Flying the Coop

Chris Beggs is a divorced mother of two who in an impulsive, spur of the moment decision to annoy her ex-husband buys a free-range chicken farm. Chris knows nothing about farming and her only experience with a chicken as a child was not a happy one. She tries desperately to get out of it but her children think it is great and a few months later they leave the big smoke and head for the country. Then the fun starts – early morning egg collections, bossy neighbours, a revengeful accountant, possum poo and a psychotic alpaca all add to her steep learning curve. So many things I liked about this book – the one that sticks in my mind is that Chris’s seven year old son plays with toy cars in the dirt and does really stupid things like show more falling in ponds – so normal. All in all a very enjoyable read.

Ilsa Evans is a new discovery for me, but luckily she has been writing for a few years now so I have a few books I can go back and read. Flying the Coop is her 5th book – but she has written a total of 8 books plus an e-book of short stories. show less

back cover:
Once upon a time Chris Beggs and her husband had a dream - to own a farm with cows and chickens with a white picket fence surrounding a quaint cottage. So what could possibly be wrong with fulfilling that dream 15 years later as a 38-year-old divorced mother of two? Chris says goodbye to her city life and hello to dawn egg collections an strange animal noises during the night... With the enthusiastic help of her family, old friends, new neighbour, and a stranger on the end of daily emails, can Chris succeed in making this spur of the moment decision revitalise her life, or has she put all her eggs in the wrong basket?

my review:
Very light but very entertaining too. I'm glad Chris was forced to make a go of it, & she was very show more lucky to have so much help. Some of the trials of farm ownership were very amusing - one would only prance about in a chicken outfit in dire circumstances. Nothing very serious here, just an enjoyable tale where the wronged woman succeeds. I do hope her overbearing, dickhead ex-husband breaks a few bones while white-water rafting. show less

A very light book and entertaining suprisingly. Chris Evans is recently divorced with two kids and wants a new challenge and impuslives buys a chicken farm much to her ex husband's disaprovement. Having bought the farm on impulse, Chris begins to realize that she amy not succeed and starts to having second thoughts however she sticks with it and the story unfolds. From her smart mouth teenager daughter to her brat of a son (yes, he was annoying, like we all were at that age), Chris moves to take on the challenge. When she arrives she is challanged by the bossy and yet friendly neighbour elderly woman who doesn't seem to go away and invites herself over very often, then there's the original owner, who's mysterious, and doesn't talk much show more or think much of Chris and her doubts about managing the farm.

It is a good read, it's very entertaining, but I do feel that like Isabella set - she was felt the need to have a go at it - and didn't want to disappoint her daughter or prove her ex-husband that right she fails at stuff that she tries out. I definetly hated the ex-husband, he was just a prick!! A mean old prick who didn't want to see his ex-wife (nor his kids) succeed at anything but sucking off his little fingers (if he has any!) show less

A light, but fun read. Had quite a few laughs along the way.