The Lavender House
As seen:
By Hilary Boyd
avg rating
3 reviews
Emotional, page-turning women’s fiction from the author of #1 EBOOK BESTSELLER, THURSDAYS IN THE PARK. Will Nancy dare to risk a second chance at love with a man her family and friends tell her is totally unsuitable? Beautiful storytelling for fans of Erica James, Veronica Henry and Harriet Evans.
Nancy de Freitas is the glue that holds her family together. Caught between her ageing, ailing mother Frances, and her struggling daughter Louise, frequent user of Nancy’s babysitting services, it seems Nancy’s fate is to quietly go on shouldering the burden of responsibility for all four generations. Her divorce four years ago put paid to any thoughts of a partner to share her later years with. Now it looks like her family is all she has.
Then she meets Jim. Smoker, drinker, unsuccessful country singer and wearer of cowboy boots, he should be completely unsuited to the very together Nancy. And yet, there is a real spark. But Nancy’s family don’t trust Jim one bit. They’re convinced he’ll break her heart, maybe run off with her money – he certainly distracts her from her family responsibilities. Can she be brave enough to follow her heart? Or will she remain glued to her family’s side and walk away from one last chance for love? TweetReviews
An insightful story into finding love in later life. It is not as simple as in youth as there are more calls upon your time and emotional strength. This took me into the future of my own life and so I found many situations to consider. A helpful read but a little long for the content. Would pack to laze with on holiday.
A gentle story focusing on family dynamics, a huge thumbs up from the members of our reading group. the overall rating given to this book varied from good to excellent with comments that included;
A Sheer Joy.
It has the feel good factor.
falling in love, is a good story at any age.
At the moment this book has received the highest ratings and the most positive feedback from the group.
Friends of Blackhall library reading Circle
This is a gentle novel about Nancy, a divorced 60-something who devotes her time to her family. She has an ageing mother who is clearly unwell but doesn’t want to admit it, either to herself or to anyone else. There is also a daughter who lives next door whose husband is struggling to keep his new restaurant afloat and whose two young children are at school. Inadvertently, all these people have started to take Nancy for granted and are making ever-increasing demands on her time. This isn’t a problem until Nancy meets someone very special and starts to fall in love. This book tells the story of the struggles Nancy faces when confronted with having to juggle family needs and jealousies with the stresses and joys of a new relationship.
We thought the book was a realistic and poignant portrayal of problems which could so easily occur. Nobody is trying to be difficult, but the situation generates a host of complications, some of which seem almost insurmountable at times. The feelings and emotions of all concerned come across as both genuine and understandable. We also thought that the characters were believable, interesting and mostly likeable, although some of the group disliked some of the family members to such an extent that it ruined the book for them.
This is the first of Hilary Boyd’s books that any of us had read and most of us really enjoyed it. Some thought it was a little too slow and a little saccharin. As most of us are the same age as Nancy or older, it may have been easier for us to relate to her than for a younger reader. I will certainly be looking out for more of her books.
