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Saturday 17 October 2015

The Family Divided by Anne Allen

(Book received from, and review written for, TripFiction.com)

Romance and Relationship Rifts                       My rating:  3 out of 5

Charlotte suffering from writer's block, and her recent divorce, returns to La Folie retreat for some inner healing, and finds herself helping others with their troubles.

Whilst at La Folie Charlotte meets Andy, who she describes as "rather delicious", and offers to help him research a family rift that started back in the time of the German occupation.  Is romance on the cards or will this be purely a business relationship?  Meanwhile she helps her friend Louisa who has relationship problems, and tries to solve her own problems with her mother.   

Based in Guernsey this is the 4th book in the series (and the first that I have read).  Although the first few chapters refer to things that (presumably) happened in earlier books, this is cleverly done so that new readers catch up and those following the series don't get bored.   The book gently moves through the plot, with a few cliff hanger chapter endings.  The ending is cleverly done bringing together all the threads of the story.   No violence or bad language and very mild sex scenes, with an easy to read style.

For the tourist, the book is full of references to restaurants, so do keep a note of them as they include wonderful details of the names, locations and reasons for visiting ie: seafood restaurant, stunning views etc.  In addition there are a few walks around the coast referred to, and various other things to do and see in St Peter Port and other locations on the island.   In addition there is a brief visit to the nearby island of Herm described.  

Whilst I am certain that this will be a popular book for the author's fans, for me it was lacking in action with too much chatty dialogue and inconsequential detail included.    Sadly there was little depth of information about the Occupation.  On a positive note, the chapters are short and the print and paper used in my paperback version are lovely - really enhancing the reading experience.  For me the writing style is similar to that of Nora Roberts - so if you love her, this series may be a great read for you.     


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