The House Of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond

It took me a while to get in to this book.  Initially it all feels a little bit doom and gloom and a little bit "worthy" and I really didn't think I was going to get what I want from this genre of book - lighthearted enjoyment.  Still, I am not one to be defeated by a book (even if it takes me multiple attempts over a number of years I ALWAYS finish I book) so I persevered and I am so glad I did.

We start off with the inhabitants of 11 Duke Street and the passive aggressive notices posted by their landlady Angela.  Georgie is just moving in with her boyfriend - she has left her Yorkshire roots behind and is moving in with him to this flat whilst he is on a 6 month job in Brighton.  Much of this story is about Georgie and she is very definitely a connecting force between the various feminine inhabitants of 11 Duke Street.  When she strikes it lucky and gets a freelance job at a local free paper it nearly destroys her relationship but brings her friendships.

Rosa is licking her wounds from a failed relationship with a lying cheat of a man and  is reinventing herself as a trainee chef at a [restigious local hotel (the somewhat exotically name Zanzibar).  Charlotte is a solicitor and has moved to Brighton to escape the loss of her baby daughter and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage.  Jo lives with her daughter Bea and they are jogging along quite nicely apart from the slight problem of her ex-husband.  The best resident of all though is the wonderful elderly French lady who dominates the top floor, Margot.  Full of life and with a healthy regard for love she has invaluable advice for one young resident that changes her life for ever.

Now you see why it's all a bit grim to start with.  Some of the backstories are genuine emotive and written with such empathy you can immediately identify with the character and feel their pain.  Fortunately life moves on and so do these women, they don't all get a wonderful "walking in to the sunset" happy ending but they are certainly very different people when we get to the end of the book.

A Fortune Teller once told Rosa to "grab the joy" and that is what this is about.  It doesn't give you unbelievable eternally optimistic characters that believe if life gives you lemons you make lemonade, it gives you damaged people who manage to find their own version of happiness.  It achieves something that publishers often tout a book does, but rarely achieves, it uplifts you.

This would have been a 5 star review but there are a few issues simply glossed over that are mentioned once and then it appears the author forgot them.  Maybe they weren't that important in the grand scheme of things but it would have been nice to flesh them out a little bit more - I'm looking at "The House Of Fallen Women" here and what happened after Georgie's article went to print.  It is touched on only once after the publication and then left to die it's own quiet death.  A few smatterings of typos here and there but nothing too bad considering what often gets published these days but just enough to knock off that final half a star.

If you want a book that will put a genuine smile on your face then this one should do the trick very nicely.

**Review originally published January 25th, 2018**