Mildred Budge in Cloverdale by Daphne Simpkins is the first of several books about retired schoolteacher Mildred Budge. Mildred retired a little on the early side, but we’re not told why until a few chapters in.
Mildred is finding retired life anything but peaceful. Her best friend, Fran, has set them up in booth for the Emporium to sell off some of their used furniture. A young couple across the street wants her help with their son, who doesn’t talk. And Sam at church wants her to host a young couple coming for the missionary conference.
Mildred is somewhat set in her ways, but is pressured to take the young couple in. She finds herself actually enjoying them and joins in with some of their activities.
But trouble comes when suspicious “serial widow” Liz makes moves towards Fran’s boyfriend and when Mildred is betrayed by someone she tried to help.
I liked that Mildred loosened up a bit over the course of the book and had a heart to help people.
But I’m sorry to say I did not care for this book very much. The author’s writing and style of humor didn’t gel with me. Plus there were many statements about what “church ladies” do and think (as if they all think and do the same) that rubbed me the wrong way–although those statements may have been meant as humorous. Also, a lot of lines of dialogue sounded stilted because of several paragraphs of extraneous information between each speaker’s lines.
Some of the spiritual content was a little wonky, like this: “Salvation is an old-timey word that simply means you don’t have to live out this life alone. You are not created to live like that” (p. 55, Kindle version). This was from a preacher at a funeral service. Salvation isn’t that old-timey a word, and it’s much more than not living alone. Later, when a young woman says she might be interested in having Jesus in her life, Mildred “felt an urgency” to ask her just to say His name. But the conversation (and any explanation) never went further. In the excerpt from the next book at the end, one man says a pastoral candidate at the church “preached grace, which means he wasn’t willing to preach Jesus front and center”—which doesn’t make sense.
I found very few negative reviews on Amazon or Goodreads for this book, so lots of other people liked it. I got it when Paula mentioned enjoying it. At that time, it was free for both the Kindle and Audible versions, so I got both. However, the Audible version was narrated by a “Virtual Voice,” which was not very good. It sounded human rather than robotic and had a bit of conversational flow to it, but it did not do inflections well and stumbled over words like “Tsk.”
Have you read Mildred Budge books? Have you ever disliked a book other people loved?
Stray Thoughts 
I read this book along with others in the series. I enjoyed them enough to read the series although I agree that things did get a bit wonky at times. My literary tastes have changed since then, and I don’t think I’d enjoy them as much now. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the detailed warning, Barbara. This is just the sort of title I might be attracted to, wasting time and money on an unpleasant read. If you’re not going to get the gospel right, authors, why mention it at all?
I started to read these books and Mildred Budge, and I did actually finish the first one, and started a second one, but it was definitely not for me! Thank you for your honest review, Barbara.
Well I was thinking this sounded pretty good until your caveats — which would all bug me! Reviews are interesting. As you might suspect, yes, I definitely have had issues with some books that others all seem to love. Sometimes I feel like if a book gets 10+ glowing reviews, other reviewers seem to look at those and be influenced by them. Also, it seems that a book’s first few reviews are always very positive (maybe due to be written by the author’s friends?). Anyway, you wrote a good, thorough review on this one. Thank you!
I like to look at both 5-star and 1-star reviews if I am not familiar with an author. Some low reviews are silly, and I know not to regard them. But often if there is a problem with the book, it will be mentioned in a low review. On the other hand, I have seen some awful reviews of books I loved. I guess some of it is a matter of taste.
I didn’t know a book could be read by “Virtual Voice.” I’m not sure I’d like that. And it’s made me wonder if “virtual voices” will become the normal way to record audio books? When I start to not like a book I am reading, I do seek out the Goodreads reviews to see if anyone else agrees with me. 🙂 Thank you for your honest reviews!
I look at reviews at both Amazon and Goodreads, too, to see if I am missing something or if others agree with me. I hope Virtual Voices do not catch on. I assume it’s cheaper for the author, particularly if they are self-publishing. But it’s not a pleasant experience.
I just read another book with a very similar premise — a woman who is forced to retire early (Fly Away, by Lynn Austin). Hadn’t heard of this series. Sometimes the author is a bit off in their theology here and there, but this one sounds like it would drive you batty.
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