A Very Big House in the Country by Claire Sandy

Synopsis

For one long hot summer in Devon, three families are sharing one very big house in the country. The Herreras: made up of two tired parents, three grumbling children and one promiscuous dog; the Littles: he's loaded (despite two divorces and five kids), she's gorgeous, but maybe the equation for a truly happy marriage is a bit more complicated than that; and the Browns, who seem oddly jumpy around people, but especially each other. 

By the pool, new friendships blossom; at the aga door, resentments begin to simmer. Secret crushes are formed and secret cigarettes cadged by the teens, as the adults loosen their inhibitions with litres of white wine and start to get perhaps a little too honest ... 

Mother hen to all, Evie Herreras has a life-changing announcement to make, one that could rock the foundations of her family. But will someone else beat her to it?

Review

After reading 'What would Mary Berry do?' I had high hopes for this book, hoping it would follow on the funny, warm nature of that book, and I was not disappointed. The setting of Wellcome Manor was wonderful and sounds luxurious and exactly like the houses I like looking up on rightmove and dream of buying with my millions. So Ideallic!

This book also had a lot of laughs, but has far more mystery and intrigue. Every family has secrets and this book had a good way of tricking you at almost every turn, of all the things that were hinted at, I think there was only one where I was somewhat close (but not correct), you do keep wondering, and that made me change my mind about characters several times.

The main character Evie was one such character. For the most part she is warm and the typical mother hen type, but with a slightly more open mind to her teenage daughter's relationship with the handsome Zach than I expected. I loved the kids; Mabel especially was hilarious.

Her best friend Shen is almost the typical spoilt wife with lots of money, a fiery, straightforward personality and a baby that she can barely be bothered to look after, thanks to the help of nanny, Elizabetta. I even warmed to her husband Clive more, and he was worse than she was at times.

The third family that joined Evie and Shen's was the greatest mystery of them all, and while Paula drove you buts with her nervous disposition, why she was this way was quite a shock!

I don’t feel that I can say much more about this book without giving away one of the many secrets held within, but this book is one of my favourite reads this year.

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Published by: Pan Macmillan
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review.