For my second post of the day I’m thrilled to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for Swallowtail Summer by Erica James. Thank you to Tracy Fenton and Orion Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this delightful book.
About the book:
A captivating story about friendship, making changes, and learning to live life to the fullest from SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Erica James.
They thought they were friends for life – until one summer, everything changed . . .
Linston End on the Norfolk Broads has been the holiday home to three families for many years. The memories of their time there are ingrained in their hearts: picnics on the river, gin and tonics in the pavilion at dusk, hours spent seeking out the local swallowtail butterflies. Everyone together.
But widower Alastair has been faced with a few of life’s surprises recently. Now, he is about to shock his circle of friends with the decisions he has made – and the changes it will mean for them all. For some, it feels like the end. For others, it might just be the beginning . . .
About the author:
With an insatiable appetite for other people’s business, Erica James will readily strike up conversation with strangers in the hope of unearthing a useful gem for her writing. She finds it the best way to write authentic characters for her novels, although her two grown-up sons claim they will never recover from a childhood spent in a perpetual state of embarrassment at their mother’s compulsion.
The author of many bestselling novels, including Gardens of Delight, which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, and her recent Sunday Times top ten bestsellers, Coming Home to Island House and Song of the Skylark, Erica divides her time between Suffolk and Lake Como in Italy, where she strikes up conversation with unsuspecting Italians.
Visit her website http://www.ericajames.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @TheEricaJames
My Review:
Swallowtail Summer is the first book I’ve read by Erica James, but it was such a good read that I will definitely look out for more by her in the future.
A very character driven story, which is something I love, Swallowtail Summer is a beautifully written story of grief, loss and friendship. Although it wasn’t what I expected at all when I started it, I soon became invested in the storyline and the varied and memorable cast of characters.
Told from several different points of view, the differing personalities of the narrators come through loud and clear, some extremely likeable who I found myself rooting for from the outset and others, well, not very likeable at all.
Widower Alastair is about to surprise his close circle of friends with some very big decisions he has made. What impact will his choices have on not only himself but his friends? And how are they going to react when he tells them? Will the secrets of the past reach out and touch the events of the present? A much darker story than I thought it would be, this is a book with love and friendship at its heart.
Erica James has brought Linston End and its inhabitants vividly to life with her gorgeous and descriptive writing. Her words flows on the page and her writing has a lovely quality to it that draws you in from the very first word.
A very interesting and engaging tale that moves along at a steady pace, with the setting of the Norfolk Broads really adding to the atmosphere of the story.
Swallowtail Summer is a book that would be the perfect choice to take with you on your summer vacation.
A lovely read that I would recommend.
Swallowtail Summer by Erica James is available to buy now: Amazon UK
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