Pauline Wiles

This was an enjoyable read. Even more impressive, it was the first novel from Pauline Wiles. Several authors I have read have been on their third or fourth novel before they got to this quality.
Wiles mainly set this novel in Saffron Sweeting, a fictional English Village. I believe she set her next couple of novels there too and they will be on my to read list. I have long been a fan of novels set in villages, no doubt starting with Rebecca Shaw's Turnham Malpas series.
As I live in England, (but a large city suburb not a village) the English setting was more familiar than the sections set in Silicon Valley. A large part of this novel features Grace interpreting American behaviours to the village resident. I can't help wondering if Wiles has or will write a novel featuring the chunk of time when Grace and James first went to America and how they initially adapted there. Did Grace have a Grace of her own who helped her adapt?
One thing I loved most about this novel is how the story kept it real, there were no incidents where a character was being a blind idiot. I have read so many chic-flic novels written in this way. Yes, Grace explored relationships with people and not everyone's behaviour was commendable. Equally nobody was a monster.
The biggest test I always have when I read a novel is am I ready for this book it to end? No, I didn't I wanted to read on and find out more about these characters, which I hope I can do soon!… (plus d'informations)

This was a debut chick-lit novel by Pauline Wiles, of which she should be very proud. The story focuses on saving not only Saffron Sweeting, a (fictional) small village in Cambridgeshire, in danger of losing its traditional landmarks to greedy developers, but also the marriage of a young interior designer, Grace, whose husband’s one-off drunken indiscretion rocks the foundations of her marriage to the core.

Grace and her husband, James, are living in Silicon Valley in the US. When she discovers he has been unfaithful to her, she flees home to the UK and finds a small, cosy, pretty little village in Cambridgeshire in which to lick her wounds. She finds herself working for an estate agent run by Amelia—herself not a stranger to errant husbands. As chance would have it, Grace finds herself making the most of her interior design talents, when the effervescent Amelia pushes her into active village life…which also blows a certain handsome young property developer, Scott, into Grace’s path. Teetering on the ‘rebound’ tightrope, can Scott help her forget her rat of a cheating husband, or does her history with and love for her ex provide too much competition? And can Saffron Sweeting haul itself into the twenty-first century and defend itself against greed?

Wiles has certainly picked all the right ingredients for this chick-lit novel, and the result is a crisp, clean, witty, and well-devised book. She has portrayed some colourful and entertaining characters (all of them believable), and Grace is a strong and very likeable protagonist.

A very commendable first novel. A professional edit has been overlooked and would certainly upgrade it from 'commendable' to 'excellent'. Lack of attention to some editorial areas were just a little jarring, but it was enjoyable nevertheless. Hopefully, this promising author will address this, if not with this novel, with any future projects, which I would be happy to read.… (plus d'informations)

Maggie Moone needs to move on after her divorce and she has friends who will help her. However, things don't go as smoothly as she would have liked. A career change comes with complications. A new romance develops which makes her life interesting. Maggie is a likeable and endearing character. Her friends are marvelous and add much to the story. The setting is Saffron Sweeting, a small English village, and it is an important part of the story. It is so well presented it is easy to imagine living there. The dialogue, which is often witty, is believable. Food plays an important part in the narrative, too.
This book brings so much to readers. It is well crafted and a pleasure to read. The narrative is interesting and never boring. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through LibraryThing. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.… (plus d'informations)