The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews

She is the perfect foil for the compliant and gullible Fay and despite her attitudes she works hard and Fay relies on Lija and her amazing cake making skills. She is a frequent user of the f word among other crude expressions. Sometimes as a reader, I just wanted to yell at her to wake up to herself and get a life. What will these changes mean for Fay and for those around her?įay, is a hard working person who too easily gives in the the cares and needs, real or imagined of others.

But then life changes in ways that Fay never expected. And then Danny Wilde with his narrow boat The Dreamcatcher comes into her life. His passion is bell ringing which takes up a lot of his time and is something Fay hates though she has never told him that. For ten years 42 year old Fay and Anthony have been together in a relationship. Fay is always busy, and is thankful for her Lija her Lithuanian assistant, even if sometimes she is less than complimentary about customers, especially 93 year old Stan. Usually the only time Fay hears from her is if she is in trouble or wants money. Fay wishes her sister Edie would come home from New York and help wither mother but Edie is too involved in her own life. She is also carer for her demanding mother Miranda who has taken to her bed, despite the doctor insisting there is no reason for her to be confined to bed. She also sells jams and cakes from the Maid of Merryweather, a narrow boat owned by her late father and a source of happy memories for Fay. Let's just say that I'm glad I borrowed this one from the library.įay Merryweather runs a cake shop from the garden of the family home situated near the banks of Grand Union canal. I read the book to the end because I thought that a book by this author must get better at some point, but sadly it never did for me. Even her Prince Charming was a little odd. The main protagonist was a total and utter doormat (seriously how could someone be over forty and be THAT naive and taken advantage of?) and most of the people in her life are two dimensional baddies like something out of Cinderella. This book however made me want to wring the necks of almost everyone in it except for Stan and Lija. Yes her books are light hearted, you know there'll be a happy ending which you can usually spot from the blurb, and any 'twists' are evident by about the end of the second chapter if not sooner, but that's fine with me when I'm looking for a feel good read as long as the story is still good with reasonably well-developed characters.

When I'm in the mood for chick lit (which is more often than not lately) I've been enjoying Carole Matthews' books and really liked A Place To Call Home amongst others. I usually rate books without writing a review as I generally find that someone else has put my thoughts down more eloquently than I would, but in this case given there are only glowing reviews about the book I felt compelled to explain my low rating.

The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews