Just one more? And another one I couldn’t resist? I’m delighted to share my review of The Sweet Life Café by Helen Rolfe: published on 17th January by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback and hardcover, and as an audiobook. My thanks to publishers for my reading e-copy, provided via netgalley.
I’ve always enjoyed Helen’s books, but I was rather blown away by The Best Days of Our Lives last year – such a beautifully told story, characters I really cared about, very moving, and the ending couldn’t have been any more perfect. It was one of my 2025 Books of the Year – you can read my full review again here. If I’d allowed myself to include two books by the same author (but rules are rules!), her lovely So This is Christmas would have been on my list too – that perfectly drawn Vienna setting, a gentle romance, the most wonderful and sympathetic characters, an emotional story of found family told with such exceptional warmth (you’ll find my full review here). And her latest? Let’s take a closer look…
Only a taste of home can heal old wounds ❤️🩹🧁☕️
When sisters Addie and Susanna receive invitations to a memorial for their Aunt Gayle, they’re heartbroken to learn the woman who raised them has passed away. But arriving on Anchor Island, they’re met with the shock of their lives: Gayle is alive and well, busily preparing her own ‘Celebration of Life’ at her beloved pudding bar, The Sweet Life Café.
Agreeing to stay for the event, the sisters begin sorting through their late father’s belongings, reopening wounds they thought long buried, and forcing them to reflect on their lives since leaving the island. Addie is struggling as a single mother, torn between love for her son and doubts about the life she can give him. Susanna’s marriage is crumbling, and being back on the island only reminds her why she couldn’t wait to escape.
But as Gayle prepares gooey brownies, steaming lattes and delicious cakes for her customers, and for her big event, she is hiding secrets of her own – including one that could change everything the sisters thought they knew about their family…
Sisters Susanna and Addie Rafferty haven’t been back to Anchor Island in many years – they were brought up there by their Aunt Gayle after the loss of their parents, but both left the Channel Islands in turn for the mainland and have never returned. Susanna’s now a successful lawyer, worried about the state of her marriage to dentist husband Alex who seems to be keeping some secrets: Addie lives with her young son Isaac, his father no longer on the scene but with plenty of support from his parents, in a job that pays for their small flat but doesn’t bring much joy to her life.
An invitation to Aunt Gayle’s funeral sees them travelling together to Anchor Island, both feeling bad that they’ve left it too late. But on arrival, there’s a big surprise – a misprint on the invitation, and Aunt Gayle (although not entirely well) is still very much alive, running her wonderful Sweet Life Café, and planning only a celebration of her life. But that misprint might not have been entirely unintentional – at least it brought her nieces back to the island.
Together again, they face up to misunderstandings of the past, gradually making them all more able to take on the challenges of the future. The story’s gently told, with a few emerging secrets that change things they’d always believed. And the story unfolds against the backdrop of Aunt Gayle’s beloved café, accompanied by the ever present aroma of her baked puddings, and the preparations for her celebration of life. It dips back into Gayle’s fractured relationship with her brother (Susanna and Addie’s father), Susanna revisits an early relationship that her aunt broke up, and Addie begins to remember how much she loved spending time with her Aunt and baking together. And then there are more surprises…
This was such an enjoyable read – the warmth (and complications) of the family relationships, the recollections of happier times, the bonds that so badly needed to be re-established. The community on Anchor Island adds texture to it all – well drawn characters who all love Gayle and spending time in her café, which is so wonderfully described. And the island setting is so beautifully captured too – sadly it seems to be the author’s own invention or I would most definitely be planning a visit.
It’s an emotional read at times, but with plenty of humour and lightness – and a particular warmth that stays with you long after turning the final page. A really engaging story, beautifully told – and one I’d very much recommend to others.
About the author
Helen Rolfe is the author of many bestselling contemporary women’s fiction titles, set in different locations from the Cotswolds to New York. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and children.
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