Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Pages: 336
Released On: 02/11/2023
Heather Winterbottom has worked side by side with her husband as GPs in their idyllic rural practice for over forty years. But as the time comes to hang up their stethoscopes, the Winterbottoms discover that they have rather different visions of retirement . . .
Heather dreams of exploring the Greek Islands, of escaping the shackles of her routine life and embracing an exciting new adventure. Alan dreams of growing his own vegetables.
When things come to a head at a family lunch, Heather announces that she has decided to take a year off. From her old life, from her marriage – from Alan. Alone in beautiful Greece, Heather embarks on her very own odyssey – complete with peak experiences, pitfalls and temptations. But what if coming home is the biggest adventure yet?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve only read one of Joanna’s books before – The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital – and I absolutely adored it. It was so warming and cosy and comfortable, that I leapt at the chance to read this. Just the very title conjured up happiness.
I instantly liked Heather Winterbottom. She was the perfect leading lady. Her husband on the other hand, took some time to warm up to. He was grumpy, self-absorbed, and didn’t seem to care about anything other than his little world. I was worried I would never warm up to him, but he got me in the end.
What I liked about it was the idea that you’re never too old to have an adventure. Gap years and worldwide travel tend to be the jaunts of the young, rather than the (relatively) old. Many see retirement as a stop to life, as such, time to take it easy and plod on through life. But they’re only in their late sixties, and so have plenty of time to do what they wished they’ done before. It also hammers home the fact that we only get one life, and so you have to make of it what you can.
I have never been to Greece, and whilst I like the look of it, it’s not somewhere I’ve actually considered going to. But Greece in this book sounds beautiful. I know it’s painted in the best light for this book, but I don’t care. It sounded gorgeous and now I want to go on a trip around the Greek islands. I also liked the references to Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. Like most bibliophiles, I have a copy of both on my bookshelf. I’ve had them for many years. And it’ll probably come as no surprise that I have read neither. But this has really peeked my interest in them and I may just have to give them a go.
It is such a charming story. Simple in idea but executed perfectly. Whilst I enjoy reading hard-hitting thrills and mysteries etc. sometimes you just want a warming, cosy story, and that is what Joanna has brought here. You get completely enveloped and wrapped up in the characters and their lives and you’ll find yourself smiling throughout. It is such an uplifting book.
What I would say is I’d have preferred the action (Heather’s trip) to have started a bit earlier. It’s perfectly enjoyable as it is, and it works, it gives us time to get to know the character and their situation. But I felt the plot didn’t really get started until about 40% of the way through, and so if I had to change anything, it would be to move this forward ever so slightly so we get more of it to enjoy. But apart from that it was as enjoyable book as I’ve come to expect from her.
Books By Your Bedside 