I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour for Sisters Making Mischief by Maddie Please, and sharing my review: published by Boldwood Books on 22nd November, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Maddie writes characters – women of a similar age to me – who are so very easy to identify with, always the perfect reminder that there’s fun to be had whatever age we might be, and that it’s never too late for the excitement of a fresh start. I thoroughly enjoyed A Vintage Vacation last summer – very funny but charming, moving and touching too, with the most perfect emotional touch (you’ll find my review here). And Old Girls on Deck might have been even better – lots of humour and the whole cruise experience wonderfully recreated, a touch of romance, but plenty of reflection too that would ring true to any reader of a certain age (you can read my review again here). And this time? Another standalone read, and I’m rather looking forward to spending time in France with Joy and Isobel…
Joy Chandler has had enough!
All she wanted was a lovely family Christmas with perfect turkey and luxury crackers. Instead, daughter Sara announces she’s getting divorced…and where is the fizz? And son, John and perfect wife Vanessa announce they are leaving for New York… and are the vegetables organic? And not one of them has made her a cup of tea!
So Joy decides she’s going to leave them all to it and head to France to visit her younger sister Isobel – a break from it all is just what she needs!
Isabel’s potato farm in France might be rustic, but Joy is hoping to find a bit of the old her again. Do her family really only think she’s their dogs body? Where has Joy’s joy gone?
Being with Isobel is loud and chaotic and being together brings out both sisters’ mischievous side! And being in France adds a welcome touch of ooh la la to Joy’s life again. Soon, she has a new job, a new man and maybe even, a second chance at living!
An uplifting and hilarious story about living life to the full and always, always having fun! Perfect for fans of Judy Leigh and Dee Macdonald.
Family Christmases sadly aren’t always the joyful and love-filled celebrations seen in Hallmark movies. Joy so wanted it all to be perfect, had done so much preparation, and was looking forward to showing her adult children how well she was coping on her own after divorce – only to find her daughter hitting the bottle after her own husband’s fling, her son and daughter-in-law more focused on upcoming changes in their own lives, and the grandchildren all playing up big style. And as well as all that, none of them shows willing to lift a finger to help – so the opportunity to go and stay with her sister Isabel on her potato farm in Brittany once the festivities are over, leaving them to sort their own lives out, is a welcome one.
Isabel’s lifestyle may be a little chaotic, but the warmth of her welcome does Joy a world of good – and sorting out the brocante in the barn, perhaps looking into valuing some of the items and putting details on line, helping her brother-in-law add an English section in his bookshop, along with adding decorative touches to the soon-to-arrive shepherd’s hut (if that base ever finally gets finished – the pace of life is rather different there…) will more than fill her days. And as well as enjoying time with her sister, wishing she’d done it rather sooner and more often, she also gets to try out her French conversation with others in the surrounding community, all wonderfully drawn – including Isabel’s eccentric and ever-present mother-in-law (a fantastic character, who made me laugh so much!) and their mysterious near neighbour who becomes a potential love interest after a less than auspicious start.
Joy’s stay gives her plenty of time for reflection too – a chance to decide what she really wants from life, particularly when she realises her family at home are getting on with their own lives just fine without her. There are so many funny scenes – a fair few that still make me laugh when I think about them – but a number of really well-written emotional moments too, as Joy discovers a bravery she hadn’t thought she was capable of. I really loved her, and identified with her so strongly – she’s very real in every possible way, trying so hard to find her way and recover her zest for life, and I was willing her on at every setback and obstacle.
The setting is perfectly drawn, that taste of armchair travel that I always so enjoy – and I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between the sisters as it was slowly rekindled. Her whole time in France is infused with the warmth that her Christmas singularly lacked, with Joy grasping every opportunity and new experience that came her way, having fun, and never putting things off until a tomorrow that might never come. It’s never too late for a fresh start, whatever your age and circumstances – and sharing Joy’s determined efforts to live her best life was an immensely uplifting experience. This book really was an absolute delight – and one I’d very much recommend.
About the author
Maddie Please is the #1 bestselling author of joyous tales of older women including The Old Ducks’ Club and Sisters Behaving Badly. She had a career as a dentist and now lives in rural Herefordshire where she enjoys box sets, red wine and Christmas.
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