Today I am pleased to welcome Faith Bleasdale to my blog to celebrate the publication of her new novel A Year at Meadowbrook Manor.
One divided family, one life-changing year…
Harriet Singer hasn’t been home in ten years. When her beloved dad dies suddenly, she races to be there for her estranged siblings, despite the memories it brings back.
Then Harriet learns that all four Singer siblings must live together for one year, caring for their dad’s Animal Sanctuary, or forfeit their inheritance.
Living under the same roof could make or break the family, but it’s time Harriet stopped running and faced her past. Especially when her first love turns up…
A heart-warming story about love, hope and family, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Heidi Swain
I really enjoyed A Year at Meadowbrook Manor, a lighthearted read which I lost myself in over a weekend. It is one of those books that transports the reader to a idyllic English countryside village, within which live characters who become friends. The story was one within which I became engrossed and found myself laughing out loud.
The publishers, Avon Books, have shared with me an extract to get my blog readers hooked with the everyday life of Meadowbrook Manor .........
‘OK, well we have chickens over there.’ He pointed to another
field which held a very elaborate looking henhouse as well as space for them to
run. ‘They’re all ex-battery hens but they do lay eggs – at times – and we try
to rescue as many chickens as possible. They come to us in such a dreadful
state but we mostly get them happy and healthy again. Although, and you have to
get used to this, we do lose some of our animals.’
‘I guess they all have names too?’ Harriet asked. She hated to
think about the cruelty aspect to the sanctuary, or animals dying. She knew it
went on but she didn’t want to give herself nightmares. She might be a
hard-nosed city woman but she had a heart. It was just a bit of a well-kept
secret at the moment.
‘All named after Jane Austen characters, one of our staff,
Jenni, is a huge fan so we let her name them. And she can tell them apart, but
the rest of us get them mixed up.’
‘The chickens look kind of the same to me,’ Harriet said,
looking at them.
‘Don’t
tell Jenni that. There are also some geese, they sort of roam around, they’re
quite tame, so you can approach them but don’t scare them. And in the far field
two Highland bulls.’ He pointed and she looked across. They were enormous, and
quite magnificent with their horned heads and shaggy coats. ‘They’re best
friends. About a year ago I had a call about them and, well, it wasn’t easy as
they aren’t always the friendliest of animals but we managed to get them here.
They clearly adore each other, barely leave each other’s side, but they can be
aggressive to any other animal and some humans, although they’re fine if you
approach them properly. Still, we keep them on their own, we named them Elton
and David.’
‘Gay bulls? Are you joking?’ Harriet looked at Connor but he had
already turned his attention to other animals.
‘And if you look at the far side of the field just beyond the
ponies, you’ll see that in the shelter we have our blind sheep and her guide
lamb. Agnes and Abigail.’ Harriet looked to where Connor pointed and saw two
white dots.
‘How come she’s blind?’
‘She was attacked by a crow when she was pregnant, blinded, but
she managed to deliver a healthy baby and the lamb, Abigail, became her “guide
lamb”. No good to the farmer so he brought them to us. They trot around
together quite happily, it’s very sweet, but we do take extra special care of
them, almost like domestic pets.’
‘God, Connor, the stories, they’re quite sad.’ Harriet wiped
fresh tears from her eyes, for someone who never cried she was suddenly finding
it a bit too easy. Poor heartbroken Romeo, the neglected gay cows, the blind
sheep and her lamb who took care of her, the ex-battery hens, not to mention
the domestic animals. It was so, so tragic. No wonder her father had invested
so much in this.
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