The Secret of Orchard Cottage by Alex Brown

The Secret of Orchard Cottage by Alex Brown

Published: 2nd June 2016

Publisher: Harper

Pages: 400

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

April Wilson is wondering what to do next – her life has been turned upside down after the loss of her husband so she’s hoping to piece herself together again with a visit to her elderly great aunt, Edith. Arriving in the rural idyll of Tindledale, she’s dismayed to find Edith’s cottage and the orchards surrounding it in a sorry state of disrepair. Edith seems to have lost interest completely, instead she’s become desperate to find out what happened to her sister, Winnie, who disappeared during WWII.

April gets to work immediately, discovering that the orchard still delivers a bumper crop each year, and with the help of some of the villagers – including Matt, the enigmatic Farrier – begins to unravel the mystery of the missing Winnie. Slowly,
April can feel things coming to life again – but can Orchard Cottage work its magic on her too?

Review

The Secret of Orchard Cottage is Alex Brown’s third novel set in the lovely village of Tindledale. Having read only the first book The Great Christmas Knit-Off, which I loved, I wasn’t sure if the books followed on, however as each book focuses on different members of the village I believe you can read them in any order.

In the Secret of Orchard Cottage we meet April Wilson, who after grieving for her husband Graham for eighteen months decides it’s time for a change and heads off to visit her old Aunt Edie in Tindledale, who she has sadly lost touch with as she cared for her terminally ill husband.

On arrival April finds things in a very overgrown state and her Aunt in a very confused state as she keeps calling April Winnie. Who is Winnie and why is her Aunt so fixated on what happened to her? As April’s visit nears its end she feels very apprehensive about leaving her Aunt and retuning home so when step-daughter Nancy reassures her everything’s fine at home April decides to stay at Orchard Cottage and help her Aunt solve the mystery of Winnie and where she is.

Right from the start of reading this I was struck by the different tone Alex Brown has set for this novel, it seems deeper and more emotional.  Which given the themes of bereavement and dealing with Dementia is understandable. This isn’t a sad book though, in fact I found it to be a very heart-felt and uplifting novel.  For fans of Alex’s previous novels there is still that special something which makes her writing just come alive, especially with the number of wonderful comical moments throughout the book, which were probably my favourite parts.

I love the characters that Alex Brown creates and there are some lovely ones here. April herself is a lovely lady who has a heart of gold but has sadly missed her chance to have children when her husband became ill. She instantly forms a bond with teenager Bella, who just happens to be the daughter of April’s childhood sweetheart Matt. She also becomes closer to step-daughter Nancy when she comes to visit and together they help Edie to piece together the mystery of Winnie, her sister who vanished in the war. These women also manage to bring to bring Orchard Cottage back to its former glory, despite a few hiccups along the way.

The Secret of Orchard Cottage has everything I want in a book, a beautiful setting, some heart-warming characters and a little bit of mystery. I loved this book and think it should be on everyone’s reading list this summer as Alex Brown has once again shown what a gifted storyteller she is.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Book Review - The Great Christmas Knit-Off by Alexandra Brown

 

The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown

Published: 6th November 2014

Publisher: Harper

Pages: 400

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

 

Blurb

Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale.

There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen…

 

Review

Firstly I would like to thank Harper Collins for sending me a digital copy of The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown, I actually squealed when I saw this little beauty land on my kindle, for a fan of Christmas and all things crafty it’s perfect for me.  If any of you have read her Carrington’s series you will know that Alexandra has such a way of creating a magical heart-warming sense of community and characters that you just can’t help but adore her books.  With The Great Christmas Knit Off she has done it again, will an added bit of Christmas sparkle.

In The Great Christmas Knit Off we meet Sybil and she’s having a pretty rough year. First she was jilted at the alter by love rat Luke, who then ran off with twin sister Sasha. Then her mother keeps trying to set her up with the neighbour’s son, finally she makes a BIG mistake at work which has cost literally thousands. Exhausted and in need to somewhere to hide Sybil heads off to the small village of Tindledale, hidden deep in the countryside to visit her friend Cher. After a brief encounter with a dishy gentleman on the train Sybil arrives in Tindledale to discover snow and no taxis.  Eventually she arrives at the village pub to find to electricity, no room at the inn and no Cher.  After she’s given somewhere to stay by  B & B owner Lawrence, Sybil finds herself in Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, somewhere where she can indulge in her favourite past time KNITTING.  In Hettie, Sybil finds a kindered spirit and the pair pour their hearts out to each other over the click-clack of the knitting needles.  As Sybil begins to knit a Christmas jumper for Hettie, word of the knitting spreads round the village and one by one the villagers join Sybil and Hettie knitting and the Tindledale Tappers are born and soon they have an extra special project to complete.

I just adored all the characters in this book. Sybil is so lovely the way she wants to help Hettie get herself back on her feet after only just meeting her. She seems a little fragile when she first arrives in Tindledale but with Lawrence’s help she begins to blossom and feel complete herself, like she’s finally found where she belongs.  Lawrence, is just, well he reminded of a fairy-godmother for Sybil, giving her shelter and a shoulder to cry on when she needed someone to listen. I just loved him. Hettie reminded me  little of my grandma, the way the knitting just brought a smile to her face even though her heart was aching on the inside and I just wanted to give her a hug and make everything alright for her again.  The little budding romance between the adorable Dr Darcy and Sybil was so cute, I was just longing for them to find a little alone time to see if there was real chemistry between them. Other characters I liked were Ruby, Marigold and Taylor as they all added a little depth and more background to the story.

Tindledale sounds like the perfect place to live, everything is centred on village life and the community spirit in this places oozes off the pages. I really loved the little map at the beginning of the book as it really helped me picture this quaint little village in my mind.  My favourite place was Hettie’s House of Haberdashery as I love anything crafty and can imagine spending hours in here browsing and perhaps hoping someone will be able to finally teach me to knit if I stayed long enough!

This book is the perfect Christmas read is it brimming with everything Christmas described in a lovely whimsical, slightly old fashioned way and I adored it, another visit to Tindledale and its inhabitants cannot come quick enough.  Alexandra Brown has another winner with this book and the only downside to it is…I’ve finished it!!

Rating 5/5