Katherine Wentworth

This is about Katherine, a widow with seven-year-old twins and a teenage stepson. Events are set in motion by two unexpected invitations: Katherine is invited to tea by an old school acquaintance and her stepson is invited to visit his estranged paternal grandfather.

This quickly became one of my favourites of Stevenson’s, simply because I liked the first-person narration so much. Katherine is astute and kind, and her observations about her family -- and about the struggles of being a single-parent -- give the story satisfying verisimilitude, and made me feel very invested.

I was disappointed to realise that the sequel is told in third person.

“This place gets me down,” she continued. “I’m never well in Edinburgh; I feel quite show more different when I get away. It’s so bad for me to have nothing to do. [...] Sometimes I feel I could stand on a chair and scream. I don’t suppose you’ve ever felt like that.”
I had felt like that quite often. I had felt like that when a fall of soot came down the chimney and the whole room (including the chair-covers which had just come back from the cleaners) was smeared with a layer of oily soot. I had felt like that when the twins had measles and Den’s temperature soared to 105 degrees, and the woman, who had come to help me, dropped a tray and broke three plates, and the electric cooker went wrong and a patch of damp appeared on the ceiling of my bedroom. It had all happened on the same day and it was just too much… But I had never felt like that because I hadn’t enough to do. show less

Like comfort food. Very enjoyable light reading by D. E. Stevenson (writer of the 'Miss Buncle' series). It's a story about a woman raising her step-son and twins. Katherine and her step-son face several choices and both consider the potential impact those choices may or may not make on their own personal freedom. It also gives them perspective on their own blessings. The story is romantic and set in Scotland. The characters well described and memorable. So fix yourself a nice pot of tea and sit back and relax. If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy or Rosamund Pilcher you will probably enjoy this one.

Like comfort food. Very enjoyable light reading by D. E. Stevenson (writer of the 'Miss Buncle' series). It's a story about a woman raising her step-son and twins. Katherine and her step-son face several choices and both consider the potential impact those choices may or may not make on their own personal freedom. It also gives them perspective on their own blessings. The story is romantic and set in Scotland. The characters well described and memorable. So fix yourself a nice pot of tea and sit back and relax. If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy or Rosamund Pilcher you will probably enjoy this one.

Like comfort food. Very enjoyable light reading by D. E. Stevenson (writer of the 'Miss Buncle' series). It's a story about a woman raising her step-son and twins. Katherine and her step-son face several choices and both consider the potential impact those choices may or may not make on their own personal freedom. It also gives them perspective on their own blessings. The story is romantic and set in Scotland. The characters well described and memorable. So fix yourself a nice pot of tea and sit back and relax. If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy or Rosamund Pilcher you will probably enjoy this one.

A young widow with a teenage stepson and twins of her own is fairly contented with life, in spite of the struggle to make ends meet. Then things start to happen. She meets up with an old school friend who wants to renew their acquaintance. She becomes friends with the brother of said schoolmate. Her stepson receives a letter from his grandparents with some surprising news. And she plans a month's holiday in Scotland.