A Good Year for the Roses

May 12, 2014
Brit McNeil (The Beach Street Knitting Society) charms in this appealing yarn about a divorcée and how her life changes in an instant. After her husband leaves her for another woman, Londoner Molly is left with three young sons and must find a new home and a means of support. The question of home is settled early on, when Molly’s beloved Aunt Helena dies—unexpectedly leaving her Harrington Hall, an imposing manor house in Devon, near where Molly grew up. The home comes complete with a lovingly dotty old uncle who enjoys blasting a cliff-top cannon, a foul-mouthed parrot, a partially functioning bed and breakfast—and her aunt’s prize rose garden. Molly’s father and brother—hoteliers in the area— are apoplectic that the property has been left solely to Molly and do their best to finagle it away. How Molly outwits them, deals with a new home in need of endless repairs, and moves toward her own version of happily-ever-after makes for delightful reading, as does the fascinating rose trivia offered at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to portraying first-rate characters, the author weaves in a captivating string of secondary characters—particularly Molly’s over-the-top best friend Lola and her tart cook, Ivy—who add colorful appeal. McNeil’s lovely prose and plotting make this offering a universal tale for starting over, and a natural choice for summer beach reading.

June 15, 2014

London-based Molly Taylor, a newly divorced mother of three boys, inherits her late Aunt Helena's manor house and bed-and-breakfast, located on the Devon coast in England. Her inheritance includes caring for her Uncle Bertie, a former navy officer, and his pesky parrot. McNeil (Knit One Pearl One) weaves together a story of family struggles and of a life/work balance, with a dash of love in this slowly unfolding novel. She uses Helena's rose garden to anchor the story, starting each chapter with a definition of a particular rose. We learn not only how the rose garden thrives after Helena's death, but how Molly and her boys grow and Harrington Hall becomes a welcome part of their lives. Molly's a heroine whom readers will root for, and the fun and quirky cast of characters (and animals) will keep the laughter flowing. VERDICT This is a great read for a lazy day on the beach. An entertaining, slowly unfurling story that fans of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers will devour.--Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Molly Taylor, divorced mother of three boys, can't afford her London home. Then she receives a surprising inheritance from her beloved Aunt HelenaHelena's husband, Bertie. Much to the chagrin of Molly's ambitious hotelier father and brother, Bertie comes with Harrington Hall, a large estate and B&B on the coast of Devon, where Molly grew up. Also included are a terrifying housekeeper, her gardener husband, and a foulmouthed parrot named Betty. As the boys adjust to rural life, Molly reconnects with old friends, gets some chickens (and, somehow, a pig), and slowly learns her way around Helena's beloved rose garden. Meanwhile, her father and brother stop at nothing to convince her to modernize Harrington Hall and add it to the family hotel business, including setting her up with a slick architect. But Molly is determined to make a go of the B&B business her way. Add A Good Year for the Roses to the growing number of novels in which unsuspecting womenare lured to the countryside to be met withhilariously obstinate poultry, batty relatives, and hard-earned success. Utterly charming.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)