Review "On Top of Everything"

Some information

Title: On Top of Everything

Author: Sarah-Kate Lynch

Pages: 316 (Dutch version)

Genre: Chicklit

Published: 2008

Publisher: Uitgeverij De Kern

My Source: I bought this book at "Fnac" bookshop

My score on goodreads: 3 stars (but it deserves 3.5)

Covertext

Rotten things happen in threes in Florence’s family so when she’s fired by her best friend and left by her husband in the space of a single afternoon, she knows there is yet more trouble brewing. And when her son Monty returns from his gap year Down Under it’s only too clear what, or who, that trouble is.

Then the plan to turn her crumbling home into a tea room hits a snag, the macramé at her sister’s house starts to seriously unravel, and why is her doctor leaving so many messages?

Enter Will, a mysterious handyman with a secret stash of chocolate truffles, and soon life – with all its hiccups – is just her cup of tea.
A bittersweet story about life, living and the importance of afternoon tea.

Review
Although I only gave three stars to "On Top of Everything" I must admit I really liked this book. I don't understand why it doesn't get more credit or is more known (in Belgium for instance). Maybe I can think of one reason :p In Dutch the title sounds less "cake-like". It's translated as "Sweet Desire" and holds a lot of people from buying the book. I can see it in lots of eyes when they see the title of the book I'm reading ;).

Sarah-Kate Lynch tells us the story about Florence, a beautiful, happy, married, hardworking mum of 39. She's quite happy with the life she leads working in an antique shop just across the street, married to her childhood sweetheart and mother of a great son, Monty, who lives a year in Australia. Too bad all those good things get smashed rather quickly. Florence doesn't know what happens when she loses her job and husband on one day. Superstitious as she is, she thinks she'll be hit by a third "bad thing". And indeed... A few days later her son returns from Australia, a thing that supposed to be comforting now her beloved man turned out to be different than she thought.However Florences light on the dark sky goes quickly. Monty has something to tell her and it's quite a big deal...If you want to know if Florence is able to get her life back on track and find happiness again, I think you should definitely read the book yourself. I kind of recommend it to chicklitlovers ;)

What I really like about the book is the fact we get Florences version of the whole story, but at the end of each chapter there's presented a short intervention by another character. These other characters are the important people in Florences live. They give us another perspective on things and reveal some more details about Florences character she doesn't want to show us herself. Another reaaaaally lovely thing about the book is the recipe you find in it to make a chocolate-banana pie. The recipe alone can make your mouth water. I'll definitely try it someday!

A little point of disappointment for me is the fact the end of the story got handled too quickly. I didn't like the ending too, but that's just my opinion. Still I think Sarah-Kate could give us some more pages describing the new Florece at the end of the story. On the other hand she provides us some free space to give the ending our own twist.