Little Beach Street Bakery – Jenny Colgan

 

Following on by the slight disappointment of Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Wedding Night’ I had another of my favourite ‘chic lit’ authors in my hands. I was dubious, if Kinsella’s was so simple and predictable would this then follow suit?

The answer is no, not because its not simple or predictable but because the simplicity of such a sweet story was enjoyable.

Polly Waterford has her life turned upside down when she is made bankrupt, during her search for a new flat she finds a dilapidated house in Polbearne and her life starts to rebuild slowly but surely.

Polly bakes bread, really good bread and it is from there that she starts to build herself relationships with most of the Polbearne inhabitants except one, her landlord Gillian Manse. A name that might sound like another familiar author? 😉

Manse is a hardcore Polbearne woman but behind her is a soft lady that has had her life ruined by loss, she is not necessarily fighting for the little village to stay the same but fighting because she herself cannot leave until Polly gives her a lifeline.

Polly’s love life is focused on a fair bit in this book, there are affairs, dramas and most of all the knight in shining armour at the end.

I really enjoyed this novel so I hope you will too, oh and watch out for Neil.

The Missing One – Lucy Atkins

WOW.

This is a must read.

I haven’t said that one in a while. Lucy Atkins has provided a twisty novel with a gripping journey, try to predict the ending and you will no doubt get it wrong – my mum and I both did!

The novel focuses on the disjointed family life of Kali McKenzie (Halstrom) and the secrets slowly revealed by the death of her mother. Having had a tempestuous relationship with her mother throughout her life Kali craves further knowledge to get closure on her mother’s unknown and distant personality.

Prior to her mother’s death Kali finds texts on her husbands phone that leads her to believe he has been cheating on her – but all is not what it seems – with her world turned upside down she makes the impulsive decision to take herself and her little boy Finn halfway around the world in search of answers.

Kali soon finds out that what she believed is in fact true – she knew very little about her mother. Whilst we, the reader, know slightly more with the intertextuality provided by her mothers diary extracts  it is intriguing to learn further about her mothers Orca studies and why she abandoned them.

Whilst in Vancouver Kali meets her mothers long lost friend Susannah and suddenly her whole family history unravels in front of her. Not knowing Susannah is incredibly sick Kali pushes her for more and more information before she snaps and does the unthinkable – but I won’t divulge what happens, you will just have to read it yourself!

 

Pages: 569

To Buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-One-Lucy-Atkins/dp/184866320X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398198173&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=the+missing+onee £2 what a bargain!!

Author: http://www.lucyatkins.com/

Apple Tree Yard – Louise Doughty

It’s been a while, I feel like books are starting to take me a little longer to read due to work and the fact I can drive. This may sound random but I have only been driving for two months and prior to this I could read on the bus. That means for up to an hour a day (sometimes more) I was getting the opportunity to jump out of my life and into someone else’s.

My mum sold this book as ‘could not put down’ she literally wanted to finish it in about two days. However, I have to say, and this is down to different tastes (although we do share A LOT of books), that I do not agree. I am not saying it was bad as that would be unfair but I certainly wasn’t chomping at the bit for my lunch break, or bath(!) to read further.

Anyway ‘Apple Tree Yard’ is a cryptic book which leaves you to make your own assumptions about the second protagonist for about two thirds of the tale. He is for the most part, an unnamed entity. The novel features a geneticist called Yvonne who indulges in an extra marital affair – something she has never considered before.

Whilst as the reader I did not dislike her husband and I didn’t have particularly strong feelings towards her lover the way in which Yvonne goes about starting the affair seems almost farcical. Upon meeting the gentlemen in question, and I use that word lightly, she has sex with him. This alone would make a rather boring novel however, her ‘friend’ is cryptic. Yvonne thinks he is a spook – but is he?

When Yvonne’s life takes a turn for the worse and she finds herself in a dangerous position the two of them find themselves in court. It is then the novel draws your attention. You learn that Yvonne’s mysterious friend is not what she expected and she ends up feeling cheated. Ironic hey?

Although I wasn’t amazed by the story it wasn’t horrendous. I would recommend it as a read, especially as my mum found it so enthralling (to me that means that many others would!).

We got it from our local library but if you would like to buy it you can find it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-Tree-Yard-Louise-Doughty/dp/0571278647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396712228&sr=8-1&keywords=apple+tree+yard

Till We Meet Again – Lesley Pearse

For Christmas last year my sister and I decided to create a gift bag/lucky dip esque present for our mum. As you may have already noticed from previous blogs Lesley Pearse has become a family favourite author in this household, therefore the hard task began of selecting a novel we hadn’t already read.

I deliberately went back to some of Pearse’s earlier work, though not so early that it is a single name.

‘Till We Meet Again’ is surprisingly from 2003 though it looks coherent within her recent work (I’m not sure if that’s a refurb thing looks wise or if the design has always stayed the same).

‘Till We Meet Again’ focuses on two childhood friends separated by life that are drawn back together on one fateful day. Susan and Beth knew each other when they were ten years old but were  torn apart by the various abuse of their respective families. Susan is at the mercy of her loveless and empty father in the same way that Beth has hidden her fathers physically abusive past to further her career.

In this narrative Susan is a supposed killer and Beth the lawyer that must get her off – but is everything what it seems?

There is an air of predictability later on in the novel but it in no way takes away from the overall twist of the story.  The two friends spend the duration of the novel reliving their hard pasts, remembering who they once were and how they got to be the person they are in the modern day.

The reader will sympathise with both characters for many reasons, one of which is the fact they can no longer be friends in a world of pain and hardships. Life has dealt Susan a bad hand as Beth manages to finally get control of her life.

It is a sweet novel whilst being a thrilling story in its entirety. Yet again Pearse has written a winner in our eyes.