Sitting between her ex-husband and her new lover, Anna is coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy at the age of forty. Also at the table are her ageing grandmother, her promiscuous sister, her flamboyantly gay brother and a memory too terrible to contemplate.
Until, that is, a letter arrives from the person Anna scarred all those years ago. Can Anna reconcile her painful past with her uncertain future?
Title: The Sunday Lunch Club
Author: Juliet Ashton
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Publications Date: 19th April 2018
Links: UK: Amazon US: Amazon
Our Review
A comforting blend of the complexities of life in the heart of a loving family.
Every month the Piper family take it in turns to host Sunday lunch, Anna is the main protagonist and we see each of the family members through her eyes. Every chapter starts with the name of the person who is hosting the lunch and then the menu being served that day. This could be an elaborate and expensive range of dishes served by Anna's well off brother Neil and his husband Santi to a very basic meal only one step up from beans on toast served by her disorganised younger sister Maeve or their poor younger brother Josh. I know my stomach was rumbling throughout this book and I felt as though I was part of this crazy but loving family.
The book moves along at a gentle pace as it unearths the many secrets and insecurities felt by many of the Piper family but then races along towards the end with lots of new beginnings.
It was an interesting dynamic to have Anna's ex husband Sam as part of the Sunday lunch club ritual but he was completely accepted as very much part of the family.
While I guessed something that happened later on with Anna's free spirited younger brother Josh it didn't spoil the moment for me and I found myself tearing up at the level of love shown to him by his family.
More touching moments follow when Anna's story comes to an exciting climax and we find out whether everybody gets their happy ever after.
A touching and heartwarming story of a family's most special moments as they share their problems, comfort food and love around the dining table.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
There's no end of inspiration. Most authors are baffled by that commonly asked question, "Where do you get your ideas from?" The answer is simple: YOU. People are inspiring, with all their niggling faults and shimmering virtues. The tangles we get ourselves into, and the ludicrous ways we attempt to untangle ourselves, are a never ending source of material. In fact, most authors daren't use too much real life in their books because it would sound too much like fiction.
I've just remembered that this is supposed to be a biog, so here's some info about me. I live just outside London with my daughter, Niamh, who's 12, and my husband, Matthew, who's considerably older than that. The house hums with creativity, as I scribble downstairs and Matthew composes music for theatre and TV upstairs. We have two dogs, one of whom is wildly energetic, one of whom was born an old lady and prefers to sleep all day.
Hmm, what else? I'm Irish, but you wouldn't know that from my accent. I can't sing. My favourite crisp flavour is Roast Chicken, but I reserve the right to change that at short notice.
I hope you enjoy my books. They are the way I speak to the world.
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