Second Chances Await at ‘The Lavender House’ [REVIEW]

Would you risk everything for a second chance at love? (Photo by Eric Huybrechts, Flickr)

When a woman’s 69-year-old husband of 34 years nonchalantly announces that he is leaving her for a talented soprano, she calmly inquires why it took him so long to go. But what happens once he actually leaves? And this late in life, will she ever be able to move on with her life and find happiness again? Find out in HIlary Boyd’s touching novel, The Lavender House. 

Quercus

Nancy is one of those women who binds her family together. Four years after her divorce, she’s perfectly content wearing her jeggings and living a very quiet existence in a small cottage next to her daughter’s grand house. She loves her son-in-law and two impish granddaughters and would do anything for them. She’s also devoted to her own aging mother. And although she has a few friends, she really doesn’t get out much at all these days, and therein lies the problem. She’s in a rut, and she desperately needs to break out of it and start living again.

Then her friend Lindy invites her to a country and western themed dance party. She loves to dance, but rarely gets the opportunity, doesn’t exactly have any line dances memorized, and certainly doesn’t have the right outfit for such an affair. But before she can beg off, her daughter lends her appropriate clothes and before she knows it she’s in a pub, squeezed into her daughter’s duds and staring at Jim, a singing cowboy who is the total antithesis of her ex. Despite that, however, she can’t deny that there’s chemistry between them and she’s curious to explore it. After all, doesn’t she deserve a bit of romance in her life too?

This is one of those delightful novels that quickly draws us in, never to let go. Nancy captures our hearts, partly because she is a smidge like most of our mothers, filled with love, always nurturing, and yet she needs some TLC herself. Readers won’t be able to resist rooting for her to find her own bit of paradise in the arms of a handsome country crooner, even if her family is on the fence about her mother’s decisions.

Realistic, charming, and thoughtful, Boyd does a marvelous job examining tough subjects like aging, divorce, and adultery with a light touch. She shows readers that it is never too late to be courageous, to try something new, and to seize a bit of magic for their very own. The Lavender House is certain to steal hearts worldwide, and rightfully so. It is clever, sweet, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. And if this story were ever to be translated to the screen, Helen Mirren should definitely portray Nancy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hilary Boyd

Hilary Boyd is the New York Times bestselling author of Meet Me on the Beach, A Most Desirable Marriage, When You Walked Back Into My Life, and Tangled Lives. Her first novel, Thursdays in the Park, became an unexpected hit when it landed in the number one spot on Amazon’s e-book bestseller list and stayed there for six weeks. To date, translation rights have been sold in 20 countries and more than 600,000 copies have sold in print and e-book formats.

Her novels, which focus on the lives and loves of older people, has given rise to a new literary genre, described by the Observer, as “gran-lit.” Born in Prestatyn, North Wales, Hilary is also a film lover and obsessive reader.

Visit Hilary at her home on the Web at HilaryBoyd.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

THE LAVENDER HOUSE
By Hilary Boyd
432 pgs. Quercus. £7.99