"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." (James Bryce)

Monday, January 22, 2018

ESCAPE TO WILLOW COTTAGE) Bella Osborne

There is nothing better on a winter weekend, when you have all sorts of family and work issues swirling around in your head, to relax and escape with a cute English village novel.  This one features romance, home renovation, an interesting look at the deaf culture, and domestic abuse.  Of course there are numerous instances of people jumping to conclusions and second guessing and the requisite half-crazy locals, but there is nothing as relaxing in my book.  I actually chose this because Katie Fforde, my favorite relaxing author, was quoted on the cover!

Beth is a successful London business woman, a young widow with a 6-year-old son running away from an increasingly abusive relationship with Nick.  She purchases a cottage, sight unseen, in the village of Dumbleford and moves there with the intention of starting a new life with her son, Leo, letting only her best friend Carly her whereabouts.  When she finally sees the cottage and realizes that she has been misled about its livability she resolves to renovate and flip the house, possibly developing a new career in the process.  Of course she didn't count on the close friendship and acceptance she would encounter in Dumbleford as she tries to build a temporary life there.  A fun sub-plot is that of Carly, deeply in love and desperately wanting a proposal from her deaf Irish boyfriend, Fergus.

Osborne takes a simple plot and a charming setting and manages to weave in quite a few timely topics while still maintaining the charm and humor of the story.  This sweet novel will probably not change your life, but it will definitely make you smile as you root for Beth, Carly, Jack (the handsome neighbor), and Petra (the single mother with a secret) to find happiness.

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