February 24, 2025 – My Sanctuary

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break… without their families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need… until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiance with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round…

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?

About The Author

My Review

This humorous and heartwarming novel follows three women overwhelmed by Christmas preparations, who escape to a Scottish B&B for a break. Facing unexpected challenges, they bond, navigate family dynamics, and ultimately find happiness. Meanwhile, their families at home struggle to manage Christmas without them, leading to satisfying resolutions. The story is funny, insightful, and has a perfect happy ending, ideal for fans of women’s fiction.

My Rating

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1927. Violet Mackenzie-Grant is embarking on her dream of studying at the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women. She doesn’t yet know that it’s a journey that will take her to Kathmandu and beyond, deep into captivating landscapes and cultures that are worlds away from everything and everyone she’s left behind in Scotland.

2020. Daisy Laverock has dreamed of retracing the footsteps of her great-great-aunt Violet ever since discovering her long-lost journals, whose accounts of plant hunting in the 1930s inspired Daisy’s own career. Divorced, and facing an empty nest, Daisy decides to embark on the trip of a lifetime. She arrives in Nepal, ready to start trekking in the shadow of Everest. But fate, and the pandemic, have other plans.

Stranded and alone, Daisy must fall back on the kindness of strangers, taking inspiration from Violet’s determination and resilience to keep going in the darkest of times. As she gradually pieces together the fragments of Violet’s story and uncovers long-held secrets, can Daisy finally reveal a path forward to her own future?

About The Author

My Review

This book tells the interwoven stories of two women from different eras, Violet in 1927 and Daisy in 2020. Violet, a student at the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women, faces an unexpected pregnancy and decides to leave the school to embark on a journey to Nepal to reunite with the father of her child. Almost a century later, Daisy, newly divorced and with her children grown, discovers Violet’s journals. Inspired by her great-great-aunt’s story, Daisy decides to follow in her footsteps and travel to Nepal.

The novel alternates between these two timelines, exploring themes of passion, determination, love, and sacrifice. The author, Fiona Valpy, skillfully integrates the COVID-19 pandemic into Daisy’s story, making it relatable and authentic for contemporary readers. The book is praised for its engaging plot twists, relatable characters, and compassionate reflection on the pandemic, creating a compelling and beautifully written narrative about two women navigating challenges in Nepal’s rugged environment.

My Rating