Life hasn’t been a bed of roses for Molly lately…

A Good Year for the Roses by Gil McNeil

About this book: (from the publisher) Newly divorced and struggling to find a new home and a way to support her three boys, Londoner Molly Taylor is stunned when her beloved Aunt Helena dies and leaves her Harrington Hall, a three-hundred-year-old manor house on the Devon coast, where Molly grew up. But does Molly really want to run a bed-and-breakfast in an old house where the only thing that doesn’t need urgent attention is Aunt Helena’s beautiful rose garden? Or care for Uncle Bertie, an eccentric former navy officer with a cliff-top cannon? Or Betty, his rude parrot that bites whomever annoys it? Yet Molly’s best friend Lola is all for the plan. “My heart bleeds. Your very own beach, the beautiful house, and Helena’s garden. All you have to do is grill a bit of bacon.”

But with Molly’s conniving brother running the family hotel nearby, the return of a high school flame with ulterior motives, and three sons whose idea of a new country life seems to involve vast quantities of mud, this is not going to be easy. And then Harrington Hall begins to work its magic, and the roses start to bloom…

About the author: Gil McNeil is the author of The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club, Needles and Pearls, and Knit One Pearl One. She lives in Kent, England, with her son.

Genre: Fiction/General

Would I read this book, judged on its cover alone? Do roses bloom in June?

If this book were a movie, I would rate it: R for language (including a shocking number of f-bombs, which tapered off as the story went on). What little sex there is, is very discreetly handled.

Reminds me of… rather a English-country version of Jennifer Weiner

You’ll want to buy this book if … you like chick-lit-ish novels about women–particularly single moms–starting over. Will likely especially appeal to Anglophiles.

Why did I read this book? For Hyperion for review.

Would I read another by this author? In the right mood, yes.

My take: Not many novels can actually make me laugh out loud, but this one did. Molly makes a delightfully human, overwhelmed heroine that harried moms on both sides of the Atlantic will happily relate to. Add to this a whimsically quirky cast of characters and a charming country setting, and a bit o’ magic ensues. Particularly when young Alfie comes on the scene. Oh my. Or Betty, the parrot. Oh, and I positively adored the gregarious and opinionated Lola, who made the most appealing BFF I think I’ve encountered in contemporary fiction.

Though there’s some rough language, on the whole I found this novel as light as a soufflé. What is it about dry British wit that so tickles the American funny bone? (And is it reciprocated? Somehow, I can’t see it.) Gil McNeil has the one of the deftest touches I’ve seen when it comes to this kind of humor. Is it chick lit? Yeah, I’d say so, which doesn’t normally appeal to me a great deal. And I have to admit, the ongoing travails did seem to go on a bit at length, but nonetheless, every page was delightful in itself.

All in all, a warm, entertaining read, perfect for summertime.

[Tweet “Want a warm, witty English-country read? One to pack in your beach bag: A Good Year for the Roses by Gil McNeil.”]

Thanks to Hyperion for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

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