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May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan #Review

May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn  by Kimberly Sullivan was published on May 8th and feels just right for the season. After a successful seasonal opening in April, friends Emma and Annarita are eager to welcome a new set of guests to their Umbrian inn during the full bloom of May. Upstate New Yorker Lisa needs an escape from betrayal and the prying eyes of her smalltown neighbors. Elderly, reclusive artist Antonio hopes leaving Milan for a country sojourn will spark his long dormant creative muse. Manhattan socialite mother Sharon grudgingly embarks on a country holiday with her young son, Josh, with whom she shares few interests. Roman author Margherita prefers time spent alone, but her career may depend on a stay in bucolic Todi among fellow guests. And Emma and Annarita are anxious to embrace their close friend Tiffany on her brief stay in the heart of Umbria. The swallows may have returned and colorful petals now dot the countryside, but will the inn’s atmosphere allow hu...

The Carer by Deborah Moggach #Review


Today I am delighted to feature Deborah Moggach's novel, The Carer. 

From the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever, a deliciously funny, poignant and wry novel, full of surprising twists and turns:

James is getting on a bit and needs full-time help. So Phoebe and Robert, his middle-aged offspring, employ Mandy, who seems willing to take him off their hands. But as James regales his family with tales of Mandy’s virtues, their shopping trips and the shared pleasure of their journeys to garden centres, Phoebe and Robert sense something is amiss.

Then something extraordinary happens which throws everything into new relief, changing all the stories of their childhood - and the father - that they thought they knew so well.

My Thoughts

This is a fabulous read. It led me up the garden path, right through the back garden and back again and I failed to pick up on its great surprise. Written in two parts, you see life through James' children's eyes and then in the latter part, realise what the true picture actually is.

    You realise in the end that it is an examination of human relationships and marriages, and the damage that people can inflict without thinking. Phoebe and Robert have to take a long hard look at themselves and re-evaluate everything they thought they knew. Full of quiet menace at the start, you find that there is a heart-warming side to the story. The characters are shown in subtle relief and relationships exposed. Class and intellectual snobbery are thrown into the mix, as well as ageing, treachery, betrayal and whether one should accept a bit less in life if it makes you happy.

In short: A social comedy to savour.

About the Author

 
Deborah Moggach, OBE is an English novelist and an award-winning screenwriter. She has written nineteen novels, including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, These Foolish Thing, Heartbreak Hotel and Something to Hide. She lives in London.

You can follow Deborah here: Goodreads 

Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Deborah Moggach and Tinder Press, and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours  for an advanced copy of the book and a place on the event.  

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