This is a book about the heartache and the beauty of life.
It begins with goodbyes on a railway platform and the end of an era. Holly says
goodbye to her beloved grandma who has brought her up from since the age of
four, after Holly’s parents were killed in a car accident. We then see Holly
eight months later struggling at work, her grief still raw after the death of
Ivy four months earlier. Her boss is sympathetic and sends her home early, not
for the first time I feel. Holly then goes home and prepares to go back to the
village of Appleton where Ivy lived. She is planning to sell 'Moonbeam' cottage
Ivy loved. Holly hates the countryside with a passion and even seems to fear
it. Her arrival is not straight forward and she meets Sylivan who becomes a
friend and she hopes in time maybe more. She doesn’t plan on staying in the
village once the cottage is sold, but both the village and some of the villagers
have other plans. In Appleton she will either find healing or heartache.
Village life is portrayed wonderfully, it’s not long before
Holly’s arrival is sent along the grapevine and everyone knows Ivy’s
granddaughter is back and planning to sell the cottage. It also shows the
friendship, reviles and emites of village life which often bubble below the
surface.
Holly becomes friends with seventeen-year-old Layla whose
brother – James - is more than attractive and thirteen years older than Layla.
Holly wants to shake her as she moans about her mum and brother – her dad died
just before she was born – after all she has a family which Holly longed for as
a child. But Layla is bright, fun and caring and helps Holly find her path in
life as she helps Layla along hers.
Layla we found out is dyslexic and considers herself stupid
but has a wonderful secret which with Holly and Sylivan's help, she finds out
that she is not what she believes. The storyline of dyslexia is sensitively
written and brings back memories of how I felt at times, before I found out the
truth about my inability to write or spell well.
Holly ends up tending to Ivy’s beloved garden after a storm
has destroyed it. With Layla's help she begins to understand why Ivy loved
gardening so much – although Layla gets her into a tricky situation where she
has to use all her wiles, to pretend that she is a more knowledgeable gardener then
she is. The only thing she is confident in is who Alan Titchmarsh is. At one
point her lack of knowledge is seen as she tackles a crop of tomato plants. The
description of the garden is beautiful and even a non-gardener like me is able
to see it in all of its splendour.
Holly also ends up discovering Ivy’s diary and with Layla’s
'help' she ends up partly solving the mystery it contains, but it is a surprise
to many when the truth is found.
The best line in the book comes after Holly watches a female
duck being 'courted' by three males. “Jemima Puddleduck's social life is racier
than mine” I wonder how many of us would agree!
The characters are all wonderfully brought to life. Holly we
see is growing from her grief into a blossoming flower, ready to begin life
again. Layla is a bolshie teenager with her
family, who is insecure but with Holly we see the real her and with the boost
given her by Sylivan and Holly is palpable. Sylivan is a delight with a view of
life unfamiliar I feel to many. The others stand up and define themselves from
those around them and truly show you who they are, the good and the bad. I’m
not one to cry when reading but I admit this one, at several points, though had
me reaching for the tissues.
A delightful, fun and tearful read.
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