The Brambled Path Of Life
Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium by Nicola May is the most charming contemporary Christmas novel that will warm your heart and make you smile, whilst filling you with festive cheer and love.
This is a book about life and community. Life comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The novel is full of different personalities, all with huge hearts, full of love. People may not always get it right, but they try to help and their hearts are in the right place.
A rift of twenty-seven-years sees Mrs Clutterbuck heading home after hearing that her twin sister has up and left, and someone needs to be responsible for their elderly mum in a home with dementia. What starts out as a duty, soon becomes love as Mrs Clutterbuck finds out where she belongs. “She had spent twenty years making sure nobody got close enough to hurt her by leaving.” Living a life in isolation was a lonely life.
Mrs Clutterbuck has been a hoarder, buying and selling antiques or anything that takes her fancy. Stuff has been the substitute for people in her life. “Maybe we weren’t supposed to measure a life by the number of possessions we accumulated along the way. Perhaps it was the memories that mattered. The people we’d loved.” People are the greatest treasure.
A little shop had been bought by her mother and sister. Mrs Clutterbuck decides that her treasures need homes, and sets about opening her Christmas Emporium. Here, people are the treasures too. There is community and there is love.
Mrs Clutterbuck’s mother has moments of clarity. There are moments where her mother runs away with her tongue which is very funny.
Mrs Clutterbuck owns a cat called Bob Mortimor who is a source of much hilarity. “Bob headed towards his bowl, stopping halfway to look back at her. Stop your yakking and open a sachet, will you.” As the owner of many cats over the years, I certainly recognise that ‘look’ and nonverbal thought from a cat!
The community is very much people minded. “If someone so much as bought a different brand of teabags, there would be a discussion about it at Sunday service.” Your business is not your own. “News travels faster than a seagull after a fresh cone of chips.” But there is a plus side, as people offer love and support where needed.
There is love and loss within the book. “You never get over someone you loved that much… You just learn to live with them not being there.” Loss hurts. We have to live with it.
“Loved ones are like stars. You don’t have to see them to know they’re there.” – Beautifully put.
Nicola May is a new author to me but I shall definitely be seeking out more by her. Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium was a wonderful, warm festive offering about love and life. I loved it.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium
When Mabel Clutterbuck opens a Christmas shop in sleepy Merrycombe Bay, she has no idea how much her little emporium is about to change the hearts and minds of the people who live there.
Mabel Clutterbuck reluctantly returns to the seaside town she grew up in to be closer to her ailing mother. However, the old woman’s fading memories keep confusing Mabel with her sister Clara – the sister who sacrificed everything to care for their mother before recently disappearing without trace.
Determined to breathe new life into the old shop Clara used for her crafting endeavours, Mabel transforms it into Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium, a magical haven filled with vintage decorations, festive treasures, and a little bit of wonder.
The true magic, however, lies in Mabel’s Lucky Dip Gift Boxes. Carefully chosen for the hidden heartaches of the customers who buy them, each one brings comfort, hope, and unexpected joy. Not everyone in Merrycombe Bay is convinced, though, especially the formidable ladies of the local WI!
As Christmas approaches, an unexpected romantic encounter gives Mabel a glimpse of a future she never thought possible. And while she helps others find happiness, she begins to heal the parts of herself she thought would remain broken.
But beneath the sparkle of fairy lights and festive cheer, old wounds refuse to stay buried. Why did Clara leave Merrycombe Bay? And if she returns, will Mabel lose everything she’s finally found – including the future she never thought she deserved.
Heartwarming, uplifting and sprinkled with Christmas magic, Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium is a story of family secrets, second chances, unexpected romance, and the power of kindness.
Purchase Link – https://amzn.eu/d/0h1XusUq
Author Bio
Nicola May is a bestselling author renowned for her heartwarming and humorous romantic comedies. With twenty-three books to her name, her work has captured readers’ hearts around the world, has been translated into fifteen languages and consistently ranks in the top 100 of Amazon’s Kindle bestseller charts. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cream teas in her beloved Devon, hikes through nature, and occasionally places a bet on the horses.
Social Media Links –
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fb: Nicola May Romance Author | Facebook
Giveaway to Win a signed Copy of Mrs Clutterbuck’s Christmas Emporium (Open to UK Only)
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