Synopsis: Opening at the Hay Festival, and ending with the prospect of a spring wedding, Sue Gee’s new novel is a lively story of tangled relationships and the sustaining powers of good books, loyal friends and conversation. Friends since university, with busy working lives behind them, Dido and Georgia have long been looking forward to carefree days of books and conversation, when each finds herself caught up in unexpected domestic drama. Dido, for the first time, has cause to question her marriage; widowed Georgia feels certain her husband will return to her. Meanwhile, an eccentric country cousin goes wildly off the rails, children are unhappy in love, and perfect health is all at once in question. This novel will bring a writer who ‘transforms the stuff of ordinary life into art’ (Philippa Gregory, “The Sunday Times”) to her widest audience yet. (taken from Waterstones website)
Review: Using a narrative that moves from one character to another Sue Gee has created a novel in which you care about the characters so much that you continue to think about them after you have put the book down. Her writing is very poignant – she captures feelings and emotions succinctly – reading about Georgia’s loneliness is quite painful at times and yet this story is not without it’s moments of gentle humour and recognisable family dynamics. I have often shelved The Mysteries of Glass (also by Sue Gee) at work and every time I do it catches my eye – next time I see it I will take it home to read.
LibraryThing rating: *****
Other books I have read by same author: None but will look out for others.
Review by JudyB
I just finished reading this book today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely look out for more books by Sue Gee in future.
I was not impressed with this novel at all. It was written for 50+ year old women who don’t really need to wonder about “happy families” as they have lived through them.
It is becoming a cash-cow genre, and I believe women of this era deserve better representation.