I started off the month with the book chosen by my online book club
The book is set in 1963 and introduces us to Barbara Feldman who is bringing up two children single handed following the death of her husband two years earlier. It has been hard to come to terms with her widowhood but she is finally feeling as if things are settling into a new normal.
That is, until her mother in law turns up on her doorstep, suitcases in hand, and announces that she has come to 'help'. Barbara feels she has no alternative but to invite her in but it soon becomes clear that Ruth is intending to stay much longer than a couple of weeks. Barbara sympathises with her as Ruth is widowed herself and has now also lost her son. But sympathy can wear a little thin as Ruth decides to stamp her own mark on the family.
Barbara decides that the only way to entice Ruth out of her home is to find her a husband, but it seems that this idea is also on Ruth's mind - no one will ever replace her son but Barbara would surely be happier with a new man in her life.
The story was a bit predictable and you do have to remind yourself that it is set in the early 60s when a woman's life was quite different to how it is now but it was amusing to see the relationship between Barbara and Ruth evolves.
Of course I then found myself missing the Seven Sisters series and before I knew it I had downloaded the third book which tells the story of Star.
Star has always lived in the shadow of her overprotective sister Ce-Ce, to the extent of losing her independence and Ce-Ce assuming that Star will always want what she wants and that they cannot be separated. But the loss of their father has affected Star in a way no one would have expected. She doesn't want to have Ce-Ce deciding where they will live or where they will work. Who knew that there would be a tiny rebellious streak about to unfold.
She plucks up the courage to read the clues she was left and finds that her story begins in England. The first part of her story involves an old bookshop which just happens to be very close to where Ce-Ce has bought their first apartment together. Star quickly develops a friendship with Orlando, the owner of the shop, and is introduced to his brother 'Mouse', sister Marguerite, and nephew Rory.
When I learnt that part of Star's story would involve the Lake District and associations with Beatrix Potter, I just knew it was going to interesting and I like it when I have been to a location in the story as I can vividly visualise the setting.
By the end of the book I viewed the relationship between Ce-Ce and Star in a very different way. I had always had the impression that one of the girls was heavily dependant on the other but as I learnt more about them, I realised that this was not the case at all.
The different strands of Star's story were very cleverly entwined and naturally I now want to read the next book in the series. Each book can be read on its own so you don't need to feel that you have to read them all after you have read the first, but I am now so invested in the individual stories of the sisters and want to know them all!