A Year At The Star And Sixpence by Holly Hepburn

3.5 Stars

When I purchased this book I was not aware that it was 4 novellas bolted together to make one story.  This soon became apparent as when you move on to the next quarter of the year the first chapter is mainly a recap of the previous events.  For some reason I found this vaguely irritating.  The other main irritation was that The Star & Sixpence seems to exist in that strangest of English Villages, one who possibly existed in the 1950's but probably never existed at all.  It has all the stereotypes you would expect - including the world's bossiest Post Mistress.  Yes there are multiple references to modern technology but it still felt all wonderfully nostalgic and old-fashioned.

As sisters, in novels, often are Sam and Nessie are polar opposites personality wise and this is underlined by their pasts so we can be in no way unsure that these are very different people.  Sam loves London, had a glittering PR Career and a string of frivolous "romances" but now has a big dark secret that caused her to lose her job and hide away in this sleepy back water.  Nessie is the eternal doormat, recently split from her husband and this is what seems to delineate her character - I'm not even sure what she did before the move except maybe help run her husband's business.  I also suspect that alcoholism has loomed large in the author's past as you cannot go more than about 10 pages without it being referred to in some way.  Yes, we get it that the girls lost their Dad to alcoholism and that Ruby is an alcoholic please stop beating me around the head with it - I think this part of the storyline infuriated me the most, a gentle sprinkling would have been better than the heavy handed seasoning it sports.

Despite all this there was something touchingly quaint about it all - sort of Pimm's on the Village Green as the sun sets in August.  Of course every business venture they try to bring revenue in to the pub is a thundering success - right down to the very exclusive B&B they set up.  Of course they find their true loves within this tiny village.  Of course they win a major award for the pub during their first year.  Of course Nessie's husband has to turn up and muddy the waters.  Of course Sam's secret explodes across the Front Pages.  Of course they realise that their Dad wasn't as bad as they thought he was and had tried to keep in touch.  Of course they save Ruby from her alcoholism.

Somehow I did quite enjoy this book.  Maybe it was because I started it whilst on holiday - couple of chapters over breakfast in a morning - and my critical defences were down.  It is gentle and oddly reassuring, probably because there are no surprises for the reader.  Based on this read I would try another Holly Hepburn book but would probably wait until I was on holiday before doing so.