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An Amish Mother for His Child–family love
An Amish Mother for His Child
by Patricia Johns
What a difficult situation! Adam’s wife passed away. He has been raising his daughter Amanda Rebecca on his own, but now feels he needs a mother for his daughter and a “proper wife” for himself. Verna is an Amish woman of thirty. The community matchmaker decides they could fulfill each other’s needs and perhaps come to love each other in time. Without much more than meeting each other, the two are united. Adam promises to move from Oregon to Pennsylvania, and they set up housekeeping in a rented house. Amanda Rebecca is a sweet almost five year old, and Verna is so happy to be her new mamm. Likewise, Amanda Rebecca takes to Verna quickly as Verna makes the child feel comfortable with the new relationship.
The couple starts out with separate bedrooms and both work to please the other, but it is hard to get communication going. Adam and his first wife had difficulties with that too, and Adam had several traumas in his childhood that hold him back. Verna is fairly independent for an Amish woman, and she insists as part of their agreement that she will continue to teach court ordered knitting lessons to teenagers. The young people have tattoos, piercings, and good hearts in spite of some bad choices. On most things, however, Verna submits to Adam’s leadership in the family as she wants to please him and have a good marriage.
An Amish Mother for His Child details the struggles and successes they have along the way and one big family crisis that occurs. Will they come to a compromise or have to separate? Will they ever be united by love? This is a good story, and I enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Christian, Romance
Notes: #4 in the Amish Country Matches Series, but although I have not read any of the others in the series, they don’t seem to have character overlaps and so this worked well as a standalone.
Publication: December 26, 2023—Harlequin
Memorable Lines:
As an Amish woman, I stand out all the time when I go into the city. People stare at me. It might not be a tattoo, but my clothing shows that I’m different, and I won’t change it to blend in.
If there was one thing she’d learned from teaching that class, it was that she couldn’t change anyone. She couldn’t even make them into decent knitters. All she could do was love them as she found them.
“And you think this is a wise choice?” Adel’s tone said that she thought it was dumber than a bag of rocks.
Her Secret Hope–Amish friendships
Her Secret Hope
by Shelley Shepard Gray
In the course of reading the Amish trilogy, A Season in Pinecraft, the reader is taken on a trip to Pinecraft, Florida, where a lot of Amish visitors like to go during the cold winter months. Englisch tourists come as well, but with so many Amish, the Amish stand out less and have more accommodations for their lifestyle. Three girls who don’t have friends among their hometown peers, end up together in Pinecraft where they develop a strong friendship with each other. Her Secret Hope focuses on Lilly Kurtz who moves to Pinecraft two years later to be with her friends and begin a new independent life working in the Marigold Inn cleaning rooms.
There she meets Eddie and his grandmother who becomes friends with everyone she meets. Eddie has taken her to Disney World, but after that adventure she is ready to rest, have meals brought to her, and (gasp!) watch DVD’s in her room. She is quite taken with the hardworking, kind Lilly and tries to do a little matchmaking. There is already some attraction between Eddie and Lilly. In trying to make conversation and get to know Lilly, Eddie pushes too hard as Lilly has a secret that she doesn’t want to share for fear it will cause Eddie to reject her as she has been looked down on so often in the past.
When there is a traumatic accusation at the inn, Lilly’s friends and co-workers stand up for her, but unfortunately her boss does not. This dramatic twist brings climactic change for Lilly and Eddie. Secrets are shared and hard decisions are made. Read this novel to see if all of the friends remain in Pinecraft and if love can survive the worst of times.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Fiction, Christian
Notes: # 3 in the Season in Pinecraft trilogy, but could be read as a standalone.
Publication: November 7, 2023—Revell
Memorable Lines:
Lilly was beginning to feel like she’d asked for a hot fudge sundae and had been served a scoop of vanilla ice cream instead. The treat was good and she appreciated it, but it wasn’t what she’d hoped for.
Everything didn’t need to have a reason or be a big deal. She really did need to stop overthinking every little thing. All that mattered was that she was making a friend, and she’d learned that one can never have too many of those. It was better to count her blessings instead of worry so much.
No, she still wasn’t falling in love, but what she was experiencing was really good. She was making friends and gathering great memories. Both were things to be grateful for.
Mistletoe Season —Three Christmas Stories
Mistletoe Season —Three Christmas Stories
Return to Mistletoe
by Kathleen Fuller
Emmy Banks owns Mistletoe Antiques in the little town of Mistletoe, Missouri, where she grew up. Her 21 year old adopted daughter Carina and Emmy’s best friend Sheryl help out in the shop. At Christmas time Mistletoe is even more magical than ever.
A Christmas surprise is in store for Emmy, Sheryl, and Sheryl’s mother Maggie when Kieran shows up after a twenty-two year absence from the U.S. Kieran is Sheryl’s older brother. Emmy had a crush on him in high school, but he left for Ireland immediately after he graduated. There he acquired an Irish accent and spent 15 years renovating the family castle. Did he feel anything for Emmy fifteen years ago? Is there anything left to be rekindled? Will he just escape again when life gets hard?
Novellas are hard to write as there is so little time for character development. Fuller made me happy with this one. She filled in all the blanks, solved some problems, and provided a clean, gentle romance all the in the space of one short novella.
A Mistletoe Prince
by Pepper Basham
Most little girls at one time or another want to believe in the fairy tale future of marrying a prince and becoming a beautiful princess. Hardworking Charlotte Edgewood, despite having been told all her life by her druggie mother that she wasn’t good enough at anything, had held on to the dream of a rescue by a prince—until she couldn’t anymore. Raised by her father and an extended family of Edgewoods in the Appalachian mountains, she became an introverted carpenter with the nickname Charlie. She is forced into a leadership position when the manager of the annual Christmas fundraiser for The Wish that raised funds for children who would have no Christmas had to step aside. Charlie had worked with the program, but not in a capacity that would require speaking and managing.
Prince Arran of Skymar arrives in the U.S. to work with Luke Edgewood, Charlie’s cousin who is married to Arran’s sister. His parents want to expose him to carpentry work and service with The Wish to pull him out of a disastrous two year slump with outrageous behavior in response to a failed romance.
When their paths cross, Arran is certainly not the prince of Charlie’s dreams. I’ll let the author tell you how they met and if they were able to overcome their initial inauspicious meeting.
A Mistletoe Prince is a fun, Christmas romance that will leave you smiling and wanting to read more by Pepper Basham.
Say No to Mistletoe
by Sheila Roberts
Hailey Fairchild feels like a fraud because she has a blossoming career as a romance author, but she doesn’t have a stable relationship in her own life. As she says, mistletoe is her kryptonite; a kiss under the mistletoe dooms any possible romance to failure going all the way back to her sophomore year in high school when her neighbor Carwyn kissed her under the mistletoe. Extremely shy and introverted, bullied at school, and crushing on Carwyn, Hailey is totally embarrassed.
Many years later, when Hailey returns home for the Christmas celebration, she still has feelings for Carwyn who remains both handsome and nice, but how does he feel about her? Hailey is feted as the hometown hero with a book signing and speeches. She is stunned to learn that her brother Sam is dating Gwendolyn, her high school mean girl bully who hasn’t changed. Hailey is a very likable protagonist, trying to get along with her brother’s girlfriend, but Gwendolyn is everything a nemesis should be. Still mean. Still vindictive. Still out to belittle Hailey.
Roberts tells the story with flair from Hailey’s point of view. We get to hear what Hailey says in conversations, but also what she thinks. There is also some insight into the workings of a romance author. Say No to Mistletoe is a fun short read. It is the perfect length for this story with its interesting plot. It doesn’t require a lot of background to set up the story, and there is sufficient time and space for all of the elements of a good tale without lengthy character development.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: As a rule, I find novellas lacking, usually in the area of character development. There is just not enough time.I expected Say No to Mistletoe, as the last of the three novellas in Mistletoe Season, to be the one I didn’t like because the other two were so good, but I was certainly wrong. When the publisher chose these three authors for a mistletoe theme, they selected three authors known for their work in romance. These ladies created success with their well-written stories with good plots and lots of fun.
Publication: October 8, 2024—Harper Collins Christian Publishing (Thomas Nelson)
Memorable Lines:
Return to Mistletoe: Her cheeks reddened, and he would have thought it was cute if the tension between them wasn’t as thick as a castle wall.
A Mistletoe Prince: But deep inside, she wondered if her tomboyishness had something to do with the fact that if she put forth effort to look attractive or poised, and failed…then she was only proving Mama right. That Charlie wasn’t enough. And proving her mama right was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
Say No to Mistletoe: Moving away and adulting is all well and good, but their excitement over welcoming me back into the nest, knowing they love me and always will, no matter what? That makes me go all mushy inside and happy to have flown back.
A Christmas Duet–musical inspiration
A Christmas Duet
by Debbie Macomber
If you are looking for an easy and fast read with a Christmas setting, I can recommend Macomber’s Christmas romance A Christmas Duet.
Hailey is a high school music teacher. She has been composing music since she was a child, but she lost her motivation when her expected fiancé popped her bubble saying she needed to abandon her dream because she was not good enough to make it in the music industry. Three years and one destroyed relationship later she decides not to go home for Christmas. A friend offers a family cabin where she can seclude herself and compose to her heart’s content in little Podunk, Oregon.
When Jethro (aka Jay) is sent to rescue her from a “rabid raccoon” in the cabin, there is immediate attraction which only intensifies when they discover their shared interest in music. He used to be in a band and now is establishing his own production company.
What starts out as a quiet, inspirational time deteriorates rapidly when Hilary’s sister Daisy, who is obviously having an issue, surprises her as do a succession of others who don’t seem to understand the concept of being alone.
I don’t want to disclose any more of the plot, but it is fun and Hilary and Jay are both great people. My one small problem with the book is that Hilary’s mother is overkill in the “you need to get married and have grandchildren for me” department. Her actions certainly add tension to the plot, but I hope no one really is as pushy with their daughters as this mother is. Jay’s mother is much more reasonable and for me believable as a character. This is a feel good Christmas romance that I very much enjoyed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Publication: October 15, 2024—Random House (Ballentine)
Memorable Lines:
Not until his vehicle was out of sight did Hailey panic. She didn’t cook. What was she thinking? The poor man didn’t have any idea of what he was getting himself in for.
Since she’d taken a job at the high school, she’d become staid, caught up in routine and rarely venturing beyond what was comfortable. Being with Jay felt like she’d walked from winter into spring, where everything felt fresh and new.
This secluded cabin had more traffic than a Macy’s department store during the holidays.
The Christmas Inn–big city or little town
The Christmas Inn
by Pamela M. Kelley
Riley Sanders left the Cape Cod area after high school graduation for the big city. After college she settled into life as a website content creator and manager in Manhattan. Her boyfriend works an obscene number of hours for a law firm. She thinks she has it all until life circumstances return her to the town of Chatham—at least temporarily. There she finds the family, friends, and community that she hadn’t realized she missed.
Her mother Beth is trying to manage a gradually failing inn with a broken leg. Riley is needed to help run the inn physically but also to expand the inn’s presence on the web to increase exposure and entice new visitors. There are lots of interesting characters in the story with several people reuniting with old flames.
The Christmas Inn is a clean, sweet romance with all the Christmas vibes. Between divorces and deaths, several people have difficult memories associated with Christmas, but they put on a happy face each year and muddle through. Riley’s former boyfriend has a sweet little boy who is excited about Christmas. He and his dad are staying at the inn while extensive repairs are being done on their house. His presence adds youthful enthusiasm to the extensive festivities in the community.
The book is replete with descriptions of the food and drink the characters consume. Everyone likes hot chocolate, and it goes well with the many cold, snowy events. The adults also enjoy a variety of wines and cheeses chosen from a local shop which is located near a bookshop in the friendly town. Riley has some big personal and professional decisions to make in this relaxing Christmas story, so grab a cup of cocoa and enjoy the plot.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Romance, Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: clean
Publication: September 24, 2024—St. Martin’s Press
Memorable Lines:
“We do use some AI here, but not at the expense of anyone’s jobs. We use it to enhance what we are already doing. I don’t believe in replacing people with machines.”
It was a mix of attorneys and financial types. The traders had a certain air about them, a cockiness that swarmed around them. They were incredibly impressed with themselves and expected everyone else to be equally impressed. Riley found it tiresome.
She’d thought they were on the same page. But maybe they were reading a very different book.
Gingerbread Danger–compulsive thief
Gingerbread Danger
by Amanda Flower
Bailey is a prominent chocolatier who owns and manages a candy shop in Harvest, Ohio, with her grandmother. She returns to New York occasionally to film episodes of a cooking show. In Gingerbread Danger, she has just opened a candy factory, Swissmen Candyworks, now selling her famous candy online. Her best seller is Jethro the polka-dotted pig bars, fashioned after her mother-in-law-to-be’s potbellied pig who is frequently left with Bailey for pig sitting duties. Fortunately, Jethro gets along well with Bailey’s huge rabbit Puff and her grandmother’s cat.
A young man falls off the icy roof of Bailey’s candy factory when he is setting up a sign for Harvest’s latest tourist attraction for the Christmas season—a life size version of the board game Candy Land. Is his fall an accident or murder? Meanwhile, Bailey’s parents are in town. Her mother has hired a wedding planner to create the wedding she has always dreamed of for herself, but this one would be for Bailey who really just wants a simple wedding. There are also multiple robberies occurring at Amish stores in Harvest. An Amish Robin Hood seems to be at work. Now Aiden, Bailey’s fiancé, has to try to keep her safe while she insists on investigating; and as sheriff, he is playing “whack a mole” with all the crimes in what should be a quiet tourist town.
Gingerbread Danger is a good cozy mystery, at Christmas, or year round.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1.#9 in the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries. I advise reading some of the other books in the series first for character development, but I recommend all of the books in this series. They contain a good mystery, humor, and both Englisch and Amish characters.
2. Do you like gingerbread? There is a gingerbread house contest for Bailey’s staff that produces a standout food artist. Also included is a recipe for Maami’s Gingerbread Fudge!
Publication: October 22, 2024—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
At times people could be so caught up in their own lives that they were unaware of the suffering around them. It happened to everyone. I was guilty of it myself. Now I couldn’t say it happened to me when I was standing twenty feet from a dead body…
Grief. It was a feeling I knew well…There was a ringing in my ears that wouldn’t go away for weeks. It was as if I was tuned in to every electric hum around me…I was in the candy shop. I was present. But at the same time, I wasn’t. My soul felt as if it was somewhere lost in space.
“I told my husband that I should at least be there to represent the mothers in the district and show our support. He told me nee.” She sniffed. “He is my husband and I must do his bidding, but if he thinks he is getting a roast when he comes home, he is sadly mistaken.”
Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands–connecting at Christmas
Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands
by Donna Ashcroft
This story is about friendship, handling grief, and being controlled by others. Ross feels guilty over his parents’ deaths and his grandmother and older brother Simon seem to blame him as well. Grandmother Miriam is extremely harsh and controlling and has been grooming Simon for his role as Laird since his parents’ passing. Anything to do with Ross warranted only a passing thought.
Ivy Heart had lost her father to a heart attack. Her mother had to try unsuccessfully to salvage his failing business and wants her daughter to never have to struggle to survive. So she tries to control Ivy’s career choice.
There are interesting characters along the way—supportive ones like Connell and Bonnibell, part owners of Christmas Resort where Ross works as an adventure guide, and the curmudgeon loner Grizzle, a reluctant friend to Ross. Ross has two pets: a golden retriever Moose and a wild boar Snowball.
Ross and Ivy are attracted to each other, but Miriam’s manipulations cause trouble. Ross and Ivy have to come to grips with their pasts and what they want for the future.
Ivy and Ross were not really characters that drew me in. I liked the animals in the story better than the people. I found Ross’ relationship as an adult with his grandmother and Ivy’s with her mother to be unrealistic. The expectations of the adults were intertwined, but focused on their own emotional needs more than those of Ross and Ivy.
I enjoyed Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands to the extent that I wanted what was best for the protagonists, but I wasn’t engaged in how they accomplished that end.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #4 in the Christmas Village Series, but can be read as a standalone
2. Contains one open door bedroom scene.
Publication: September 18, 2024—Bookouture
Memorable Lines:
…he turned and headed towards the hallway, leaving Ivy feeling even more confused—because this was a man who wouldn’t speak to his own grandmother, but who’d brave bad weather to check on a friend.
“It takes a brave person to risk love and a stupid one to think they’d be happier without it.”
His whole life felt like it had just been through a washing machine cycle and everything he used to take comfort from had been rinsed away.
A Slay Ride Together with You–who’s causing trouble?
A Slay Ride Together with You
by Vicki Delany
If you enjoy cozy mysteries in small towns, but want a Christmas flair, then A Slay Ride Together with You is the perfect combination.
The protagonist, Merry Wilkinson, owns a gift shop, Mrs. Claus’s treasures while her best friend from childhood, Vicky, owns Victoria’s Bake Shoppe. The story is told from Merry’s point of view, but Vicky plays a huge role as she is a wonderful pastry chef, is planning her wedding to Mark, the chef at The Yuletide Inn, and is writing a cookbook. Mark and Vicky are also restoring an old home that has garnered a reputation for being haunted.
Characters you will enjoy include three dogs with prominent roles. Vicky’s dog Sandbanks is an “ancient golden Labrador” who frequently sleeps through excitement. Merry’s dog is Matterhorn (Mattie), a faithful Saint Bernard. Alan, Merry’s boyfriend, adds to the canine mix with Ranger, his “overly active Jack Russell.”
Vicky is not sleeping well in her new home because of weird sounds all through the night. These noises come to a climax when Merry is visiting and someone knocks on the front door and then the back, disappearing before the doors can be opened. This is a cozy mystery, so expect a murder and lots of suspects including Vicky’s fiancé Mark. I have always found references to extended family members of an ever widening circle to be confusing. That turmoil happens to Merry also as she investigates the various people that might want the victim dead. There are inheritance and relationship issues that emerge too.
I enjoyed A Slay Ride Together with You and will jump at the chance to read more in this series. Delany has written several more cozy mystery series. One I particularly enjoy is the Tea by the Sea Mystery Series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. I started Delany’s Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series with #6. A Slay Ride Together with You is #7 in the series and I had no problem jumping into either book. I believe the setting of Rudolph, New York, with the nickname of “America’s Christmas Town,” is standard from one novel to the next and the characters recur, but Delany does a great job of giving background on the characters so the reader’s introduction to the series is almost seamless.
2. Includes recipes for several cookies and a fall soup that Vicky makes at her cafe.
Publication: September 24, 2024—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
Mattie sat next to me, hoping for some lunchtime tidbit to drop. It never does, but he never gives up hope. A lesson for us all, perhaps.
Jim was a reverse Santa Claus. He made enemies and spread ill will everywhere he went.
Vicky and I had changed out of our wet clothes and were wrapped in sweaters and thick blankets against the cold that seemed to have penetrated into our very bones.
Waiting for Christmas–my new favorite Christmas story
Waiting for Christmas
by Lynn Austin
If you are searching for a Christmas story with depth and that calls the characters to examine the true meaning of Christmas, Waiting for Christmas is everything you could want in a Christmas story. I can imagine reading this every year as a new Christmas tradition.
As a novella, it fits well into this busy season, but contains all of the feeling that can be packed into a Christmas story. Addy, raised in wealth and comfort in 1901, gives up that life for the love of Howard, a young lawyer, the son of a preacher, who wants to support Addy without her having to spend any of her inheritance. Addy is active in the suffrage movement to help lift women out of poverty. This couple’s lives are turned upside down when she brings Jack, a runaway orphan, out of the bushes and into her home before he freezes to death. He is adamant that he is not an orphan because his father has promised to return home on Christmas. Meanwhile, he is desperate to find his little sister, often termed by others as an incoherent idiot. They were separated when their mother passed away. In the thousands of orphans in New York City, will Addy, Howard, and Jack be able to find little Polly? How will the children’s father know where to find them as their tenement house apartment has been rented to a poor Russian family?
My eyes filled with tears several times as I read this sweet, but powerful story. I highly recommend it for a great plot and wonderful characters. It brings Jesus’ teachings to light as the characters find ways to live out His example of acting with love towards others, even the unlovely. Addy finds ways to interact with various social groups in meaningful ways. If you want to be more like Jesus, then read Waiting for Christmas to see how the characters in this book respond to the challenges of helping others.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian
Notes: Novella
Publication: September 3, 2024—Tyndale House Publishers
Memorable Lines:
He and Addy had experienced both extremes today, from ramshackle tenement to rambling mansion, and he marveled that both were in the same city, on the same 23-square-mile island. In between the extremes were his parents’ modest home and the simple town house he shared with Addy. The entire main floor of their town house could fit inside this echoing foyer, yet Howard felt blessed.
Vulnerable human beings of all ages and disabilities, society’s most helpless people, were being forced to live in appalling conditions simply because they were poor and disabled.
“I’ve prayed some pretty big prayers over the years that seemed to go unanswered. And if I wasn’t careful, I could start to believe that God didn’t love me because He didn’t give me what I’d asked for. I had to learn that my faith shouldn’t depend on whether or not God answers my prayers exactly the way I want Him to.”
My Family and Other Animals–adventures of a young naturalist
My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell
Ready for a boring book about animals? You won’t find it in My Family and Other Animals. Since the author Gerald Durrell (Gerry) was a naturalist from the age of two, there are plenty of animals in this book. He observes them and collects them when his family (Mother, brothers Larry and Leslie, and sister Margo) move from England to the Greek island of Corfu. Both the family and Gerry’s collection of animals are a continual source of humor for the reader with responses ranging from smiles to raucous laughter. Each of the family members is a unique character, but they argue and discuss issues until they arrive at a group “family” decision and act on it.
The story is told by Gerald as an adult looking back on Gerry’s adventures of which there were many. Ten year old Gerry was allowed to roam the island with his dog Roger exploring flora and fauna at his leisure. Occasionally, to Gerry’s dismay, the family would decide to rein him in by providing a tutor. They procured several knowledgeable men at various times, but it was apparent that Gerry’s passion for animals would dominate any efforts at education. When they arrive, Spiro, a local taxi driver and fixer, adopts them and helps them during their stay with any needs they might have. Gerry meets a lot of the locals during his roamings and they always welcome him and offer him refreshment as they chat.
Durrell is a wonderful author whether he is describing natural beauty, the mating of turtles, the parties hosted by the Durrells, the quirks of his siblings, or his observations of small, black scorpions living in the crumbling garden wall. As they are want to do, there were often animal escapes resulting in family meetings to decide what they were going to do about that particular animal’s housing. Occasionally animals were banned from the house, but at no time did the family try to stop Gerry’s proclivity for cultivating interactions with nature. They seemed to understand that it was as much a part of his nature as writing was to Larry, shooting to Leslie, romance to Margo, or cooking to Mother. Their adventures and interactions will keep you turning pages to see what they will do next.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Memoir, Humor
Notes: #1 in the Corfu Trilogy.A 4 season TV series, The Durrells in Corfu, was made by Masterpiece Theatre.
Publication: 1956—Penguin Books
Memorable Lines:
The cypress trees were whipped like dark pendulums against the sky, and the olives (so fossilized all summer, so still and witchlike) were infected with the madness of the wind and swayed creaking on their misshapen, sinewy trunks, their leaves hissing as they turned, like mother of pearl, from green to silver. This is what the dead leaves had whispered about, this is what they had practiced for; exultantly they rose in the air and danced, whirligiging about, dipping, swooping, falling exhausted when the wind tired of them and passed on.
By the time a certain amount of order had been restored, all the baby scorpions had hidden themselves under various plates and bits of cutlery. Eventually, after impassioned pleas on my part, backed up by Mother, Leslie’s suggestion that the whole lot be slaughtered was quashed…Roger and I went and spent the afternoon on the hillside, for I felt it would be prudent to allow the family to have a siesta before seeing them again.
The hill-top seemed to have its own breeze, albeit a baby one, for no matter how hot it was below in the valley, up in the three olive groves the tiny wind played constantly, the leaves whispered, and the drooping cyclamen flowers bowed to each other in endless greeting. It was an ideal spot in which to rest after a hectic lizard hunt, when your head was pounding with the heat, your clothes limp and discolored with perspiration, and the three dogs hung out their pink tongues and panted like ancient miniature railway engines.
education pathways 