May books

These are my favourite reads from May. Only two books this month:

Gina Hollands - Little Village of Second Chances

After a traumatic time in her life, Sarah has moved to the Yorkshire village of Wetherstone to gather herself. The open countryside couldn't be more different to her city life in York. But no sooner has she arrived than she's accosted by a towering, angry farmer who complains about her driving. Once she has recovered from this first meeting, she sees that Irishman Shay is actually very attractive. She wonders why he's so reclusive - couldm there be a soft centre beneath his crabby exterior? Sarah is hiding the real reason for her presence in Wetherfield, and soon discovers that her task not as straighforward as she once thought. Can she really break the hearts of the kind and welcoming inhabitants of Wetherstone? She also becomes closer to Shay and learns about the heartbreak in his past. Now she has some difficult decisions to make, knowing that her own happiness could be at risk.

Santa Montefiore - An Italian Girl in Brooklyn

The novel opens at Thanksgiving 1979, when Evelina is looking forward to hosting the event in Greenwich, New York. She's expecting her grown up children, her grandchildren and her old friends of many years. Her beloved husband, Franklin is declining in health. Now she looks back over her life, beginning in 1934 when she was seventeen years old in her native Italy. The story starts when she lived in a dilapidated sixteenth century house with her parents, her older sister, Benedetta, and her younger brother, Bruno. Benedetta is about to meet a prospective husband, and on that day, Evelina's life changes forever. She scorns love with the naivety of youth - until she meets her art teacher's nephew, Ezra. As Italy's leader Mussolini becomes closer allied with Hitler and his ambitions, life changes for the young people who are drawn into war. Years after Evelina has made a new life across the sea, she believes that she has left her old country with its devastating heartache behind. But the past reaches out to touch her again, and she has some difficult choices to make as she searches for peace. A fascinating account of turbulent times and how it changed so many lives beyond recognition.

P.S. Apologies for the look of the page - the text colour changing tool is not working.