Most of us have been brought up to believe that old age, despite its unquestioned drawbacks, at least brings lashings of good sense accompanied by a modicum of serenity. Not, however, in Henry Sutton's turgid tale of love and betrayal among the pensioners in an English seaside village.
These old dears smoke too much and drink too much and giggle and become obsessed with each other and bad mouth each other and, guess what? They're so tedious, they make teenagers look interesting; and the book's watercolour plot doesn't help.
