Today we are featuring Chris Penhall's Finding Summer Happiness which was published on 18th May by Ruby Fiction.
You won’t find happiness without breaking a few eggs ...
Miriam Ryan was the MD of a successful events and catering
company, but these days even the thought of chopping an onion sends her stress
levels sky rocketing. A retreat to the Welsh village of her childhood holidays
seems to offer the escape she’s craving – just peace, quiet, no people, a
generous supply of ready meals ... did she mention no people?
Enter a cheery pub landlord, a lovesick letting agent, a
grumpy astronomer with a fridge raiding habit – not to mention a surprise
supper club that requires the chopping of many onions – and Miriam realises her
escape has turned into exactly what she was trying to get away from, but could
that be just the thing she needs to allow a little bit of summer happiness into
her life?
My Thoughts
In this story, you get to follow Miriam as she tries to work through her emotional issues following the death of her mother but also issues around the sale of her business. Her mental health is a work in progress as she travels to Pembrokeshire, looking for a respite from other people and the demands of daily life. Cutting herself off from other people turns out to be harder said than done.
There are some quirky characters who come and go into Miriam's new life and who are a source of gentle humour. You realise that Miriam is basically wanting to not let people down, despite her wishes to not get involved. There are hints of her childhood and you wonder just what links her past has with this area. This is a gentle read which draws you in and you soon find that you are rooting for Miriam and sympathetic to her vulnerabilities and concerns.
In short: Can Miriam rediscover her zest for life?
About the Author
Chris Penhall won the 2019 Choc-Lit Search for a Star
competition, sponsored by Your Cat Magazine, for her debut novel, The House
That Alice Built. The sequel, New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun was
published in August 2020. Her short story, Lily McKee's Seven Days of Christmas
appears in Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction's Cosy Christmas Treats anthology.
Her new novel, Finding Summer Happiness, which is set in
Pembrokeshire in South West Wales was published in May 2021.
Chris is an author and freelance radio producer for BBC
Local Radio.
She also has her own podcast - The Talking to My Friends
About Book Podcast in which she chats to her friends about books. Good title!
Born in Neath in South Wales, she has also lived in London
and in Portugal, which is where The House That Alice Built is set. It was
whilst living in Cascais near Lisbon that she began to dabble in writing
fiction, but it was many years later that she was confident enough to start
writing her first novel, and many years after that she finally finished it!
A lover of books, music and cats, she is also an enthusiastic
salsa dancer, a keen cook, and loves to travel. She is never happier than when
she is gazing at the sea.
You can read my review of The House that Alice built here.
Thanks to Chris Penhall, Ruby Fiction and Rachel of
Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Catch up with the rest of the tour
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