The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews was a romp of a read. I loved it. Fay is balancing her cake shop with looking after her bedridden mother and has a bolshie Latvian assistant in Lija. There is a selfish younger sister living in New York pining for her married boyfriend and who is draining Fay's savings meant for repairing the narrowboat her father so loved. Then there is Anthony, boyfriend of ten years, a relationship going nowhere.
Into her life walks Danny who has ditched a city job to live on his narrowboat, The Dreamcatcher. The attraction is mutual but Fay has all these responsibilities and guilt. She offers Danny a job working in the garden mending fences and the like. They become closer but eventually after a misunderstanding he leaves. Fay tries to put him out of her mind but can't. Tragedy strikes when her mother falls seriously and Fay has almost to drag her sister back home. She arrives just in time. The death of her mother and the contents of the Will leaves the sisters at loggerheads.
There are surprises and a twists. You know that Fay will end up with Danny (it's one of those books) but it doesn't matter, it's the getting there that's so much fun. I loved Lija with her whit-filled comments (and her swearing), then there's ninety-three year old Stan who comes every day for lunch at the cafe and claims that every meal is 'his favourite'. This is a fun-packed story. There were a couple of instances when I wondered about the plausibility of it (Lija's last minute rescue for the cafe), but for sheer entertainment it is wonderful.
I bought this book for a friend for her birthday and she gave it back to me to read afterwards. Fun read.
Printer's Devil Court by Susan Hill is little more than an overlong short story (only famous writer's can get tiny novels like that published!). I'm not holding that against her because I love Susan Hill's books. This one is about raising the dead. Hugh becomes a witness for two colleagues in their attempt to raise the dead and this has repercussions for him in later life. Nicely crafted with the atmosphere of dark basements, graveyard and strange goings on. Nice read for Halloween!
H is for Hawk is a book club read which I picked up earlier this week. I'm afraid I have already abandoned it. I know it won the Costa Prize and had great reviews but it's just not for me. I skim read the first two chapters but there was nothing to hold me. Partly it's the subject matter - Falconry. I have no interest in it and strangely feel uncomfortable with it - I believe birds should be free. I could not bring myself to read it.
Into her life walks Danny who has ditched a city job to live on his narrowboat, The Dreamcatcher. The attraction is mutual but Fay has all these responsibilities and guilt. She offers Danny a job working in the garden mending fences and the like. They become closer but eventually after a misunderstanding he leaves. Fay tries to put him out of her mind but can't. Tragedy strikes when her mother falls seriously and Fay has almost to drag her sister back home. She arrives just in time. The death of her mother and the contents of the Will leaves the sisters at loggerheads.
There are surprises and a twists. You know that Fay will end up with Danny (it's one of those books) but it doesn't matter, it's the getting there that's so much fun. I loved Lija with her whit-filled comments (and her swearing), then there's ninety-three year old Stan who comes every day for lunch at the cafe and claims that every meal is 'his favourite'. This is a fun-packed story. There were a couple of instances when I wondered about the plausibility of it (Lija's last minute rescue for the cafe), but for sheer entertainment it is wonderful.
I bought this book for a friend for her birthday and she gave it back to me to read afterwards. Fun read.
Printer's Devil Court by Susan Hill is little more than an overlong short story (only famous writer's can get tiny novels like that published!). I'm not holding that against her because I love Susan Hill's books. This one is about raising the dead. Hugh becomes a witness for two colleagues in their attempt to raise the dead and this has repercussions for him in later life. Nicely crafted with the atmosphere of dark basements, graveyard and strange goings on. Nice read for Halloween!
H is for Hawk is a book club read which I picked up earlier this week. I'm afraid I have already abandoned it. I know it won the Costa Prize and had great reviews but it's just not for me. I skim read the first two chapters but there was nothing to hold me. Partly it's the subject matter - Falconry. I have no interest in it and strangely feel uncomfortable with it - I believe birds should be free. I could not bring myself to read it.
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