Truth & Happiness

Meet Me At The Seaside Cottages by Jenny Colgan is a very charming contemporary novel that I adored.

It is a novel about parents and daughters; friendships and relationships; and the healing power of puppies! Puppies can make people smile when all around them is crumbling.

We meet two daughters who have troubled relationships with the parent whom they believe (wrongly) is responsible for the ending of marriages. The daughters are both hurting and both lash out. One is aged ten, and the other in her twenties but both need to reconciled with their parents.

One of the characters is deaf, and another fits hearing aids to the deaf and the hard of hearing. We see the importance of sign language to give people a voice.

The small-town contrasts with bustling Edinburgh. It is in the latter that unscrupulous businessmen reside, who are always willing to trample the trusting small-town residents.

A house needs renovating. Characters bond over the restoration.

I thoroughly enjoyed Meet Me At The Seaside Cottages, it was an entertaining, heart-warming read.

JULIA WILSON