Emma's Review: The Impulse Purchase by Veronica Henry

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Sometimes you have to let your heart rule your head . . .

Cherry, Maggie and Rose are mother, daughter and granddaughter, each with their own hopes, dreams and even sorrows. They have always been close, so when, in a moment of impulse, Cherry buys a gorgeous but rundown pub in the village she grew up in, it soon becomes a family affair.

All three women uproot themselves and move to Rushbrook, deep in the heart of Somerset, to take over The Swan and restore it to its former glory. Cherry is at the helm, Maggie is in charge of the kitchen, and Rose tends the picturesque garden that leads down to the river.

Before long, the locals are delighted to find the beating heart of the village is back, bringing all kinds of surprises through the door.

Could Cherry's impulse purchase change all their lives - and bring everyone the happiness they're searching for? 

Book Links: Kindle or Hardback

Many thanks to Orion publishing via NetGalley for my copy of The Impulse Purchase to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

The term, a warm hug of a book, is a phrase that has a tendency to be overused when it comes to women’s fiction on the lighter end of the scale but with this new story from the wonderful Veronica Henry that is certainly what I got and I loved every minute of this fabulous read. The Impulse Purchase lures you in and embraces you and will make you want to read it in one sitting if at all possible. It’s a real visual and sensual story and very descriptive which only added to the overall good feeling I got whilst reading. I really felt like I was there with the main characters as they navigated a new and uncertain path to a hopeful and positive future. 

The descriptions of the food, their surroundings and nature all really helped the themes being explored come across really well. What delighted me even more was that characters from one of the author’s previous books, A Home from Home, were present too and it was like revisiting old friends. Something was niggling away at me that the names and setting were familiar and then when I double checked it was only then that I remembered where I had read about them before. That’s not to say the inclusion of these characters means you would have had to have read the above-mentioned book. That’s not the case at all but really given how captivating the writing of Veronica Henry is you really should read it and in fact everything she has previously written.

The Impulse Purchase tells the story of Cherry, her daughter and her granddaughter and given the title you can guess a spur of the moment buy leads to a major life change for Cherry, Maggie and Rose. I had expected the book would then fall into a kind of fight to keep the pub open and transform its fortunes kind of read. Instead alongside the changes they put in place, the story focuses on the more human, emotional and personal side of things and I think overall it was all the better for it. I’ll admit it took me perhaps a quarter of the book to really have set in my mind as to who was who and how they were connected to each other and what their various backstories and present situations were. I felt there were things left unsaid regarding connections etc. that the reader was left to fill in the blanks for awhile until things became clearer. But once I had things straight in my head I was really able to embrace and delve into the story of three women taking a chance, puting themselves out there and going out on a limb to do something good and in the process it will hopefully help them to come to terms with some things.

Cherry, the matriarch, holds the story together, she was wonderfully written. Someone who is always there for her family and would do anything if they were in trouble but you sense she has lost just a little bit of herself along the way. She has been with her partner Mike for nearly fifty years and now that he is retiring from his work as an art professor another big milestone of change has arrived. Cherry is deep and always listens to her instincts. She knows when something is wrong or when the time is right to just go for it. Seeing something she wished she had never have at Mike’s retirement party spurs something on deep inside Cherry and before you know it she has bought the pub in her old home village of Rushbrook. 

The Swan holds so many precious memories for Cherry and her family and now with her mother having recently passed away and the family home Wisteria House sold, Cherry clinging to one last connection to the village or really given her talent for buying rundown houses and transforming them does she view this as just another challenge? Will this be the most surprising metamorphosis for all involved? Has Cherry’s impulse purchase come at the right time both for her and the two most important women in her life?C herry is impulsive and spontaneous, full of boundless energy and enthusiasm but I felt deep down as much as she portrayed this and loved changing things there was a part of her that wasn’t 100% happy with Mike and that staying quiet and not admitting if there were any problems would only prove detrimental if not acted upon. 

Maggie is the complete opposite to her mother. She is organised and exacting and runs a very successful PR business that specialises in promoting food. But recently she is becoming disenchanted with her work especially when the girl she had employed upped and left her taking her strategies and an important client with her. Maggie wonders what she is killing herself working for if this is only going to happen. Having lost her soulmate well before his time she is still trying to make sense of the mess inside her. She writes to Frank as a way of expressing how she is feeling which is a great way of getting things down on paper but she can’t say these things out loud to either Cherry or her daughter Rose. I loved this description of how Maggie felt her life was going. It’s said that she felt like she was driving around with the handbrake on, terrified to release it in case life ran away with her. I think this sums up brilliantly how we all feel at one point or another. The question is are we brave enough to release the brake and see where life takes us especially as we emerge from the most uncertain, scary and nerve wracking two years that we have experienced in our lifetime. Cherry is presenting a golden opportunity to start a new venture together, to bring about the renaissance of The Swan but at the same time will a rejuvenation occur in the three women?

Rose was the most complex character of all and I thought she was always so down on herself and just too harsh. She suffers from anxiety and the trauma of her Dad’s death plays heavily on her mind and it affects how she operates on a daily basis. She is so wary and her confidence is at an all time low. Knowing that life can knock you off your feet at any point she is tries hard to get back up again but she really needs to accept that you are not a bad person if you are not coping. She finds herself sucked into a dark world that you have no control over, especially when she goes against the rules at a charity organisation that she works at. She has a young daughter who keeps her going but really she needs to dig deep and that you are allowed to have some that makes you feel safe and happy. That you can given time move forward following terrible loss. 

To be honest, I found Rose a very frustrating character. There was so much sadness surrounding her heart that although she was brilliantly written and the way she was feeling was expertly portrayed perhaps it was just the feelings she inspired in me that I wanted to give her a good shake and say come on now you need to move on a bit. Her reaction to the incident at the Soul Bowl charity I thought was way over the top but maybe she reacted that way given her state of mind. Rose was a divisive character for me and I thinks she would inspire great debate amongst any group that would read this book.

Chloe is a young girl whose story I won’t go into detail about but suffice to say she is dealing with her own family struggles and the pub gives her a new lifeline and an opportunity to try and fix what is broken. I loved Chloe for her rawness and vulnerability but also her willingness to try and put right a wrong not of her making that she must navigate each day of her life. All in all this is gorgeous, uplifting read from Veronica Henry and a story that I enjoyed very much. Yes, there is some romance included and for one character I was surprised at their ending because the way it was written I really had expected it to venture in another direction.

The story highlights how when working together the three women can show each other that underneath it all they are strong and capable despite the things that life can throw at them. That through supporting each other with fierce strength, energy and determination that the pub may be turn out to be a success and whilst journeying to this point they learned so much about themselves in the process. I definitely want more from this setting in future books and even more from these characters with perhaps a few additions I certainly feel there is room for more to come. But in the meantime do make The Impulse Purchase a read you buy as soon as possible. If you choose it on impulse you won’t be disappointed.