Ebook: 314 pages Kindle Edition
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction
Publisher: March 2024 by Boldwood Books
Source: My Kindle Library via Amazon
First Sentence: George was just stepping out of the cafe, takeaway coffee in hand, when he saw Grace appear in the window of the tabac opposite.
Setting: Bordeaux, France
Review Quote: 'As delightful as it is moving – a true gem of a novel... enchanting, wise and wonderfully uplifting' Isabelle Broom - Author
My Opinion:
Gillian Harvey is a prolific author who writes escapist stories often set in France. I only discovered her writing last year and ' The Bordeaux Book Club' is the third title I have read.
As the title tells us the novel is set around a Book Club in Bordeaux France when an eclectic group of ex-pats come together in a bid to make new friends. The group consists of Grace, a divorced strong willed woman with an organised life, who is the instigator of the club. Leah, struggling with a moody teenage daughter and a seemingly depressed husband, living a life style she is not really enjoying. George a builder in the area whilst helping a friend with a renovation project. Alfie a sixteen year old who has only joined to please his Mum. Finally Monica, a new Mum finding herself struggling with motherhood and very lonely as her pilot husband is often away. This motley collection of individuals find the Book Club discussions draw them together as friendships and support networks form.
Real life dilemmas dealt with in a compassionate story. Just like the last title of hers that I read I found this to be a touch of escapism that will appeal to those looking for a quick mood enhancing read.
Previous Review: The Riviera House Swap. The Little Provence Bookshop
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
Love books? The Bordeaux Book Club is seeking new members!
When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, it’s not the ‘good life’ she’d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yield a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear.
So when her friend entreats her to join the new bookclub she’s forming, Leah decides it’s something she will do for herself. The chance to make new friends, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to escape into stories that take her miles away from the life she’d thought would be her own happy-ever-after.
But the book club is a strange group of misfits. There’s prickly Grace, who lives alone and seems to know everybody and like no-one. Buttoned-up Monica, who says her husband is away and appears to be parenting her baby all alone. Handsome builder George, who has barely read a book before. And Alfie – who is a full two decades younger than everyone else, and is hiding a devastating secret…
As the stories they read begin to bring the new friends closer together, Leah is about to discover that happy-ever-afters don’t always look how you expect them to…
Author Profile:
Courtesy of Goodreads
Gillian Harvey is a British author and freelance writer, currently living in Norfolk, England with her husband and 5 children. She writes contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where she lived for 14 years.
Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:
Gillian Harvey - Author Website. Goodreads Author Profile Facebook Profile