Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A house-sitter gets her mojo back by spending a week in a home owned by writers, full of books and happy memories. But is everything as it seems?
The Woman Who Fell In Love For A Week
What you need to know before your trail
Picture the scene. You love to house sit – just for a while you can escape your own life and pretend you’re somebody else. After a divorce, you’re feeling raw and alone.
Imagine the excitement then when you discover that your latest house sit is the home of a famous author. Well, this is just what happens to Jenny. She can’t wait to spend time in the home of the Lewes family – whose book she read as a youngster.
But everyone’s lives can look perfect from the outside and Jenny soon discovers a lot more than she bargained for!
Travel Guide
Jenny spends her summers house sitting – living the life of someone else for just a short time. But this is escapism at its best. Staying at the home of a favourite childhood author sounds like a dream. When your husband is moving on in New York, your children are abroad, and the house you call home, overlooking the Oxford Canal, is just now ‘ bricks and mortar’.
Housesitting two famous writers however means you can do this –
“She was Jane Eyre, about to enter Thornfield Hall, Tess heading to the d’Uberville mansion or Dorothea idealistically setting out for Lowick Manor”
Ah yes, the joys of literary travel, or literary housesitting in this case. Now as she approaches the house of the Lewis family –
“Higgledy thatched cottages leaned out into the throughfare as though eager to share gossip”
Sounds like the perfect place! pity Hadden End is fictional. It’s a home with Gunter the dog who is more than a challenge, who can only be walked when no -one else is around given his destructive nature. Destructive but oh so funny!
Oh and then there’s the rather nice gardener with green fingers and nice hands. He’s one of the staff working at the house who may reveal a lot more about the Lewis family than Jenny could have hoped for.
Skeletons in the cupboard? Stand back when they fall out. Mind you that Gunter will probably wipe them away before you can say ‘sexy gardener’
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
Haha Gunther the dog! the sexy gardener! What fun characters. I now want a dog called Gunther despite this one having nearly destroyed everything in his path. The growing relationship with Euan the gardener is lovely to see revealed and I so wanted Jenny just to get together with him already.
The whole idea of house sitting and finding out secrets about the family whose home you’re in is a nice idea. This house sitting lark does sound quite stressful however but here it’s a lovely way to experience it through Jenny’s eyes.
I found Euan to be a fun character – Jenny’s chance of regaining her confidence and artistic flair but then also having a few hidden secrets of his own.
A fun read!
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Twitter : @fionawalkeruk
Web: fionawalker.com
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