The Village Vicar by Julie Houston - #BookReview

 

'Well, look who it is.' Glenys Parkes glanced up from the sausage meat she was expertly encasing in flaky pastry, wiped her hands on the front of her faded pinny and moved to kiss her younger daughter. 'You never said you were coming home?' Glenys took in Alice's lack of suitcase, her grubby-looking bare feet in their leather sandals and her skimpy flowing dress, quite unsuitable for this overcast, chilly May morning in Yorkshire. 'You look frozen. Here.' Glenys threw her mauve M&S cardigan in Alice's direction but, although Alice caught it, she placed it on the battered armchair in fron of her and went, instead, over to the sink to fill the kettle...

***

When Rosa Quinn left her childhood home in Westenbury, she never expected to return over a decade later as the village vicar. But after a health scare and catching her boyfriend cheating, Rosa jumps at the chance to start over and live closer to her triplet sisters Eva and Hannah.

But Rosa's isn't the only old face in the village, and when her role in the parish throws her into the path of her ex, she begins to wonder if she's made a terrible mistake. Meanwhile, Eva and Hannah face their own troubles, as secrets about their family threaten to emerge.

Can Rosa make a life for herself in Westenbury? Or will the sisters discover you can't run away from the past?

***

I am already a fan of Julie Houston. I have previously read and reviewed Goodness, Grace and Me and Sing Me a Secret, both of which I have enjoyed enormously. If you would like to read my reviews of these two book please just click on the book title and it will take you straight there.

The Village Vicar was every bit as good as I had anticipated. We meet triplets Rosa, Eva and Hannah and they make for a set of lovely main characters, although the book focusses slightly more on Rosa than her sisters. They have a close but complex relationship, each of them different to the other and they each bring something distinct to the novel.

The book begins with the story behind their birth. Readers are introduced to Alice, their birth mother, and her sister, Susan, who along with her husband adopts the three girls. It was good judgement on the part of the author, to spend time portraying the back story of the triplets at the beginning as it provides context for the remainder of the novel.

It is both humourous and heart felt and I enjoyed reading every page. Ms. Houston's novels always leave me with a satisfied feeling, and I cannot wait to read the next in the series, The Girls of Heatherly Hall, which was published just last week.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading contemporary women's fiction.

ISBN: 978 1803280028

Publisher:  Head of Zeus

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  384 (paperback)

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About the Author:

Julie Houston is the author of ten novels set in and around the fictional West Yorkshire village of Westenbury, GOODNESS, GRACE AND ME, THE ONE SAVING GRACE, LOOKING FOR LUCY, COMING HOME TO HOLLY CLOSE FARM, A VILLAGE AFFAIR, SING ME A SECRET, A VILLAGE VACANCY and A FAMILY AFFAIR, as well as a novella, AN OFF-PISTE CHRISTMAS, all published by Aria.  Her most recent novel, A VILLAGE SECRET, was published in ebook and paperback in April 2022 by Aria/Head of Zeus.  All her novels have been Kindle bestsellers.

A VILLAGE AFFAIR, published  in November 2018, on the Kindle Top 100 bestseller list for almost a year, was the seventh most-read UK fiction ebook in the year to November 2019, and a Kindle top 5 bestseller.

SING ME A SECRET won the RNA’s 2021 Sapere Books Popular Romantic Fiction Award.

Julie is Yorkshire born and bred and lives near Huddersfield. She worked as a teacher for many years, still doing supply work.   Additionally she sits as a magistrate in West Yorkshire.  

Translation rights in Julie’s novels have been sold to a number of countries.

(author photo and bio courtesy of Kate Horden Literary Agency)

(all opinions my own)

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*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.