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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 Hartley-by-the-Sea, 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.… (more)
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Rainy Day Sisters: A Hartley-by-the-Sea Novel by Kate Hewitt, © 2015
Rainy Day Sisters is set in the fictional village of Hartley-by-the-Sea. Come along as we explore this just released novel!
...beautiful places can be found just about anywhere, if you have the heart to look
--author Kate Hewitt, beautiful places
Kate Hewitt
I am newly discovering Kate's writings. Profusely beautiful in expression of what might be missed in a day. I like the descriptiveness as if you are a passenger able to take in the countryside.
A long journey to leave yourself behind? Four months could stretch out beyond expectations as unknown clues unravel.
What would it be like to finally reach your destination and pick up a new beginning? Lucy Bagshaw is about to find out as she joins her half sister, Juliet, and begins a new job, filling in for four months at a primary school. How hard could that be?
Alternating chapters give each of Lucy and Juliet's thoughts as they adjust to being "sisters-close-up." Lucy, the newcomer, learning the flow of Juliet's home with her two rescue dogs. Comical how with decisions to be made, diversions become time to walk the dogs. I like how they get to know each other.
“Because I’m living with you, and I realize I don’t even know you, not really. We’re sisters—”
“Half sisters.” It popped out before Juliet could keep herself from it, and Lucy blinked, clearly stung.
“Half sisters,” she agreed, “but we’re the only siblings we’ve got—”
“True enough, I suppose.”
--Rainy Day Sisters, 29
Juliet has a bed-and-breakfast ~ Tarn House ~ so a social place in the village as walkers or hikers stopover. Surrounded by farms and hillsides, Hartley-by-the-Sea, population fifteen hundred, is a quaint, quiet seaside village with passers-by enjoying the northern England countryside.
A lot of rainy tea-drinking days interfold these two sisters as they become acquainted as adult women. One with everything orderly and the other with self-expression floating about. They balance each other in a certain way, bringing out the characters of others in their vicinity. Juliet has been here ten years and finds Lucy able to bring others out within her few months ~ mainly because she asks them questions. I am hoping these families will continue in the following stories, and this is just an introduction to them.
I liked the openness in which the characters are eventually able to express themselves, after routine days, one after the other, mundane in themselves. Likely, because someone cared to ask and involve themselves in their lives. Especially with the gathering at the pub for the monthly quiz. That sounded like fun ~ sort of like a trivia contest.
***Thank you to author Kate Hewitt for inviting me to read and review the first book in her new series, Hartley-by-the-Sea, and to the publisher, New American Library, a division of Penguin Group, for sending me a review copy. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***
From the very first few pages of Rainy Day Sisters a warmth enveloped me that is a hallmark of Kate Hewitt's books, along with an atmospheric quality that I love. I can immediately envision the bucolic, remote English village overlooking fields of sheep and fells that I'm reading about. Rainy Day Sisters exudes a comfort and depth that draws you in and holds you there to the end. I could feel the tension between the two sisters, and could see the varying natures of the village's secondary characters that enriched the story. There was a nice, mellow flow of events with an ending that left me both satisfied and hungering for a continuation of Juliet and Lucy's story, particularly as it relates to their love lives, their mother and their relationship with one another. A very enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.
Summary makes it sound like a good book, it's more than that for me.
Starts out with Lucy and she's been humilated not only at work but by her mother and boyfriend. She leaves to go overseas for a few months to board at her half sister that she's not seen but a couple of
She even has a job at the local elementary school. Juliette runs and local B&B and has people in and out all day but the girls have time to spend together where they learn about one another.
They have the same mother and it's explained why they never spent time together while growing up. They have a lot of time to make up for.
Lucy is getting comfortable at her job and the boss...she goes out with a group of people that work there and is starting to actually like the boss-so many have warned he's stern.
Loved all the places described, especially those while they are out walking the dogs, such a perfect spot even during the rainy season.
Some of the English words I am unfamiliar with but you get the gist as you're reading along. Handful of characters makes it very easy to keep track of who is who.
Each of the sisters gets alternating chapters as the story goes along it's cool to be able to find out how the other sister is seeing things that one already described but from her angle.
They have goals they still want to achieve and get over the relationship with their mother, and Juliette sets the record straight on that accord. Family medical emergency leads one of them to leave England, for a short time.
But those plans don't go according to the plan either... more in the series from the same locale are excerpted at the end.
won in a contest
So now we have two sisters who dislike and resent each other but they still need each other. They both need family and need to learn to be each other's family despite their earlier feelings. Their struggle to learn whether they can depend on each other is the major theme of the novel.
The novel is very good. There were times that I didn't like either one of the sisters but once I understood their backgrounds, they became more likable. I enjoyed this book for the story and for the wonderful scenery in small town England.
Since I seemed to be on a police procedural kick lately I wanted to read a completely different genre. This book would be classified as women’s fiction and the setting was absolutely perfect. My
The Rainy Day Sisters are Lucy and Juliet. They are actually half-siblings who haven’t grown up together or had much contact with one another over the years. Their mother, Fiona, clearly favors the younger child Lucy and has shunned Juliet all her life. We find out why near the end of the book but I can say, I was not at all sympathetic with Fiona.
After Fiona managed to derail Lucy’s career in Boston, Juliet offers Lucy sanctuary in her small village, telling her to come live at her B&B and take a temporary job at the local school. It doesn’t take long for Lucy to love the village and the people, especially her dishy boss Alex Kincaid. Where Lucy is fun loving and quick to smile, Juliet is standoffish and keeps her feelings to herself. Clearly they want to become closer and have a sisterly relationship.
It’s a family drama with a bit of romance thrown in. Not the sort of book I usually gravitate toward but I know I would read more by Kate Hewitt.
As a matter of fact, when I opened this book I saw it’s a series called Hartley-by-the-Sea so I will add these to my stacks for future reading.