Waiting to get your COVID vaccination? Here is the perfect pandemic escapist read to lift your spirits while demanding little in the way of mental exercise to enjoy.

With a light touch and a neighborhood of madcap characters, the warm-hearted motorcycle enthusiasts, Billy and Dawnie, who have given their rambling family home over to their daughter and her extending family, set out to find the home of their dreams on the seaside to settle into as empty-nesters eager for a new beginning as just two. Or, so they think. But first there is a hiatus along the way down the highway toward that goal in the form of a bleak row house in Margot Street ("Maggot" Street, as Dawnie prefers). Soon, perhaps despite themselves, they become friends with their new neighbors, even the most resistant ones, and developing those human ties that bind us to place when that place may not be the place of our heart's desire.

Heading Over the Hill is the kind of feel-good novel that back-of-the-book covers invariably describe as "uplifting." There are no real surprises in it, but there are enough zany characters who take turns doing the unexpected to provoke lol moments.

My favorite scene in the novel is a girls' night out pub birthday celebration about which I will only say this. Treat yourself to an interactive experience and go to YouTube to play the original artist performances of all the golden oldies mentioned. Doing so may be the best part of your reading experience and your lasting memory of it.

Author, Judy Leigh, has produced a number of humorous "geriatric" novels capable of producing smiles in readers regardless of age. Enjoy! ( )