Guest Review: A Country Escape by Katie Fforde

Fran has always wanted to be a farmer. And now it looks as if her childhood dream is about to come true.

She has just moved in to a beautiful but very run-down farm in the Cotswolds, currently owned by an old aunt who has told Fran that if she manages to turn the place around in a year, the farm will be hers.

But Fran knows nothing about farming. She might even be afraid of cows.

She's going to need a lot of help from her best friend Issi, and also from her wealthy and very eligible neighbour - who might just have his own reasons for being so supportive.

Is it the farm he is interested in? Or Fran herself?

Review: I was delighted to spot this new book from one of my favourites. Such a lovely cover too - fresh with pastel colours and communicating all things country. The milk churn with wildflowers spilling out of it on the back of the book was a clever touch. It proved to be a wonderful depiction of the story within. It was definitely one of those stories that, once started, kept me coming back for more. 

A letter from a distant relative has the main character in the story, Fran, leaving her comfortable existence in London where she is a chef to live on a rather dilapidated dairy farm in Gloucestershire. There is the possibility that she might inherit the farm from this elderly relative, Amy, if she can stay there and make a go of it for a year. This involves Fran in trying to come up with ideas to turn around the fortunes of the farm. She has help from best friend Issi when she can get away from her studies and from the herdsman, Tig. That's just as well, as Fran is afraid of cows! Amy has warned Fran to stay away from the man in the neighbouring house, but she is finding this difficult when he is also offering her assistance and happens to be rather gorgeous. Added into the mix is a somewhat unwelcome relative from Australia who suddenly turns up also hoping to inherit. 

This is a really captivating story oozing with the sights, sounds and smells of the country and farms. I was practically salivating with the descriptions of the cheeses Fran was making with apparent ease from the surplus milk produced by her herd of rather special cows. As so often happens when you finish a really good book, I was left with the feeling of missing the characters. I would recommend this delightful and entertaining story as a summer read or, indeed, for any time of the year. 

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