Reviewed by Emma Crowley
As village nurse Ottilie Oakcroft and her fiancé Heath plan their engagement party, she can’t hide her feelings of pure happiness. She’s so settled in cosy Wordsworth Cottage and can’t wait to celebrate her exciting news with the villagers she’s come to know and love.
But, on the day of the party, as she strings up bunting and fairy lights, there’s a surprise in store. A young woman appears on Ottilie’s doorstep – claiming she’s Ottilie’s half-sister Fion and she wants to be part of Ottilie’s life.
Soon Fion’s feet are firmly under the table in Ottilie’s cluttered kitchen and Ottillie and Heath are spending less and less time alone. Ottilie loves having her sister living in the spare room, but she can’t help but notice that with no space to talk privately, she and Heath can’t see eye-to-eye.
Then a shocking secret about Fion comes to light, one that casts a long shadow over Ottilie’s own happiness and her future with Heath. Ottilie knows that family should come first, but what if it’s at the cost of her exciting new beginning?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of A Family Surprise for the Village Nurse to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
A Family Surprise for the Village Nurse is the third book in the Village Nurse series by Tilly Tennant. Fans of the series will delight that there is another visit to Thimblebury but new readers needn’t worry as this can easily be read as a standalone as the author quickly brings readers up to date with what has previously happened. Although not in too much detail so as to ruin the overall plot for anyone. Ottilie Oakcroft is newly engaged to Heath and is delighted that there are so many exciting prospects in her future. After a rough couple of years she is now settled into her job as a district nurse and she is happy in her home at Wordsworth Cottage. Heath has helped Ottilie find the new her and the trauma of the past is receding although she will never forget her husband Josh whom she sadly lost through tragic circumstances.
I found myself settling easily back into the setting and it was brilliant to see familiar characters making a reappearance such as Flo, Heath’s grandmother, Geoff and Magnus who run the small local village shop, Victor and Corinne at Daffodil Farm, Ann and Daryl at Hilltop Farm not to mention Fliss, Simon and Lavender and Simon at the surgery and Stacy, Ottilie’s best friend, and her daughter Chloe. All the aforementioned characters have their roles to play throughout the story and all add to the sense of community within the village and each and everyone have helped Ottilie establish a new and positive life for herself. The clean air, rolling green hillsides, twisting roads and lanes and the wonderful people have all aided Ottilie in embracing the challenges that her new life since leaving Manchester have presented her with.
As with every book Ottilie is constantly on the go with her job and it’s a real passion for her. She always puts the needs of others before her own and has become renowned for being indispensable and well liked and valued within the community. She never seems to rest and take proper time for herself and Heath. She drops everything when someone is in need of help and support and don’t get me wrong this is a fantastic quality to possess but sometimes I felt she needed to sit back and take stock of her own life specifically the one that she was going to create with Heath. She is a chronic people pleaser and yes that is to be admired but really it’s not healthy to be like this all the time. I think at times even Heath felt a bit overwhelmed with things and left out and especially when someone new and very unexpected arrived on the scene. Saying all that Ottilie also was very hard on herself at times in that she took the problems of others and one person in particular and they almost became her issues when really they weren’t and she shouldn’t have had to fight or defend the person.
As the title suggests there is a family surprise for Ottilie and this comes in the form of Fion. Following a discussion with friends in the village Ottilie decides to do a DNA test just to see where her heritage lies etc. Little does she bargain than a half sister Fion turning up on her doorstep and realisation dawns that the man she grew up thinking was her father was indeed not. Fion literally turned up out of the blue at a surprise party and I really couldn’t get over the fact that Ottilie was so welcoming and accepting of everything. I wanted some more emotions of shock, anger, surprise, nervousness, angst and apprehension. It needed a big reaction and yes there was a reaction but it didn’t have the impact I felt it potentially could have had. If that happened to anyone in real life would you have been as welcoming with open arms now knowing that a huge part of your life as a lie? I wanted her to be angry with her mother for at least a bit but at least that anger comes out when she meets her biological father and that doesn’t turned out too well. But on reflection regarding this entire issue I suppose it’s just Ottilie’s nature that she is kind, generous, helpful and forgiving and that what else would she do? Turn Fion away and not find out anymore.
Fion really got herself ingrained into Ottilie’s life and that of the village very very quickly. Before, the reader knows it Ottilie has offered her a place to stay at her cottage. Fion starts to actively seek work as she wants to get away from her family situation which I could understand when it was explained. But I just felt a sense of uneasiness that Ottilie was being too kind too quickly. After all she barely knew the girl and things could quickly go belly up. Which they rapidly did. I think Heath could see that too much time was being devoted to Fion and that wedding plans were being pushed aside and specific time along for the couple was not possible with Fion living with them. I think at times he wanted to be truthful and honest with Ottilie as to how he really felt but he was being sensible as once words are said they can’t be taken back. There are a few little subplots along side the major plot of Fion and her arrival and how it changes Ottilie’s world and I enjoyed them all. But it’s Fion search for work which leads to the major plot of the second half of the book. At first, I was thinking oh this is all wrong and far too close to home and how can Ottilie defend Fion and perhaps the villagers are right in their reactions. But there is more going on than at first meets the eye and patience and not making too rash a judgment is needed here. I’m being purposefully vague as to say anything specific would give a significant part of the book away.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed another return visit to Ottilie and the wonderful community that she has found herself in. It’s a relaxing, quick and easy read with just the right amount of drama, tension and excitement alongside that cosy feel good community vibe. I did think the ending was rushed as another major event happened and before the reader could digest this the story was finished which made me think there is room for another book to discover what happens next. But since finishing I have seen that Tilly’s next book will be The Village Midwife, the start of a new series focusing on a new character and really I should have guessed at as hints were dropped that a new midwife was badly needed in the village. I do hope that Ottilie, Heath and co do make an appeared in the new series no matter how big or small. A Family Affair for the Village Nurse was another delightful read in the series with lots going on to keep the reader entertained with plenty of emotion, challenges and unexpected arrivals that have you rapidly turning the pages.
No comments:
Post a Comment