Lizzie Lovell

Jennifer Juniper works in the library/museum of a seaside town in Devon. It's been a tricky year, her husband has left her for a younger woman, her children have left home, and her home now consists of her eccentric father distilling various concoctions in her shed and a Jack Russell. To make matters worse, town Councillor David Barton has just told the staff that the library/museum is to be closed immediately and the historic building sold to a pub chain! And then her Jack Russell gets the Jack Russell of an attractive new resident, widower Tom, pregnant. Jen and her friends hatch a plan to save the historic building and the town library and museum. Are gin and violets the answer? A light, but good read - I did wonder throughout where Jen's income was coming from as she no longer had a paying job, and if her husband wanted half the family home when they divorced? Things could be much worse for a 50-year-old woman with no job in the real world.… (meer)

Jen’s husband has left her for another woman, her daughter is off to university, her son is on a gap year, her aging, eccentric father is now living with her but spends most of his time in his shed and, just as she is trying to adapt to all these changes in her life, her job at the local museum is under threat because a local councillor, her first, teenage love, wants to sell the beautiful, but decaying, listed building to a pub chain. Outraged by what feels like cultural vandalism, Jen and her friends and colleagues from the museum decide to try to save the town’s heritage and to find a way to bring the rather old-fashioned museum into a multi-purpose, twenty first century venue. Could starting an artisan gin distillery and establishing a cocktail gin bar be the answer to their prayers? Joining them in their venture is newcomer Tom, a school-teacher, experienced campaigner and, what’s more, an attractive widower!
Filled with a cast of delightful, a number of somewhat eccentric characters, a couple of dogs and a litter of puppies, this is a feel-good story which would be an ideal summer read. There is nothing challenging about it so it can very easily be picked up and put down – perfect if you are lounging about by the pool or curled up on the sofa! Jen’s is the only voice we hear but the other characters do come to life as the story progresses. Although they are somewhat over-exaggerated at times, I did find myself warming to them – and also to feeling like hissing at the “villain” of the story, the verging-on-corrupt councillor! The plot often requires a suspension of disbelief (for instance, it seemed ludicrously easy to obtain a licence and set up a gin bar!) but I found it quite enjoyable to escape into this good-feel story and grew fond of the characters who inhabited it. There were lots of moments of gentle humour and I thought that the dynamics of a family facing change – offspring growing away yet still needing the security of family, concerns about an aging parent, mid-life crises etc – were very well captured. I enjoyed the way in which life in a small town in Devon was captured and could almost smell the sea air and the scent of violets! So, if you want to escape into gentle fantasy, I suggest that this story would probably be even more enjoyable if read whilst sipping a gin cocktail!
I was going to give this easy-read story a three-star rating but decided on four because of all that I discovered about the distilling and refining of gin – a fascinating and complex process.
With thanks to Readers First and Allen and Unwin for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (meer)

This is a lovely escapist read, complete with Devon seaside setting, good quality gin and puppies. With Jennifer the feisty heroine shortly to turn 50 it could be described as chick lit for the menopausal.
There is a varied cast of quirky and lovable characters (and a hissable villain) none of whom are explored too deeply, and the small seaside town feel is brought out well. The only slightly jarring note for me is the mild swearing sprinkled throughout.
Jennifer and some of the other characters have had some bad times to contend with but you can relax into this book knowing that nothing too terrible is going to happen in the course of the narrative. In fact things turn around with all the elements falling into place in a way that seems simply too good to be true, though it makes for a wonderfully enjoyable story.… (meer)