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Octogenarian Veronica McCreedy has no family; her marriage long ago ended in divorce. She lives a comfortable existence in a large home in Scotland, where she makes sure her housekeeper gets things done precisely the way she wants and always closes doors behind her. She is aware there’s not a lot of life ahead of her.
Being a thorough sort, Veronica asks her housekeeper if she can find a good agency for her to investigate a long-ago part of her life. She is surprised to find out she has a grandson. Meeting Patrick, however, turns out to be less than a stellar experience.
Even after meeting Patrick, she’s not sure what she will do with her fortune. She’s not sure he deserves it. But she gets an idea when she watches a nature documentary on television about penguins. There’s a research station in Antarctica that is doing important work, but its funding is about to be gone.
Then Veronica does something quite out of the ordinary: she contacts the research station and informs them she is coming for a visit. Despite their protestations, she makes the arrangements and just goes to Antarctica.
There she settles in for six weeks and finds herself utterly charmed by the penguins. One baby in particular grabs hold of her heart, and she convinces the team to rescue it, despite their normal policy not to intervene.
A series of events leads to Patrick making the same trip to Antarctica, to make another attempt to get to know his grandmother, the only family he has.
And in the course of the story, Veronica saves a penguin, relationships blossom, and a gruff old woman finds her heart being mended.
It’s rather hard to resist the charms of How the Penguins Saved Veronica. If you’re interested in a heartwarming story, this should satisfy without being too ooey-gooey. People find connection, and it’s got cute penguins! (Plus, it’s clean.)
Rated: Mild. Profanity includes about 5 instances of moderate profanity, about 35 uses of mild language, and about 20 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes kissing and a few mild references. Some use of marijuana.
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