Monday, September 7, 2015

Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

Published August 4, 2015 by NAL

Welcome to Hartley-by-the-Sea in England’s beautiful Lake District, where two sisters who meet as strangers find small miracles tucked into the corners of every day....

When Lucy Bagshaw’s life in Boston falls apart, thanks to a scathing editorial written by her famous artist mother, she accepts her half sister Juliet’s invitation to stay with her in a charming seaside village in northern England. Lucy is expecting quaint cottages and cream teas, but instead finds that her sister is an aloof host, the weather is wet, windy, and cold, and her new boss, Alex Kincaid, is a disapproving widower who only hired her as a favor to Juliet.

Despite the invitation she offered, Juliet is startled by the way Lucy catapults into her orderly life. As Juliet faces her own struggles with both her distant mother and her desire for a child, her sister’s irrepressible optimism begins to take hold. With the help of quirky villagers, these hesitant rainy day sisters begin to forge a new understanding…and find in each other the love of family that makes all the difference

My Thoughts…

Everything about this book is amazing.    The setting of a small town, the well developed characters, and the story line.   Once in a while a reader comes across a book that just touches them.    This story about two sisters who never had the chance to grow up as sisters is that book for me.   I have a sister that I am incredibly close to and cannot imagine going days without talking to her much less years.      I also cannot imagine having a mother who seems to cut her daughters down at every turn.   That is if she is talking to them.     

Lucy and Juliet are half-sisters.   They each do not know their fathers, they have lived on different continents for most of their lives, and have no real relationship.     Yet, they are sisters.   Juliet lets Lucy come stay with her when things get rough in Boston.    I had high hopes.   I needed them to become more sisterly.   They needed to become a family.  I knew it would not be easy.   Kate Hewitt did a great job of showing how their relationship is, could be, and where it should be.   The changes came slowly; it was not a quick fix.   While Juliet seemed to take on most of the blame, I truly believe that Lucy had just as much blame.    Their mother, Fiona, is the one who is really to blame.

The style of writing was perfect for this story.   The chapters were alternated between Lucy and Juliet’s point of view.   It was interesting to see how the girls really had the same points of view on many of the happenings of their life, yet seemed at odds with each other most of the time.     I also enjoyed seeing their relationships grow with the rest of the Hartley-by-the-Sea community.    I believe that these community friendships are what pushed the sisters to truly become family to each other.

This is my first Kate Hewitt novel.   I cannot wait for her next one to be released.   Definitely check this book out.  


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