The Lavender House

Emotional, page-turning women's fiction from the author of #1 EBOOK BESTSELLER, THURSDAYS IN THE PARK . Beautiful storytelling for fans of Erica James, Veronica Henry and Harriet Evans. 'Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life - and better than Trollope at jokes' Daily Mail Nancy de Freitas is the glue that holds her family together. Caught between her ageing, ailing mother Frances, and her struggling daughter Louise, frequent user of Nancy's babysitting services, it seems Nancy's fate is to quietly go on shouldering the burden of responsibility for all four generations. Her divorce four years ago put paid to any thoughts of a partner to share her later years with. Now it looks like her family is all she has. Then she meets Jim. Smoker, drinker, unsuccessful country singer and wearer of cowboy boots, he should be completely unsuited to the very together Nancy. And yet, there is a real spark. But Nancy's family don't trust Jim one bit. They're convinced he'll break her heart, maybe run off with her money - he certainly distracts her from her family responsibilities. Can she be brave enough to follow her heart? Or will she remain glued to her family's side and walk away from one last chance for love?

Poignant, well-observed and wonderfully written, this is a bit of a heartstring-puller

Vorwort
The delightfully warm and witty new novel on risking everything for a second chance at love, for fans of Erica James and Veronica Henry

Autorentext
Hilary Boyd trained as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, then as a marriage guidance counselor. After a degree in English Literature at London University in her thirties, she moved into health journalism, writing a Mind, Body, Spirit column for the Daily Express. She published six non-fiction books on health-related subjects before turning to fiction and writing a string of bestsellers, starting with Thursdays in the Park. Hilary is married to film director/producer Don Boyd and lives near Chichester, West Sussex.

Klappentext

Hilary Boyd, author of the bestselling Thursdays in the Park, returns with a very modern dilemma: how much duty do we owe to our families as we get older, and how much do we owe it to ourselves to chase happiness?

Nancy de Vries is 63, the glue that holds her family together. On the one hand there's her ageing mother Frances, who is getting more and more vague; on the other, there's her daughter Victoria and son-in-law Mark, owners of a not-very-successful restaurant and frequent users of Nancy's babysitting services. Divorced from her famous classical composer husband Christopher, it seems as though Nancy's fate is to quietly wait out the rest of her life, gradually shouldering more and more of the burden of responsibility for all three generations.

Then, at a rare evening out, she meets Jim. Smoker, drinker, unsuccessful country singer and sporter of both cowboy boots and a ponytail, he seems distinctly unsuited to the very together Nancy. And yet... there is a spark. She continues to see him, and he helps her reconnect with her own musical talent, long sidelined to help Christopher's career.

However, Nancy's family are convinced Jim is unreliable and only having a bit of fun with her, or worse, after her money. When Jim unexpectedly inherits a gite in Provence and asks Nancy to move there with him, it's decision time.

'Marry me,' he says. 'I love you, let's spend the rest of our lives together.' But can Nancy really cut ties with her family and start a new life?