A review by aplace_inthesun
Close to Home by Janet Gover
4.0
Rural New South Wales, Australia.
A Circus.
Family secrets.
French pastries.
Love lost.
Love found.
Sounds like ingredients for a great Australian rural romance. This one certainly delivered.
Initially when I started reading Close to Home by Janet Gover I thought I was reading a historical fiction but it's the prologue to the here and now of the book. And what a prologue it is. Alice is a young woman smitten with a young man, holding out hope of romance and a future. They are both captivated by a visiting circus which was to be a special date for both of them.
Fast-forward 60 years or so and Alice is the pillar of Nyringa (a fictional town as far as I can tell) in northern New South Wales, Australia. Most of the small community is related directly or through marriage to Alice. There's not much that goes on that Alice doesn't know about, or hasn't given approval for.
Within the context of the small town there are some new residents. A teacher called Meg, who is escaping an incident of violence in her past. She's looking for peace and tranquility. She's teaching many of the young impressionable students (including Alice's granddaughter Jenny). There's also Simon, a man who has moved to town with his grandmother Lucienne. They are "circus folk" and are wanting to settle in town to build a retreat of sorts where other circus workers can train, or call home during their time between towns or seasons. The stories of all these characters are entwined in rich detail. Some are preferring to live in the past, begrudging the world moving forward. Others are needing to put the past behind them, in order to forge a future.
There are a couple of blossoming romances, some miscommunication, secrets, intrafamilial violence, and domestic drama. This made for a wonderful enchanting read. Overall it's a book heavy on sentiment in the right places and very bittersweet. I would have loved a little more intensity in one of the romances as the buildup was lovely!
This was a lovely way to round out my reading for 2020.
Thank you to Harlequin Australia for providing me an e-copy of this book to read and review. The book will be published on 3 February 2021!
A Circus.
Family secrets.
French pastries.
Love lost.
Love found.
Sounds like ingredients for a great Australian rural romance. This one certainly delivered.
Initially when I started reading Close to Home by Janet Gover I thought I was reading a historical fiction but it's the prologue to the here and now of the book. And what a prologue it is. Alice is a young woman smitten with a young man, holding out hope of romance and a future. They are both captivated by a visiting circus which was to be a special date for both of them.
Fast-forward 60 years or so and Alice is the pillar of Nyringa (a fictional town as far as I can tell) in northern New South Wales, Australia. Most of the small community is related directly or through marriage to Alice. There's not much that goes on that Alice doesn't know about, or hasn't given approval for.
Within the context of the small town there are some new residents. A teacher called Meg, who is escaping an incident of violence in her past. She's looking for peace and tranquility. She's teaching many of the young impressionable students (including Alice's granddaughter Jenny). There's also Simon, a man who has moved to town with his grandmother Lucienne. They are "circus folk" and are wanting to settle in town to build a retreat of sorts where other circus workers can train, or call home during their time between towns or seasons. The stories of all these characters are entwined in rich detail. Some are preferring to live in the past, begrudging the world moving forward. Others are needing to put the past behind them, in order to forge a future.
There are a couple of blossoming romances, some miscommunication, secrets, intrafamilial violence, and domestic drama. This made for a wonderful enchanting read. Overall it's a book heavy on sentiment in the right places and very bittersweet. I would have loved a little more intensity in one of the romances as the buildup was lovely!
This was a lovely way to round out my reading for 2020.
Thank you to Harlequin Australia for providing me an e-copy of this book to read and review. The book will be published on 3 February 2021!