities in their world - and told in a slightly amused, slightly ironic voice. But don't expect anything profound.

Great title

I didn’t listen beyond a couple of hours. The narration was excellent but I found the story ridiculous. I couldn’t fall into the story and go along. It will S well written but just not for me.

Boring

I picked this book because of the narrator, l’ve enjoyed many of her books before, but story was very slow, l was glad when it finished