My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

His plate was balanced on his lap and when she caught his eye, he looked away quickly, lifted his scone with both hands and nervously nibbled the edge, like a squirrel with a nut.

 

Chabela herself was woefully untidy. Her main filing system consisted of a large folder emblazoned with the words ‘VERY IMPORTANT STUFF’.

 

‘The buggers saw me coming and prepared to attack, I know they did.’ Just as he spoke, another bird, high above, let out a squawk and a gooey splat landed on the toe of his boot, followed by a second, a few feet from Liz’s shoe. ‘Right, that’s it!’ Robert was incandescent. ‘This is war!’

 

Señorita Penhallow, You’re more to me than life itself. I would do anything for you – climb mountains, fight sharks, even sit on cactuses.

 

My Review:

 

Ms. Burnstall provided me with thoughtful entertainment by creating an amusing and interesting village full of unique inhabitants, with a few tipping well over into the category of eccentric. Her latest tale was a pleasant escape and much-needed diversion to help me endure the torturous and disheartening monotony of Jury Duty. I much preferred spending my time with her odd collection of individuals while they squabbled, gossiped, celebrated, and rubbed along with difficulties and issues that were not uncommon yet vexing none the less.   The storylines were slowly developed yet easy to follow and held my attention while they spanned the globe from Cornwall to Mexico and back again. And while the emotional tone was not always breezy, clever observations, amusing descriptions, and comical situations were scattered throughout.   I particularly enjoyed the levity provided by the ongoing battle of the birds.

 

Most of all, I adored the sweet heart of the not so simple Simon and was intrigued by his quirks, twitches, and peculiar traits.   Simon’s wardrobe seemed to be coordinated with the color of mulch and his rigid routines and very brown nature seemed to be the antithesis of the lovely and lively Chabela, the new visitor from Mexico whose presence seemed to be curiously shaking up the village.   Culture clashes, bigotry, and stereotyping led to unfortunate misunderstandings but luckily the character of Chabela was more tolerant and forgiving of their pettiness than I would have been. Given the large slate of village characters, I am curious to explore the previous books in this series.