Review: The Summer Fair by Heidi Swain

 Beth loves her job working in a care home, looking after its elderly residents, but she doesn’t love the cramped and dirty house-share she currently lives in. So, when she gets the opportunity to move to Nightingale Square, sharing a house with the lovely Eli, she jumps at the chance.

 

The community at Nightingale Square welcomes Beth with open arms, and when she needs help to organise a fundraiser for the care home they rally round. Then she discovers The Arches, a local creative arts centre, has closed and the venture to replace it needs their help too – but this opens old wounds and past secrets for Beth.

 

Music was always an important part of her life, but now she has closed the door on all that. Will her friends at the care home and the people of Nightingale Square help her find a way to learn to love it once more…?

Review: Another reliable treat from Heidi Swain. If you’re feeling despondent about the world, or anything else for that matter, this writer can be trusted to show you the light and make you feel just that little bit more positive again. I always love meeting a Heidi Swain main character because they always begin a book at a crossroads in their life, always need a little bit of a pick-me-up and a shove in the right direction again and Beth is no exception. But you know that Heidi Swain is going to look after her. 

One of the things I loved about Beth was how independent she is. This is not necessarily through choice but she is on her own in this world and she has chosen to make the ost of it as opposed to turning it into a sob story. She can see that her home situation has to change and her job situation is not ideal but she takes those obstacles and decides to do something about it. And of course along come Nightingale Square and the residents within. 

Returning to a much-loved location from thai authors creations always feels like returning home and when we have a new character entering that setting you can’t help but find yourself saying ‘oh I can’t wait for them to meet…’ and ‘oh I hope they enjoy…’ because you feel a sense of ownership over that location, that’s the power that this writer gives her settings. It was great to catch ujp on the action in the square again although I feel like we might have been inside almost all of the houses now and that has me a little worried!

As well as helping someone back on the path to happiness, a Heidi Swain novel always has a romance element in it and I LOVED the meet cute in this one. You almost don’t see it coming and then it’s like that moment in The Office where you say “oh ok it’s happening, everyone stay calm’ its a wonder. Another aspect of this novel that I loved which I don’t think has been a highlight of a Heidi Swain book before was music. I loved the musical side of it and the power that music is given throughout the book. I know singing makes me happier and so it was great to see it in black and white on the page here. 

Summery and just lovely I highly recommend The Summer Fair from Heidi Swain. 

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