The Helpline
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A charming, big-hearted debut novel in the vein of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Rosie Project about an oddball heroine named Germaine Johnson who is great with numbers but not so great with people.
Germaine Johnson doesn’t need a lot of friends. She has her work and her Sudoku puzzles. Until, that is, an incident at the insurance company she works for leaves her jobless—and she realizes that there are very few job openings for recently laid-off senior mathematicians with no people skills.
With some luck (read: bad luck) Germaine manages to secure a position at city hall answering calls on the Senior Citizens Helpline. But it turns out that the mayor herself has something else in mind for Germaine: a secret project involving the troublemakers at the senior citizens’ center and their feud with the neighbouring golf club—which happens to be run by the rakish yet disgraced national Sudoku champion, Don Thomas.
Don and the mayor want the centre closed down and Germaine wants to help—because it makes sense economically, and because she’s succumbing to Don’s charms. But things get complicated when she starts getting to know the “troublemakers,” and they open her eyes to a life outside of numbers and boxes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Australian author Collette debuts with the tale of the rather awkward Germaine Johnson as she does her part to assist a rundown senior center and its champions wage an existential struggle against the mayor and her schemes. Germaine isn't a people person, so her new job at the Australian town of Deepdene's Senior Citizen Helpline answering calls isn't a natural fit. She sees an opportunity for advancement when mayor Verity Bainbridge recruits her to oust the troublesome president of the local senior citizens center committee and then to write a building inspection report after Germaine lets slip to the mayor's friend Don Thomas, owner of the golf club adjoining the senior center, that the center is in poor repair. Germaine is also motivated by her crush on Don. To the end, Germaine has difficulty with feelings, which are, for her, "not only unpredictable" but "could be very unpleasant," but she does become fond of the people at the senior center, and so, naively, believes that the report will be used to make improvements rather than as justification to close the building and then sell the property to Don. When she discovers this, Germaine works with her new friends at the center and in the town's government to thwart the mayor. Readers who appreciate offbeat characters or a good David vs. Goliath tale should enjoy this.
