Esme has run The Willows guest house for as long as anyone in
Ballycove can remember, but as her eye sight fails and she has a fall just
before the start of the summer season she is forced to sit back for the first
time in her life and let her friend Marta take charge.
From her chair in the entry hall, not much
passes Esme by and she shares her pearls of wisdom with the guests who are
staying for many different reasons. There's Cora, the wife visiting
indefinitely... without her husband; Niamh, the city professional with a
life-changing decision to make; and Phyllie, the grandmother whose family is
slipping away from her.
Esme's guests provide the colour that helps her
keep her grip on the world. All of them have something they want to escape – or
to hold on to. But Esme can help them find their way before the summer is over?
Although Ballycove is a fictional coastal village in Ireland,
this story took me right back to my childhood holidays in Ireland with my
family and it was wonderful. In my head I could imagine the beach and spent a
lot of the time comparing the scenery to Bantry where my family are from!!
The book touches on many areas including unwanted pregnancy,
a possibly failed marriage, and the heart-breaking dementia storyline – but all
the tales are all beautifully woven together with golden thread.
An absolutely wonderful book.
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