A family secret
One shocking argument and ten-year-old Alice Parker’s world was turned upside down. Her peaceful life at Honeysuckle Farm in the quiet rural village of Brook Bridge swapped for the bustling metropolis of New York City. Alice’s life was changed forever…
A second chance
Now, thirteen years later, Alice’s American dream is over. With her life in tatters, there is only one place Alice wants to be… home at Honeysuckle Farm. So, when Alice learns her beloved Grandie is ill, she knows this is her last chance to heal the family rift.
A forever home?
But secrets still swirl in Brook Bridge, and Alice is no closer to discovering the truth. And for some reason her new friendship with local heartthrob Sam Reid seems to be making the locals tense.
Sick of the lies Alice knows it’s time to lay the past to rest once and for all. But could the truth ruin her hopes of ever calling Honeysuckle Farm home again?
Many thanks to Harper Impulse via NetGalley for my copy of A Home at Honeysuckle Farm to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
A Home at Honeysuckle Farm had sat on my TBR shelf for far too long so I decided to rectify that and get stuck into another story from Christie Barlow. Given the title, I went into this read with an assumption that the book would be about rescuing a family farm from closure or else bringing an abandoned farm back to life but I couldn't have been more wrong and in a surprisingly nice way. Yes Honeysuckle Farm could be classed as a focus point for the story but it is more really where Grandie lives and although there is mention of horses etc and summer days enjoyed on the farm really this book provides us with a whole lot more.
Brook Bridge village is in the Staffordshire countryside and it was all Alice ever knew until she was ten years old. She loved the area and all the people who lived there, she was happy and contented and loved living with her Mum Rose and Grandie. But one day that all changed, Alice hears Grandie and Rose arguing over something. Alice has done something that Grandie can never forgive her for.She is told to leave and never come back and she takes Alice with her.
Alice's idyllic life is shattered in an instant and it is this event that forms her and alters the way she views life when we meet her again thirteen years later. Now she is living in New York and from the outset the reader can see she is unhappy and lonely. Yes her mother lives in the city too but they are both struggling financially. They want to be independent but making it in the Big Apple is tough and Alice's dreams of performing on Broadway show no signs of ever coming to fruition. Her childhood spent dancing and learning the arts at Grandie's dance school and where her dreams came to be have all turned to nothing but misery and a struggle to make it through each day with money worries ever constant in her mind.
Alice was a very vulnerable character who when we meet her is at her lowest point. I thought she had reached rock bottom to the point where she saw no way out and really didn't know where to turn to or what her next move should be. She needed guidance and support which Rose couldn't give her. She does have a friend Molly but she can only do so much. She misses Grandie desperately and has never learned the cause of the major argument that led to the separation and as time has passed she is afraid to bring it up with her mother. Rose was very much on the periphery of the story. It was like she had shut down and closed herself off and no matter what happened she was loathe to reveal the cause of the argument.
As Alice comes to the realisation that she is not happy in New York and she doesn't fit in, she knows changes need to be made. But is she brave enough to take the next step because it really is a big one to take? Matters are taken out of her hands when she receives a message from home from Connie the mother of her best friend Grace and the woman who has helped Grandie in the absence of Rose and Alice. Grandie is not well and really Alice should come home to him and see how he is. I was delighted to see Alice take matters into her own hands for deep down I think she knew she had to be the one, the catalyst for change and to be the person who took the first steps towards possible reunification. She flies to England thinking I'll be there for a few weeks but little does she realise Brook Bridge Village has other plans in store for her.
As soon as she steps back on English soil Alice feels secure and contented and over time we can see a return to her former confidence. She became a different character and the real genuine love and affection she had for Grandie shone through. For things have changed vastly in the thirteen years since she had left and she realises whatever went on must be put firmly in the past and her family need to move on. Alice as a character really went though a transformation over the course of the story. She became more mature and not so stuck in the fact that her dreams in New York hadn't become a reality. She knew she needed to move forward and help Grandie and to try and reopen the dance school was a major step in achieving this. Of course there are hints dropped in every now and again as to what could have happened to cause such sadness, upset, anger and resentment within a family unit but I never guessed exactly what had happened and really I was left open mouthed when everything came out in the open.
I never would have thought that at all so bravo to Christie Barlow for pulling the wool over my eyes. I love being totally surprised when I am reading a book as opposed to guessing the ending far too early on. I think I was so surprised because the way the story was written I felt and believed certain things about characters. I suppose the misconceptions the villagers had about certain people transferred themselves into my thought process and I went along with what they were thinking. Which only goes to show we shouldn't always judge a book or people by a cover.
That's what made me love Alice. She returned home downtrodden, yet when she stepped on home soil there was a sense of optimism about her as if change was possible. That she would take a look at every aspect of what she was subsequently told that had happened and make up her own mind. She wasn't going to be clouded by other people's opinions. She wanted to get to the heart of the matter but in a way that wouldn't hurt others but instead allow the healing and forgiveness process to begin. It was great that at first people seemed to be keeping Alice in the dark as to what happened all those years ago as it allowed of sense of mystery to develop and it was like Alice had to break through the barriers to find the source of the actual truth. A lot of water had flowed under the break and at times I wondered could a positive solution and a happy outcome be found at all?
Of course the requisite dash of romance had to be present in a story of this nature and I did think it would be clear cut. I believed fairly on that a certain character was the one for Alice but I was proved wrong and in a very good way. Again it goes back to not believing everything that is said about someone and not judging people by first appearances and impressions.
A Home at Honeysuckle Farm really teaches us that we can't always linger in the past, that we have to move on or otherwise things will eat us up inside or otherwise we can't hope to find peace of mind or life satisfaction. Alice is searching for answers and the sense of belonging which has eluded her for so many years and to discover whether she finds this do pick up this lovely story and find out the answers for yourself. I really did love A Home at Honeysuckle Farm and the only thing that would stop me giving it five stars is that I have read Christie's newest book Love Heart Lane and it was just such an amazing and brilliant read that I don't think anything could ever beat it. But still this book was a joy to read with such lovely themes and life lessons and characters that will find a place in your heart.
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