It's my turn on the BlogTour This Changes Everything by Helen McGinn.
About the Author
Helen McGinn is a much-loved wine expert on TV and in print and an international wine judge. She spent ten years as a supermarket buyer sourcing wines around the world before setting up her award-winning blog (and best-selling wine book) The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club. She is the drinks writer for the Daily Mail and regularly appears on TV’s Saturday Kitchen and This Morning. Helen lives in the New Forest and Boldwood are publishing her debut women’s fiction title in Spring 2021.
About the book
Should first love be left in the past, or is first love, forever love...
Sisters Annie and Jess are used to their mother Julia being spontaneous. But when Julia announces she’s flying off to Rome to meet her first love Patrick, whom she hasn’t seen for fifty years, it's an adventure too far. So, her daughters decide the only way to keep Julia safe, is to go too – without actually telling their mother she has chaperones!
Julia and Patrick’s love story was everything – epic, once-in-a-lifetime, with a tragic ending and life-long consequences. First love is hard to forget, but sometimes, just sometimes, life delivers a chance to rewrite your story.
As the eternal city of Rome works its magic, old secrets, old friends and old loves become new possibilities and new dreams. And when the four travellers return home, nothing will ever be the same again.
Join Helen McGinn for a timeless, joyous, unforgettable journey through love, family, and long-forgotten dreams. A novel to hold to your heart and treasure, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Cathy Kelly and JoJo Moyes.
Review
Julia decides on the spur of a moment to meet someone she left behind a long time ago. Her first experience of love still brings back a multitude of emotions, and not all of them are happy ones. Her daughters are less than thrilled by the impulsive actions of their mother and decide to intervene.
I can't decide whether Annie and Jess are just too protective and judgemental when it comes to their mother. It's an adult child thing, a phenomenon specific to the adult children and their handling of their parents. It's as if said parents lose their status when children get to a certain age and the tables are suddenly turned. Suddenly the children start parenting the aged parents. How very annoying.
Julia's daughters think they are saving their mother from heartache or worse, depending on how much their imagination is working overtime. Something as innocent as meeting your first love after many decades couldn't really cause any harm could it? It's fair to say that none of them are expecting their lives to completely change forever, and yet they do.
McGinn creates an entertaining balance between comedy, heartache, family dysfunction and the implosion of family secrets. I really enjoyed the interfering daughters and wondered whether I myself would be likely to do the same. The way the reader is drawn into the surroundings, regardless of whether it is in Rome or England.
Buy Ruthless Women at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Boldwood Books pub date 5 Feb. 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Waterstones.
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