The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman

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With the help of a very switched on octogenarian named Leonard, the three of them get in Leonard's vintage car and make their way to Edinburgh, with some stop-overs along the way, where Norman can perform his comedy numbers. Oh my heavens. Julietta Henderson has given us a gift. I feel like I have spent time with close friends that I don't want to part ways. I laughed out loud, I sighed, I cried, I smiled and I hurt. Lightly yet movingly realised, The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is one of those rare novels that is both whimsically sweet and soberingly sad, testament to the way in which life is rarely straightforward or cut and dried, with the good and the bad mixing together often in what feels like an unholy and bewildering mess. On title alone, you could be forgiven for thinking that The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson is one of those deliciously escapist slice-of-life British adventures where idiosyncratically good things happen to people who really need some good to come into their beleaguered lives.

There’s a good chance Norman’s father is one of four people. Now I know how that makes me sound, but it’s a fairly reasonable alternative to the other scenario, which is that he would quite possibly have been one of several more if circumstances had allowed.”Sadie's workmate Leonard, an elderly gentleman, offers to help her with both of these goals, and so starts a wonderful and funny, though at times sad, journey for all three of them to achieve what seems like two unachievable goals.

Norman Foreman had never had a friend until Jax Fenton came into his life. The two were inseparable, more like brothers than best friends. They wanted to be comedians, a double act and as such they wrote a five-year plan at ten years old which included performing at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they were fifteen. We know that moving on is inevitable but we also feel guilty, as Norman does, that we are somehow doing a disservice to the person we have lost by not dwelling in that grief forever. When Sadie shares the problem with Leonard Cobcroft, the OAP employed as a cleaner by her racist, sexist, misogynistic bully of a boss, under the Age UK employment scheme, she expects commiseration, not action. But she underestimates Len: he’s ex-Army, IT savvy, supremely organised and talented in many fields, thanks to adult education courses. The writer brings the reader along on Norman and his mother Sadie's journey—both of them are grappling with grief, Norman's from the present and Sadie's from the past. Over the course of the book, the two learn that grief need not define their lives; the message is that joy can always be found, even following the depths of sorrow (Hilary D). Although there is pathos and sadness surrounding the loss of Norman's best friend and comedy partner, Jax, there is love and growth and friendship and stamina and determination (Ginny H)... continued Norman – whose left eyebrow is hairier than his right; whose ears move up and down far more than other people’s when he chews; whose skin is plagued by psoriasis……is a small boy with a very BIG HEART.With a plot that includes dodgy accommodation, dubious venues, and a fanciful Facebook profile, then builds to a hilarious climax involving a bizarre laundry rescue, a daring break-and-enter, chef’s whites and escape on a speeding moped, Henderson’s debut novel is funny, moving, heart-warming and uplifting, and more of this talented author will definitely be welcome. Recommended!