Thursdays in the Park. Hilary Boyd
Jeanie Lawson runs a modestly successful health food store in London and has been married for more than 30 years. Her husband, George, is looking forward to retiring to the country, but as Jeanie turns 60, she’s not quite ready to be put out to pasture. Plus, moving to the country would mean less time with her granddaughter, Ellie, whom she takes to the park once a week while Ellie’s difficult artist father prepares for an exhibition. On those Thursdays in the park, she meets Ray, who is there with his grandson, Dylan. After the first few awkward meetings, Jeanie and Ray begin to form a connection beyond their grandchildren. As her marriage crumbles under George’s determination to sell Jeanie’s shop and move—and his failure to stiff-upper-lip away past trauma—Jeanie is far too tempted by Ray. This first novel is heartfelt without being angst-ridden and full of likable characters (even the unlikable ones warm up), and readers of women’s fiction will relate to Jeanie. A warm, tender novel about a woman finally finding a place of her own. --Susan Maguire--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.