It’s not easy being a grown-up, but at 47, Eleanor hoped she’d be better at it by now…

When Eleanor waves her daughter off for a gap-year trip, she finds herself stuck as a satellite wife, spinning in faithful orbit around her domineering husband, with only her clever but judgmental father Conrad for comfort.

Andrew isn’t mastering the art of growing up either. But when he finds his belongings dumped in bin bags on the drive, even he can see that his girlfriend is hinting he should move out. With no other options, he moves back in with his parents.

Backing onto their garden lives artist Cecilia, living in chaotic clutter and dreaming of her ex-lovers, still acting like a stroppy teenager at the age of 66.

Four lives are drawn together by long-buried secrets of the past, and it is time for them all to grow up… before it’s too late.

 

 

 

 

Engaging & Enticing!     

 

Oooh, this is so good! Engaging and enticing, I really enjoyed it.

With four characters to follow, there is always plenty to keep the reader going with this one. Four very different people, in varying stages of their lives make for riveting reading . . .

I love the way this is written. Unravelling slowly, I found myself completely invested in the story. The characterisation is absolutely fantastic; there are those you will love, those you will loathe (trust me, if you read it you will know exactly which one that is), those you empathise and sympathise with and those you just want to give a good slap! The events themselves are very well thought out and beautifully written, resulting in a soul-touching, heart-warming and bittersweet novel which I’m so happy to recommend. I actually cheered for one character – you’ll easily know who! I can imagine that this author is very good at people watching. Just different enough to make it stand out and well worth 4.5*. 

My thanks to the publisher for my copy and to Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on this tour which I’m delighted to kick off today; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

 

Tags: family life, romance, women’s fiction

• Format: ebook, paperback, audiobook
• Size: 350 pages
• Publisher: Boldwood Books
• Publication Date: 04 June 2020
• Links: Goodreads
•              Google Play
•              Barnes & Noble
•              Kobo
•              Waterstones
•              amazon

 

 

 

 

Author Bio

 

 

Claire Calman (b.1964) has written five novels. Her first, Love is a Four-Letter Word, became a bestseller. Her latest novel, Growing Up for Beginners, will be published on 4 June 2020. She has also written numerous short stories for anthologies and magazines, and has performed her comic verse live and on radio, including for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
‘What fascinates me is what makes people tick,’ says Calman. ‘Why do we act and react in ways that won’t necessarily make us happy?’
She says conventional romance doesn’t interest her. What intrigues her is struggle and conflict – people yearning for happiness, but finding it hard to get there. But she also hates books with depressing endings. ‘Life is difficult enough for most people,’ she says. ‘I want a novel that doesn’t leave me feeling worse than when I started it. I want – not a sugar-coated ending I don’t believe in – but some glimmer of hope, or redemption, a sense of absolute rightness.’

 

Social Media

Newsletter Sign-Up: ClaireCalmanNewsletter

Twitter: @ClaireCalman