A Country Escape by Katie Fforde

Okay, so as soon as I started reading this book I realised that this set in a completely fictional universe where only good things can happen.  Well, not ONLY good things but even the bad lead to something good happening.  So, I decided to just give myself over to the genre and go with it, leave the brain comfortably ensconced somewhere else and just read for the pleasure of being told a story without those critical muttered comments from the reality demon that lurks in the old grey matter.  So glad I did as it meant I got to enjoy a wonderfully gentle, naive tale set in a weird 1950s-esque parallel world.

To be entirely honest I can't remember too much about the story, in my defence I did finish reading it about a month before reviewing it.  What I do remember is how much of a smile it put on my face and how enjoyable it was to curl up and sink in to Ms Fforde's world - even I did only have 15 minutes to spare.  I also put a 4 against in my reading notebook so I definitely enjoyed it.

What did stick with me was how very peculiar the whole premise of the book was - elderly lady is in ill health and has to find someone to bequeath the family farm to so she arranges to go in to a Nursing Home for 6 months and get the beneficiary in to see how they go about running the farm.  Of course, the closest relative she can find doesn't reply to her letters so she moves down the line and happens upon a distant niece who just so happens to be in a dark place in her personal life and jumps at the chance.  Of course, she has no knowledge of farming so there are plenty of opportunities for pratfalls there.  Of course, the vaguely nearer and male relative turns up and moves in to the farm as well (as they do).  Throw in a years old animosity with the neighbouring farm and you have the necessary mixture to create misunderstandings, deliberate scupperings and , of course, plenty of romance.

Quite honestly, there is nothing vaguely realistic here; even the characters are pretty much two dimensional and either good or bad with little nuance inbetween.  However, if you in the mood for being entertained on a wet afternoon and don't want to necessarily engage your critical facilities then you are going to have a blast with this one.  It is fun and strangely endearing - a bit like the 1970s Sunday evening TV viewing, cosy and familiar.