Second Time Around

This is a lovely book. It's about four diverse people. Firstly Isobel, recently separated from her husband and estranged from her daughter, she becomes companion and housekeeper to the elderly Mathilda Rainbird. Then there are three distant relations, to whom Mathilda bequeathes her coastal house. None of them know her, or each other, and all are lonely in their different ways. There's a recently widowed man who has lived in Switzerland, the just-retired matron of a boys' school, and a young woman who is slowly carving out a career for herself in dog-minding.

The book is character-driven. These people, each with their own story and some painful circumstances, come together and find a surprising rapport. It's relaxing and comforting, and show more if I could give it four and a half stars, I would do so! One or two people from previous Marcia Willett books come into this novel, but it's not necessary to have read any of them beforehand. show less

Lovely book. very like the Covington series by Joan Medlicott.