November is the month for curling up with a good story to get you through the cold nights. If you belong to a book group, you might also find inspiration here says Jane Corry, Sunday Times best-selling author.
AN UNSUITABLE MATCH by Joanna Trollope. Pan Macmillan £7.99
It’s never too late to get married – at least in Joanna Trollope’s latest novel. 64-year-old Rose falls madly in love with a man she used to know at school.
But not all their children are happy about it.
It’s a story that might ring bells with some of you!
Joanna was a recent speaker at Kennaway House.
She told us that she likes her characters to address difficult issues so we all know we’re not alone in dealing with life’s problems.
MISS MARLEY: A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill. by Vanessa Lafaye. Published by Harper Colllins. £7.99
Have you read Dickens’ The Christmas Carol?
Then you might remember the character Jacob Marley, the deceased partner of Ebenezer Scrooge.
This beautifully written story, set in the 19th century, tells the tale of Jacob’s childhood and his dear sister Clara.
It will make you smile and cry.
‘Miss Marley’ is particularly poignant since the best-selling author hadn’t quite finished it when she died earlier this year from terminal cancer.
Before her death, she asked a friend to complete it. The result is faultless.
MUM IN THE MIDDLE by Jane Wenham-Jones. Published by Harper Collins. £7.99
Tess is ready to start again after her divorce.
But she has an elderly mother – recently diagnosed with dementia, grown-up children who keep coming home and an ex-husband who suddenly comes back on the scene.
No wonder she’s feeling rather squeezed.
This is a delightful romp with comedy as well as real problems.
You’ll be laughing out loud!
A KEEPER by Graham Norton. Published by Hodder & Stoughton
Graham is well-known as a television host and also an agony uncle.
But he is also a talented novelist.
‘Keeper’ is set in Ireland where tongues are agog over the mystery of Patricia Keane who leaves her home town to get married and returns with a baby and no husband.
Who is the father?
Patricia isn’t saying.
Fast forward some years and the baby – Elizabeth – returns home as a grown up woman on her mother’s death.
She finds a pile of letters bound with thin ribbon.
Do they hold the secret to her past?
HER NAME WAS ROSE by Claire Allen. Published by Avon. £7.99.
Emily is horrified when she sees a young mother killed in a tragic accident.
But now that woman’s husband misses his wife.
Their son needs a mother.
Can Emily fill that place?
This book had me on the edge of my seat…
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