A Good Year for the Roses
A Novel
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- $169.00
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- $169.00
Descripción editorial
"A heroine whom readers will root for, and the fun quirky cast of characters (and animals) will keep the laughter flowing." ?Library Journal
Life hasn't been a bed of roses lately for Londoner Molly Taylor. Newly divorced and struggling to find a new home and a way to support her three boys, she's stunned when her beloved aunt dies and leaves her Harrington Hall, a three-hundred-year-old manor house on the Devon coast, where Molly grew up. But does Molly really want to run a bed-and-breakfast in an old house where the only thing that doesn't need urgent attention is Aunt Helena's beautiful rose garden? Or care for Uncle Bertie, an eccentric former navy officer with a cliff-top cannon? Or Betty, his rude parrot that bites whomever annoys it? Yet Molly's best friend is all for the plan: "My heart bleeds. Your very own beach, the beautiful house, and Helena's garden. All you have to do is grill a bit of bacon."
But with Molly's conniving brother running the family hotel nearby, the return of a high school flame with ulterior motives, and three sons whose idea of a new country life seems to involve vast quantities of mud, this is not going to be easy. And then Harrington Hall begins to work its magic, and the roses start to bloom . . .
Warm, witty, and chock-full of quintessential British charm, this is a story for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting over . . . with or without bacon.
"[A] story that fans of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers will devour." ?Library Journal
"Utterly charming." —Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brit McNeil (The Beach Street Knitting Society) charms in this appealing yarn about a divorc e and how her life changes in an instant. After her husband leaves her for another woman, Londoner Molly is left with three young sons and must find a new home and a means of support. The question of home is settled early on, when Molly's beloved Aunt Helena dies unexpectedly leaving her Harrington Hall, an imposing manor house in Devon, near where Molly grew up. The home comes complete with a lovingly dotty old uncle who enjoys blasting a cliff-top cannon, a foul-mouthed parrot, a partially functioning bed and breakfast and her aunt's prize rose garden. Molly's father and brother hoteliers in the area are apoplectic that the property has been left solely to Molly and do their best to finagle it away. How Molly outwits them, deals with a new home in need of endless repairs, and moves toward her own version of happily-ever-after makes for delightful reading, as does the fascinating rose trivia offered at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to portraying first-rate characters, the author weaves in a captivating string of secondary characters particularly Molly's over-the-top best friend Lola and her tart cook, Ivy who add colorful appeal. McNeil's lovely prose and plotting make this offering a universal tale for starting over, and a natural choice for summer beach reading.
