Tuesday 22 July 2014

The Summer Guest by Emma Hannigan


A little magic is about to come to sleepy Caracove Bay... Lexie and her husband Sam have spent years lovingly restoring No. 3 Cashel Square to its former glory. So imagine Lexie's delight when a stranger knocks on the door, asking to see the house she was born in over sixty years ago. Kathleen is visiting from America, longing to see her childhood home... and longing for distraction from the grief of losing her husband. And as Lexie and Sam battle over whether or not to have a baby and Kathleen struggles with her loss, the two women realise their unexpected friendship will touch them in ways neither could have imagined. In Caracove, there's more than a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.


I have been in a reading slump for over a month now, no matter what book I was picking up I would read a chapter or so and then give up. I had The Summer Guest by Emma Hannigan come through the post this weekend and decided to give it a try as I loved the fresh Summery look to the cover and I know this authors books are usually cosy reads focusing on family and friendships so I was hoping this would get me out of my slump.

Lexie and Rob have a wonderful content life together. They have restored their home in Caracove Bay much to Lexie’s joy, when one day a letter arrives through their door from a lady called Kathleen who used to live in their house when she was younger and now that she is back for the Summer she was hoping to take a look at the house.
Kathleen is leaving America to return to Caracove Bay for the Summer for a trip down memory lane that her beloved husband booked for her.
With both women facing a difficult time ahead they soon form a great friendship and are a shoulder to lean on for each other.
This book has definitely got my reading mojo back! It was so strange that three of the characters Lexie, Rea and Dee had the same names as my sister, mum and I so it was quite strange reading this book! The characters were all such a great fun and loving bunch even if poor Lexie’s mum was rather pushy but her heart was in the right place!

Now I am going to have to do my first ever spoiler alert here because something that I loved about the book, I know after a discussion last week about characters who do not want children there are readers who get disappointed about the outcome so if this is you then read the spoiler if not then go down to the read again!! 

SPOILER ALERT!!!
I could really relate to Lexie which I think was another reason why I enjoyed the book so much. I have read so many books where a woman isn’t maternal and doesn’t want children but by the end of the book it is happy ever after and the woman has suddenly decided she now wants kids so it was great to read a book where the character actually sticks to her guns as not every woman does feel the need to have children.

YOU CAN LOOK AGAIN!!
The storyline flows at such a gentle pace and yet there is never a dull moment there is always something going on so you can’t lose interest in this book but the one thing that really got me I was quite happy strolling along in such a lovely storyline then BAM there was a shock revelation that I really didn’t see coming! I gasped and my husband actually jumped up as he thought something was wrong!

There was a lot of emotion in this book so it was quite sad but at the same time it was quite uplifting seeing the characters building friendships and taking a trek down memory lane as well as helping each other through trying times.

I loved this book and I am so pleased that it got me out of my reading slump, I will definitely be recommending this book especially to any Cathy Kelly or Maeve Binchy fans.



kindle                   paperback

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