by SHARON GOSLING;
An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.
AUTHOR: Sharon Gosling
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: Paperback
Paperback ISBN: 978-1398519176
Cover price for Paperback £8.99
Pages: 432
Age range: Adult fiction with a splash of romance and a whole lot more.
Any
dogs or cats? Sorry, not this time, but plenty of gardening.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to...
We are exceedingly grateful to Simon & Schuster Publishers (and NetGalley) for allowing us to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
Our story opens with our lead character, Louis MacGregor, looking out over the Austen-like grounds of Feldspar Hall, a stately home. She accompanies her boss Marianne, a self-serving lady who heads up Boswell Garden Architecture. Luisa loves gardens and plants and has created some impressive ideas, which she sketched on her iPad. It is a pad that her boss takes from her when Caroline, the stately home's owner, takes delight in the colour scheme and a hidden bower. They are all Luisa's ideas, but Marianne presents them as hers. It is a life she has gotten used to, hiding her own gardening training and talent away to avoid the pain of better, happier days and a marriage that ended with the death of Reuben, her husband, in a climbing accident.
When Luisa returns to the small townhouse in Carlisle she shares with her soon-to-be-wed younger sister, Jo, she reveals she has had a telephone call from Reuban's Godfather, Owen.
Owen cares for Luisa and is cognisant of the project she and Reuben wanted to undertake to create a community garden scheme before he died. When he finds he has acquired a block of worthless wasteland in a company acquisition, it seems the perfect chance to kick the long-buried project into action and raise Luisa from her self-imposed drudgery.
The idea seems to end when Luisa declines, not wishing to open old memories and wounds. But, after a rather curt demand from her boss, and with a bit of persuasion from Jo that she really should go; after all, what harm could it do, plus it could be the galvanizing she needs to break away from Marianne, Luisa heads for the derelict land that could be the home of a new community project.
When she arrives at Collaton, a town on the Cumbrian west coast, it is a bleak and wintery wet day. The town was never a tourist attraction. Even in its heyday, it merely served as a place to house the workers of refineries and shipyards nearby. Now, with boarded-up shops and closed pub, it was little more than a ghost town, and the people survived as best they could in a community without a centre. But no, I take that back, for amid the slow urban decay, one man was trying to bring hope to the town's youngsters. Casimir Pattanyús, Cas to his pals, a teacher by day, runs a boxing club for the kids in the evenings. With only his wage to run the place, it seems there is little hope that the spirit the club engenders will survive another year.
When Luisa's borrowed car gets a puncture in the gloom, it is Cas and 17-year-old Harper, a bright lass with an attitude, come to her rescue. Well, it is Harper who, with a skill for all things mechanical, gets to change the tyre.
Now, behind the scenes, Harper lives with her 9-year-old brother, Max. A brighter lad you could never hope to meet. He doesn't really mix with others and has a single-minded focus on his latest hobby. But his current passion of gardening, and lack of understanding, gets him into trouble with the neighbour from whom he'd been taking some fresh bedding plants and compost. She is understanding, but it is wearing thin. Luisa also manages to stop the police from being called when Max tries to take a gardening magazine from the newsagent. It said 'FREE' on the cover. To Max, this means the whole magazine is free; else, why would they say it? But of course, the 'free' is related to the gift on the outside and not the magazine.
With a drunk father at home, who clearly doesn't understand Max, Harper looks after her brother and cooks and cares. Given the reputation she has, nobody dares tease or bully Max. Doing her A-Level exams and trying to work part-time at the gym, and at a local garage to earn the money they need to get by is tough. But Harper has the grit to match her determination. Never more so when it comes to protecting Max from the nastiness that is the world outside his own.
But there is a downside: she has had to steal small things to help Max. It has got her into trouble, and she is only saved by Cas stepping in to convince the shops she pinched marker pens for Max from that community service at the gym was way better than the police. If the authorities found out about the situation at home, they would be split up. Now that is a heap load of pressure.
When Luisa sees in her mind that Reuben would have taken the plunge, she resigns from Marianne's employ and takes Owen up on his offer. They will try for six months. If the garden project fails, Owen, who has many contacts far and wide, will ensure Luisa gets a job. It really is a win-win. Better yet, she can finally put Reuben's insurance money into a project they both wanted to create and not just leave it languishing in a bank account. What better way to honour his memory?
What Luisa needs is to get the garden up and running. A community project first needs the community to come together, see the worth of what is to be achieved, and then get involved. With Harper as an unwilling helper to work off her community service hours on the project, they make a start.
Now, no story would be complete without a villain. This story's villain comes in the form of one Darren Dixon, recently out of prison and thinking he can make a name for himself for nefarious acts like selling drugs. He is also Harper's cousin and her enemy for trying it on with her. Worse, he has a grudge against Casimir and is determined to get even, one way or another.
When Darren and his posse of wannabe small-town thugs make a grand entry at the gym where Luisa is holding a meeting to push the garden idea, he and Cas have a standoff. It seems like hollow bravado especially given Cas is still built like the boxer he once was. But the stink of trouble Darren brings is enough to send the few interested townsfolk scattering, and with them, any hope of help goes.
With the main characters assembled, this is where the story takes off. Harper has to make a decision that ultimately spirals out of control. Other characters, too, make choices, the end of which could destroy them or be their making. One thing is certain: come the end of one night not far from this point, nobody in Collaton will ever be the same.
OK, so I can't really say much more. Suffice it to say we were gripped and not disappointed. As Mrs H wanted me to say, "the pleasure and devil are in the plot weaving to date and what follows." Whether the community ultimately pull together and the garden built, is for you all to discover. . . .
So, what did we think?
A book beautifully grounded in real-life situations, reflections of what is and could be, and things most of us will have seen or experienced wherever we may live.
Heartfelt and written with a sense of credibility, person and place. It is good to see disabled representation, too, for a key player. Sharon's gardening passion is quite evident in the text, adding a palpable flavour.
The beauty of this book for us was, whilst we don't do romantic fiction as a rule, there is so much more going on that the story takes on a larger vista driven by the subplots of Max, Harper, Casimir, and Luisa, which all came together beautifully and dramatically towards the end. And the final chapter is not what I expected either, which is always a pleasant surprise. Mrs H said she had an inkling of things that might happen later when the adventure entered the town's scrap yard, but that was all.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
This fun, easy read enthraled and captured our senses immediately. Like 'The Lighthouse Bookshop', Sharon's previous and second novel we reviewed last year (follow this link to see the review) has the same compelling storytelling air.
Not to put any pressure on Sharon's busy schedule or take time away from her allotment time and cuddles with Newt, her feline companion, but I can't wait for the next tale, whatever it may be.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of romance, gardening, mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
⭐️ We have a Giveaway! ⭐️
Mrs H has kindly funded the purchase of two copies of this fabulous book out of her pension & sherry fund. Two lucky commenters will each receive a copy to enjoy, subject to local postal arrangements and Amazon availability.
All you have to do is leave a comment below, and Mrs H will, with my help, select a numbered mouse at random from our virtual hat! Entries close Saturday 22nd April 2023.
Simon & Schuster's UK's web page can be found HERE. OR type this:- https://www.simonandschuster.com/
And now, the Sunday Selfie.
We are Joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.
To go to Janet's blog selfie page, please click this LINK. or type / cut and paste https://thecatonmyhead.com/misty-may-her-ginger-pillow/
And here is me, taking some time to dream of a greenhouse full of catnip!
Till laters!
ERin
