Coming of Age...Again - Carol Mizrahi - guest review

Irene, Barbara, Rochelle and Sylvia have been friends since Kindergarten and have remained so through all kinds of ups and downs.  Now in their early sixties when life should be fairly settled they find themselves in turmoil. 

Rochelle has spent her life pleasing others and doing as she’s told but now finds that she doesn’t really want to spend the rest of her life being an unthanked childminder for her grandchildren and taken for granted by just about everyone she knows but can she take control of her own life?

Uncurable romantic Irene has been looking for the perfect man since her husband died and thinks she has found him, until he moves in with her...is there ever such a thing as the perfect man or does true love mean accepting some flaws too?

Barbara has had a very comfortable lifestyle even if it meant looking the other way whilst her husband played around but when she discovers his latest love interest she becomes worried that this time it might be permanent...What can she do to stop it?

Sylvia, pessimistic and unhappy lives with her daughter and a fear that she is going to choke to death if she lives alone.  Each time daughter Mary has a boyfriend Sylvia manages to frighten him off when she invites him for dinner but what will she do if Mary decides to move out.  Can she survive alone?

It’s not often you read about women in their sixties and certainly not women like these four; they are feisty and full of life, definitely not ready for assisted living and Meals on Wheels!  This novel shows that there is life after 60 and that no matter what age you are life is always full of surprises and you can still achieve what you want to achieve.  Sylvia, Irene, Barbara and Rochelle are very realistic characters, quirky and lively and their problems are everyday true to life problems which readers will recognise and relate to and which are handled with, sometimes dark, humour and insight.

Definitely a novel I would recommend; I found it very enjoyable and different.  Light hearted yet serious and, often, genuinely very funny. It was a refreshing change to read about some women in their sixties with a different set of familial difficulties and decisions to be thought about and made than the usual 30 something sagas I usually read.  The writing, characters and storyline engaged me throughout, so much so that I was quite disappointed when I came to the end and I’d certainly look out for other writing by this author.

Reviewed by Lisa Ward-Weir, guest reviewer

Thanks very much to Lisa for kindly reading and reviewing this book for The Little Reader Library

Thanks to the author for an ebook copy of this novel to read and review.

Lisa also blogs at Book-Addicted Housewife

You can visit the author's website here 

The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp - Eva Rice

Tara Jupp and her sister Lucy, along with six other siblings, live with their widowed vicar father in his Rectory in the Cornish countryside. We learn of Tara’s life growing up, the loss of her mother, her love of horses. She has a beautiful singing voice and this will be the asset that steers her life in a whole new direction. Her beautiful elder sister Lucy has a keen interest in preserving historic houses and their contents. Tara becomes acquainted with the owner of Trellanack, a large old house in Cornwall near her home, and the owner asks if Tara and Lucy would befriend her daughter Matilda. The friendship and events between these three girls will shape their lives.

Tara is our first-person narrator throughout; from her carefree days spent riding horses to the moment she enters a recording studio in London, we are there to experience the dramatic changes in her life with her.

Tara and Lucy experience first-hand the excitement of the early sixties in London; the world of famous models, photographers and hit music makers, the new fashions and the ‘in’ places to see and be seen.

This is an enjoyable, atmospheric and engaging read that brings another time and place vividly to life. The writing is warm and witty and the characters, especially Tara, are charming and come to life as you read; you feel part of the journey, spirited back to the sixties with Tara and Lucy as they grow up, fall in love, leave their familiar surroundings to take on the world and follow their dreams.

Published by Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus, on 17th January 2013

I originally reviewed this book for lovereading.co.uk - thanks to them and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to publication.

Visit the Heron Books site here