Starting Over (by Robin Pilcher)

(Amazon UK link)

I was delighted to discover that Robin Pilcher (son of Rosamunde Pilcher) is a talented writer; perhaps a little more hard-hitting than his mother, but with the same excellent knack of making characters come alive and feel like friends.

'Starting Over' is about Liz, a recently separated farmer, who lives with her father and student son Alex, near St Andrews in Scotland.

An American firm want to build a new golf course on her land, and that of her deserting husband. But Liz adamantly doesn't want them to do so.

Meanwhile, Alex's German tutor comes to lodge with them, and brings a bit of relief to their rather depressed lives.

This is a wonderful book of endings and beginnings, with lovely characters whom I found very believable. The ending was somewhat unexpected, but positive and hopeful.

Definitely recommended.