It’s certainly gentle fiction; the story revolves around a woman called Hetty, who is her thirties, and a farmer’s wife. She loves her husband very much, and they have a delightful daughter called Poppy, who is nearly thirteen. We meet Hetty and Poppy at a parents’ evening at Poppy’s school. She’s clearly bright but not very interested in school work. She’s already running a small business selling eggs from the farm, and she is determined to be a farmer herself.
However Hetty does not appear in a good light at the parents' evening - I had to re-read some of her conversation with one of the teachers, as it seemed so immature - and it didn't add to the plot. Hetty has a great relationship with Poppy, but in the first chapters she comes across as flaky and irresponsible, and it was hard to like her at the beginning of the book.
We also meet Hetty’s best friend Anna, who works as the school nurse. I never entirely believed in Anna. Her rather flamboyant and promiscuous character does not seem to match with any nurses (at school or otherwise) that I have known. She is a single mother and is very protective of her son Bart, who is just a year older than Poppy.
Hetty is busy but seems quite contented in her role working at the farm, and also baking. Her speciality is pies, both sweet and savoury. She would like her daughter to admire her more, but Poppy’s role model is her aunt Naomi, her father’s sister, who runs a farm shop nearby. Since Hetty likes Naomi very much, this isn’t really a problem.
So they’re a nice group of people, and as the novel is told in the first person I was eventually able to empathise fairly well with Hetty, seeing events from her perspective. But other than Poppy, and perhaps Hetty’s husband Dan, it didn’t feel as if most of the other characters were three-dimensional. And when something sad happens, it didn't trigger any emotion in me at all - unlike similar situations in other books I have read.
I would hate being a sheep farmer. So I didn’t really appreciate the details of farming life that were included, but it was easy enough to skim those. And the life seems to be working fairly well for the family. We get a bit of back-story here and there, and mention of some conflicts but they all seem to have been sorted out. And here’s my problem with the book: there isn't any real issue at stake. Hetty is feeling a little frustrated, but an opportunity to expand her horizons is handed to her unexpectedly. She rises to the occasion without too much difficulty, and while Dan is not supportive at first, there’s never any serious problem when she goes ahead and follows her heart.
There are a few secrets from the past, which become relevant nearer the end of the book. But by the time they’re revealed, they are obvious to the reader. It’s quite a clever device to drop hints that readers can pick up while the viewpoint character is oblivious; but in this case I felt as if Hetty were being a bit dim - how could she not guess, given all that had been said?
There’s a lot of baking in the book. Some of the pies sound very unappealing to me, although others sound good: but only one recipe is given in the back. On the whole it’s a likeable enough book, and certainly an easy read. It has an entirely satisfactory ending, after a dramatic climax, although some would disagree with Hetty’s decisions. There are themes of loyalty and integrity, and the importance of honesty… but they’re quite low-key. There’s no violence, nothing explicit, and no seriously bad language, all of which are plus points to me.
And yet, somehow it didn’t grab me like the other Cathy Bramley books I’ve read. It could make a good holiday read, and I appreciated it in a few quiet days when I had a cold and needed something light-weight. But for someone interested in trying this author, I would recommend instead the one I read first: “Wickham Hall”.
Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews
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