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.