Baxter's Requiem by Matthew Crow Blog Tour

Today is my turn on the blog tour for Baxter's Requiem by author Matthew Crow, this is a Random Things Tour.




About the book

A tender, witty, uplifting story about friendship, family and community written with great humour that will appeal to fans of Rachel Joyce, Ruth Hogan and Joanna Cannon. Let me tell you a story, about a man I knew, and a man I know... Mr Baxter is ninety-four years old when he falls down his staircase and grudgingly finds himself resident at Melrose Gardens Retirement Home. Baxter is many things - raconteur, retired music teacher, rabble-rouser, bon viveur - but 'good patient' he is not. He had every intention of living his twilight years with wine, music and revelry; not tea, telly and Tramadol. Indeed, Melrose Gardens is his worst nightmare - until he meets Gregory. At only nineteen years of age, Greg has suffered a loss so heavy that he is in danger of giving up on life before he even gets going. Determined to save the boy, Baxter decides to enlist his help on a mission to pay tribute to his longlost love, Thomas: the man with whom he found true happiness; the man he waved off to fight in a senseless war; the man who never returned. The best man he ever knew. With Gregory in tow Baxter sets out on a spirited escape from Melrose, bound for the war graves of Northern France. As Baxter shares his memories, the boy starts to see that life need not be a matter of mere endurance; that the world is huge and beautiful; that kindness is strength; and that the only way to honour the dead, is to live. Baxter's Requiem is a glorious celebration of life, love and seizing every last second we have while we're here.


Buy Link from Amazon, click HERE.




About the author

Matthew Crow was born and raised in Newcastle. Having worked as a freelance journalist since his teens he has contributed to a number of publications including the Independent on Sunday and the Observer. He has written for adults and YA. His book My Dearest Jonah, was nominated for the Dylan Thomas Prize.

For my stop I have my review :D Baxter's Requiem by Matthew Crow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 248

Publisher - Corsair

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Let me tell you a story, about a man I knew, and a man I know...

Mr Baxter is ninety-four years old when he falls down his staircase and grudgily finds himself resident at Melrose Gardens Retirement Home.

Baxter is many things - raconteur, retired music teacher, rabble-rouser, bon viveur - but 'good patient' he is not. He had every intention of living his twilight years with wine, music and revelry; not tea, telly and Tramadol. Indeed, Melrose Gardens is his worst nightmare - until he meets Gregory.

At only nineteen years of age, Greg has suffered a loss so heavy that he is in danger of giving up on life before he even gets going.

Determined to save the boy, Baxter decides to enlist his help on a mission to pay tribute to his long-lost love, Thomas: the man with whom he found true happiness; the man he waved off to fight in a senseless war; the man who never returned. The best man he ever knew.

With Gregory in tow Baxter sets out on a spirited escape from Melrose, bound for the war graves of Northern France. As Baxter shares his memories, the boy starts to see that life need not be a matter of mere endurance; that the world is huge and beautiful; that kindness is strength; and that the only way to honour the dead, is to live.

Baxter's Requiem is a glorious celebration of life, love and seizing every last second we have while we're here.


My Review

At ninety four years old Baxter is set in his ways, grumpy, no time for nonsense and likes what he likes. When a fall down the stairs sees him in a retirement home until he is able enough to go back to his own home he is forced amongst people and routine. He meets young Gregory, a young chap who starts work in the home, quiet, shy and a tad withdrawn. Baxter makes it his mission to break down Gregory's barriers and enlist him to help deal with something from his own past.

Gregory is a sweet kid under the outward exterior, dealing with a loss and struggling to have a relationship with his father. His life is very limited and lonely, possibly what draws Baxter. Baxter is a great character, funny in a grumpy no nonsense way he has a plan and the retirement home rules nor his age will stop him. An unlikely friendship grows and both men help each other deal with things in their lives, Gregory's now and Baxter's from the past.

We flip to Baxter's past, how he obtained his fortune and his one true love he never got to say goodbye to, Thomas. Called to war he never returned home and Baxter, knowing he doesn't have time to waste, wants to say goodbye.

Funny, sad, poignant, friendship, past, present, overcoming barriers and a whole host of emotion for these two main characters. It is a nice read, flipping between past and present, I would have liked the book to be longer, learned more about Baxter and Gregory but they always say a good author will leave you wanting more. This was my first time reading Crow, it won't be my last, I will be looking up his other works, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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