Tag Archive | Judy Leigh

The Golden Gals French Adventure by Judy Leigh

Jun5

Leaves The Reader Smiling

The Golden Gals French Adventure by Judy Leigh is a most charming contemporary novel that I absolutely loved. I sank into the tale like a cosy bathrobe. It was a pure delight.

Life is for living. Too often our lives are caught up with work and duty. As we get older, we have choices to make. In the tale we meet characters who are approaching seventy and at crossroads in life – to continue as they have always done? Or to take a new direction?

The two main characters are chalk and cheese – Fliss has had a successful business and a life that revolved around networking, spending money and drinking. Her life is lonely in retirement. Those whom she thought of as friends, turn out to merely be acquaintances who do not want to meet up, seeing as she is now serving no useful purpose to them.

The other character, Shirl, is Fliss’ cleaner. She is approaching sixty. She is more than just a cleaner, she is a true friend to Fliss. Shirl is a family woman. She still looks after her grown up daughter and granddaughter. Shirl is a kind hearted soul, taking pleasure in the simple things in life.

The unlikely pairing of Fliss and Shirl take a holiday to France, staying in the coastal house of a friend of Fliss. Here, the fresh air opens up more than lungs, it opens up both the women’s lives.

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Bloodshed On The Boards by Judy Leigh

Apr16

Warm, Witty & Welcoming

Bloodshed On The Boards by Judy Leigh is a gripping contemporary cosy mystery which I loved. It is part of A Morwenna Mutton Mystery series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed meeting up with familiar faces.

Morwenna Mutton is a wonderful leading lady. She is in her sixties, a very unique character as she rides her electric bike through Cornwall’s winding lanes. Her heart is warm and welcoming. Her mind spins as she tries to solve the puzzles around her.

Bloodshed On The Boards is amateur sleuthing at its finest. Morwenna Mutton is a modern-day Miss Marple, preferring her own investigating before involving her friend in the police. She thinks on her feet as well as in her head.

This is a small community that lives together, laughs together and supports local businesses together. The local café is warm and welcoming, being easy to picture in my head. Judy Leigh writes with an artistic pen, ‘showing’ us around the area.

Wild swimming happens weekly but only the hardiest of souls turns up.

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The Vintage Village Bake Off by Judy Leigh

Dec6

For The Love Of Baking

The Vintage Village Bake Off by Judy Leigh is the most charming contemporary novel that will warm your heart and make you smile.

The lead characters are three siblings in their seventies. They have a lifetime of experience behind them but prove that you are never too old for a fresh start or a new direction. The future is theirs to grab with both hands. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

We witness a character brow beaten by forty nine years of marriage to a bully who exerted control, squashing the very life out of her. She believes everything he spoke over her – that she is a worthless fuddy duddy in boring clothes. It is beautiful to witness her transformation from black and white to glorious technicolour.

Another character has always been a colourful butterfly but beneath her exterior lies heartache and pain. Her choices to flit about lead to regrets. Is it too late for a do-over?

And the third sibling has had a sensible career as a teacher and then headteacher. Retirement is a time to shine as a new hobby is picked up. Baking is a very popular choice.

I loved the names of the animals owned by a character – Isaac Mewton was a cat. The other names were equally witty and well thought out.

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The Daughter Of The Fens by Elena Collins

Oct4

For All Time

The Daughter Of The Fens by Elena Collins is the most awe inspiring, beautiful timeslip novel that I could not get enough of. I read it in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep.

The action is set in the Fens in present day and also two millennia earlier under Roman occupation. It is an area of mystery where the past and present collide as the veil of time is thin.

This is a beautiful story about a forbidden love that will last a lifetime. A character is searching in the past, and her presence is linked to a soul in the present, through dreams and the landscape.

Alternating chapters reveal the parallels between the characters and the time periods.

Elena Collins brings the landscape of two millennia ago to life as we enter a Roman villa and follow the life of an Iceni servant girl. She is a good soul, loyal and true.

As we follow the servant girl, we see that her Roman mistress is more imprisoned than she is. Roman wives knew their duties. They knew their places. They were not free but had to do the bidding of their fathers and then their husbands.

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