The Woman At Number 24 by Juliet Ashton

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this book, I just found it to be nothing to write home about.  The characters are clearly written but the main character Sarah comes across, to me at least, pretty bland and fairly unlikeable.  She is a bit of a doormat and I find it difficult to meld her profession, child psychologist, with her inability to do anything other than take people at face value time, after time.  Surely someone who deals with personality issues and mental health issues created by quirks of biology or their external environment would not be quite so naive.

The other people that she shares the Notting Hill house with are well drawn characters and believable with their flaws and good points laid bare for all to see.  It was refreshing to actually have a main character that admitted to not liking everyone and putting on a fake friendliness to ensure that life drifts along with the minimum of confrontation.  Her father had written her a letter which she carried as a talisman and because he exhorted her to see the beauty in everyone this is what she tried to do.

The attempt at creating a dramatic arc is through the time honoured tradition of misunderstandings.  However, this element does not drift in to farce - as it so easily could have done which is a plus point.  Rather it renders the plot a little insipid and there is no real striking "oooohh" moment to hang your hat on.  It is a little like that firework that doesn't do more than fizz halfheartedly before falling over spent instead of shooting into the sky in a shower of sparks and colour.

I did like the Chapter headings with the Confuscian Quotes taken from the daily calendar supplied by the local Chinese Takeaway.  It was a good device for placing the events in time relative to each other and also provided a hint as to where that chapter would lead us.

It was a pleasant enough way to spend a Friday off from work but I just wasn't gripped enough to really care about the people at Number 24.  Depending on what you want from a book and how you like your characters this may or not be one for you.  I can see that this will popular with a lot of readers but it just didn't speak to me.

**Review originally published December 1st, 2017**