Published By: Boldwood
Pages: 344
Released On: 02/12/2024
‘We’re celebrating life,’ Rose said. ‘Life, every single minute of it. Tell me, girls – is there ever anything better to celebrate than that?’
Five years after seventy-something Tess jetted off to Paris with her best friends, Jen, Rose, Della and Pam – the Five French Hens – for Jen’s hen do, a lot has changed. Prospective groom Eddie has been given the heave-ho, Tess’s husband has been sent packing and the Hens are making the most of their golden years.
But Tess is stuck in a rut. Rather than embrace her independence, she watches on as Rose wows Paris, Jen explores Iceland and Pam heads to Greece. But when tragedy strikes Della, Tess is shaken into action. They both need a change of scenery and longing to see the Northern Lights, they head to the Highlands of Scotland and the magical Isle of Skye.
There Tess and Della get more than they bargained for. Along with stunning scenery and breathtaking history, they find new friends, grand adventures and even romance. And when they’re joined by the other Hens, together they start plotting a fabulous new future for them all.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I love Judy’s books, they’re so heartwarming and funny and always put a smile on my face. And they’re even better when set in Scotland.
I absolutely adore the way Judy writes older characters. It’s quite common in fiction (be it books, films or TV) that older characters, 70+, are there just to tick a box, for the novelty, to be a nuisance. They’re very rarely the protagonist or the hero. And Judy writes them with such heart and passion and pride, that of course they should be the stars of their own story. It’s really quite powerful.
I loved all the women in this, but this is Tess and Della’s story and they do rock it. They’re fabulous women. They have their concerns – mainly Tess – but they haven’t lost all of their spark. It looks at how age is just a number. Sure there are things you have to consider as you get older, but just because you’re 75, 85, 95, whatever, it doesn’t mean you HAVE to do something or you CAN’T do something.
I am not the same age as the characters – in my 30s to their 70s – but I still loved it and related to them. So much so that I assume readers closer to their age will love it even more, because they can relate to what they’re going through and feel closer to the characters.
I also love this idea of friendship being the family you choose, especially as you get older and start to lose people and possibly start losing your independence.
Judy’s books never fail to cheer me up. They’re light and uplifting and cosy, easy and quick to read, comforting, but they don’t hide away from the truth. There’s some difficult topics in this, including illness, grief, bereavement, loneliness, ageing, affairs, despair, lack of self esteem.
This does follow on from Five French Hens, which I haven’t read, and so I can definitely say you can read this as a standalone. You’ll probably get little things from this book if you’ve read the one before it, but I never felt at a disadvantage coming into this. Judy goes a great job at filling in some history without regurgitating what came before.
I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say the women don’t see as much of Skye as they may have initially wanted, but what is there just sounds beautiful. I love Scotland but have never been to Skye and would love to, and Judy has really depicted it so well that you can practically see it. I wonder if she has any history with that area.
Where I think Judy excels is two fold: firstly, in the characters, I mentioned that above. But also with the dialogue. When I do my own writing, dialogue is the thing I struggle with the most. I love writing prose and description and scene setting, but then I stumble when it comes to the dialogue. Dialogue should be natural, should feel like a conversation, it shouldn’t feel like you’re reading a made-up story, like the author doesn’t know how to form a conversation. And that’s what Judy does so well. It flows so naturally that you get lost amongst it and forget that you don’t actually know these people.
It could have quite easily strayed into the sickly sweet territory, but she’s got it just right.
Whenever Judy releases a new book, I jump at the chance to read it. I am lucky that I have been sent a number of her books in the past by the publisher, and every single one has been a pleasure, and so now I keep my eye out and recommend her books to anyone wanting a light, peaceful, cosy, warming story.
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