BOOK NEWS
Summer With My Sister - Lucy Diamond (2012)
Polly and Clare are two sisters who couldn't be any more different to each other, yet share similarities they're unaware of. Polly has always been driven, and is living it up in London in the world of finance with late nights and partying. Clare is a divorced mum of two children struggling to make ends meet. But when Polly's life is turned upside down, she is forced to swallow her pride and turn to her family for help. Added into the mix is an old flame for Polly, a new career and mindset for Clare, and a family tragedy. From the first page the reader is drawn into Polly's city life and how she has a high-faluting lifestyle, going out all the time, working all hours and not seeing much of her family apart from Christmas. On the other hand, Clare is still living at home, in the village where she grew up and working as a receptionist at a doctor's surgery with her friend Roxanne. I disliked Polly initially as she seemed too full of herself and it isn't until she moves back home that we begin to see why she is like this. Clare is a brilliant character, trying to juggle single motherhood and a life of her own. Perhaps the big family secret was revealed a bit too early, but overall this was an enjoyable read which left me keen to see what Lucy Diamond will offer next. (KD)
Summer with My Sister, by Lucy Diamond, is about new beginnings and an old flame. The summary says: "Polly has always been the high-flier of the family, with the glamorous city lifestyle to match. Clare is a single mum with two children, struggling to make ends meet in a ramshackle cottage. The two sisters are poles apart and barely on speaking terms. But then Polly's fortunes change unexpectedly and her world comes crashing down. Left penniless and with nowhere else to go, she's forced back to the village where she and Clare grew up, and the sisters find themselves living together for the first time in years. With an old flame reappearing for Polly, a blossoming new career for Clare and a long-buried family secret in the mix, sparks are sure to fly. Unless the two women have more in common than they first thought?" Summer With My Sister is out in June.