Summer Showers at Elder Fell Farm by Liz Taylorson #Review

 

I am delighted to feature an author who is new to me, today. Liz Taylorson's third novel, Summer Showers at Elder Fell Farm is set in the beautiful Lake District and is a great summer read. 

A simple holiday just got complicated …

Single mum Amy has been struggling since her mother’s death and now her son, Harry, has been accused of bullying schoolmate Oliver — giving Amy’s dictatorial ex-husband yet another reason to criticise her parenting.

All Amy wants is the chance to spend time with her son. Where better to escape all her troubles than camping at the remote but beautiful Lake District farm where she spent idyllic summers with her mother when she was a little girl?

Her tranquil escape seems doomed when Oliver, and his widowed dad, Matt, turn up on the neighbouring pitch — but at Elder Fell Farm, unlikely friendships can be forged. Are Matt and Amy ready to fall in love again? And will their boys bring them together – or drive them apart?

 My Thoughts

This story is packed with the good humour which arises from everyday situations, especially when young children are involved. Full of wry observations about the difficulties of single parenting, I loved her descriptions of the hierarchy on the school playground and the attempts by some for a little one- upmanship. olivia's son, Harry is a delightful part of the book and his antics had me laughing out loud at times.

    Anyone who has camped or caravanned in a small campsite will readily recognise the pitfalls of outdoor life. I did like the gentle message that it is good to unplug from modern life and immerse yourself in the countryside. Beneath the surface, you can sense the slow burn romance which seems to be there despite all the unglamourous side of the holiday. This has an authentic feel to it. With a mystery from the past to solve and the beautiful Lake District setting, it is an ideal holiday read.

In short: escape to the country

About the Author

Liz has always surrounded herself with books.

As a child, she was always to be found with her head in one and she still has a bookcase full of her childhood favourites to this day. She went on to work in a library cataloguing early printed books – but as most of the books turned out to be volumes of sermons, she wasn’t tempted to read them all!

Children interrupted her bibliographic career, and Liz started writing fiction and hasn’t stopped since, joining the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme in 2015 to try to learn how to write novels properly.  This led to publication of her first romantic novel, The Little Church by the Sea in late 2017, followed by The Manor on the Moors in 2019.

When Covid struck, Liz was working on a novel set in the 1990s, but sadly research proved difficult when she could no longer access the microfilm readers at the reference library. Instead, she wrote Summer Showers at Elder Fell Farm which relied largely on her own experiences of campervans, campsites and noisy children.

You can follow Liz here: Twitter  |  Facebook  |  |  Website

book links: Amazon UK |  Amazon US

Thanks to Liz Taylorson and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

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