This book is a diary, it is a year in the life of Jean who is a house sitter. Jean travels around mainland Britain to provide her services, she looks after houses and animals. Mainly she has cats and dogs to care for but sometimes she has other animals such as rabbits, chickens, tortoises and goats.
Jean is trying to juggle the time she needs to be away for work with her home life where she has a husband and son. Her husband just wants a quiet life and time to spend writing his books and their teenage son keeps getting into trouble at school. When Jean is away they live on take-away food and never bother with any housework or washing.
Whilst working Jean finds herself in lots of unusual situations. She has a past client who claims that her dog must have become pregnant whilst Jean was in charge as the litter is of mongrel and not pedigree dogs, she has the police turn up on the doorstep as a neighbour thinks the house is being burgled, and one client turns out to be a bigamist. She weathers the storm of all the unusual situations whilst also trying to sort out her son's life and keep him on track to pass his exams.
Sunday, 28 April 2019
Here Come the Boys by Milly Johnson
Angie and Gil Silverton have booked a holiday to celebrate Gil's 40th birthday. This is their first ever cruise. Gil is excited but Angie is apprehensive.
They set off from Southampton and after a couple of days at sea, when Gil is quite seasick, they reach Malaga for their first stop. Angie gets off the ship to do some shopping and misses the re-boarding time and sees the ship leave the harbour for its next port of call. She finds herself stranded in Malaga along with another passenger. This turns out to be Selina, her one time best friend, who 20 years ago had stolen Angie's boyfriend and then married him. The two women have not spoken to each other since. They now have three days to spend together whilst arrangements are made for them to travel to Croatia to re-join the cruise ship and their husbands who are waiting on board.
This is a e-book exclusive story.
I have previously read 'An Autumn Crush' and 'Ladies Who Launch' by Milly Johnson and I have 'The Teashop on the Corner' and 'Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe' on my bookshelf.
They set off from Southampton and after a couple of days at sea, when Gil is quite seasick, they reach Malaga for their first stop. Angie gets off the ship to do some shopping and misses the re-boarding time and sees the ship leave the harbour for its next port of call. She finds herself stranded in Malaga along with another passenger. This turns out to be Selina, her one time best friend, who 20 years ago had stolen Angie's boyfriend and then married him. The two women have not spoken to each other since. They now have three days to spend together whilst arrangements are made for them to travel to Croatia to re-join the cruise ship and their husbands who are waiting on board.
This is a e-book exclusive story.
I have previously read 'An Autumn Crush' and 'Ladies Who Launch' by Milly Johnson and I have 'The Teashop on the Corner' and 'Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe' on my bookshelf.
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
This book was originally written in German and has been translated into English. It is set in France in the eighteenth-century.
The story follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. It begins with his birth and the arrest and decapitation of his mother. Grenouille is at first looked after by wet nurses and then placed in a house by the church to be cared for by Madame Gaillard. He stays there for a number of years until the church fail to pay for his care. Everyone who has looked after Grenouille has felt there was something odd about the boy, even as a small baby he had no smell.
Although he has no personal body odour himself, Grenouille has a very acute sense of smell and, even if he does not know what it is that he is smelling, he remembers and can identify every single smell he has known.
Tracking down and chasing smells leads Grenouille into different jobs and ultimately to committing murder.
This is a really unusual story in a gothic style.
The story follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. It begins with his birth and the arrest and decapitation of his mother. Grenouille is at first looked after by wet nurses and then placed in a house by the church to be cared for by Madame Gaillard. He stays there for a number of years until the church fail to pay for his care. Everyone who has looked after Grenouille has felt there was something odd about the boy, even as a small baby he had no smell.
Although he has no personal body odour himself, Grenouille has a very acute sense of smell and, even if he does not know what it is that he is smelling, he remembers and can identify every single smell he has known.
Tracking down and chasing smells leads Grenouille into different jobs and ultimately to committing murder.
This is a really unusual story in a gothic style.
Sunday, 14 April 2019
Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly
When sisters Cassie and Coco were aged 7 and 1 their mother left them and never returned. They were brought up by Pearl, their father's mother. Their father never recovered from his wife leaving and he died young.
The sisters are very close but they both have a fear of being abandoned again. Coco runs a vintage dress shop and Cassie, who is married and mother of two teenagers, tries desperately hard to create the perfect family which she did not have.
Their mother is never discussed. When Coco starts a conversation with Cassie about their mother things start to go wrong, old wounds are opened up and life suddenly becomes very difficult for them both.
I have read 'It started in Paris', 'The House on Willow Street' and 'Christmas Magic' by the same author.
The sisters are very close but they both have a fear of being abandoned again. Coco runs a vintage dress shop and Cassie, who is married and mother of two teenagers, tries desperately hard to create the perfect family which she did not have.
Their mother is never discussed. When Coco starts a conversation with Cassie about their mother things start to go wrong, old wounds are opened up and life suddenly becomes very difficult for them both.
I have read 'It started in Paris', 'The House on Willow Street' and 'Christmas Magic' by the same author.
Sunday, 7 April 2019
The Daffodils of Newent by Susan Sallis
This is the second book in the series about the Rising family. They live in Gloucester. There are 3 daughters named March, April and May. April, the youngest, is about to marry a local man who has come back injured from the war. May is married to Monty who is a music hall actor and they are about to have a child. March has returned home from Bath with her son to live with her parents having left her elderly husband behind.
The story spans quite a few years of the different members of the Rising family, the loves and heartache of the daughters, the frail mother, the adulterous father and also their relationships with some of the members of other local families.
Whilst part way through this book I discovered that I also have 'A Scattering of Daisies' on my bookshelf which is the first book in the series. I also have 'By Sun and Candlelight' and 'Sweeter Than Wine'.
The story spans quite a few years of the different members of the Rising family, the loves and heartache of the daughters, the frail mother, the adulterous father and also their relationships with some of the members of other local families.
Whilst part way through this book I discovered that I also have 'A Scattering of Daisies' on my bookshelf which is the first book in the series. I also have 'By Sun and Candlelight' and 'Sweeter Than Wine'.
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