Sisters Kitty and Jenny haven’t spoken since a very disappointing Carvery lunch. Kitty, sixty-two, thinks Jenny is turning grey. Jenny, sixty-six, thinks Kitty needs to grow up!

So when both sisters inherit a farmhouse in rural France, it gives them the perfect chance to heal the rift between them. Except the farmhouse is a wreck, the garden is terrorized by a flock of chickens, not to mention a donkey with a serious flatulence problem!

Kitty is determined to enjoy herself, especially when she meets gorgeous French builder, Leo. Ooh la – la! And Jenny finds the fully stocked wine cellar helps enormously with missing horrible husband Paul – hic!

And as the two sisters begin to repair their fragile friendship, they discover that being bad is actually very good for the soul.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He had also grown a really unattractive beard, which was a shame as he was a nice-looking chap. I couldn’t understand this new passion for face fungus.

 

The newcomer smiled, his teeth as yellow as his donkey’s… The donkey joined in with an impressive bray and Bertrand smiled broadly, showing several more impressive teeth the donkey might have envied.

 

It was surprising the way the younger generation had taken to tattoos; it used to be just salty old sea dogs who had them. Should I get one? I wondered. And if I did, what would it be? A Chinese proverb, perhaps, but no, I had heard of someone getting one that was eventually translated as chicken chow mein.

 

Hugo the Pool Boy… was probably about fifty with a grizzled beard and matching shock of hair that was held back with a pink unicorn hair band.

 

Sometimes, out of the blue, someone comes into your life who makes you sit up and take notice. A person who makes your heart flutter and your thoughts race. More often than not it’s a policeman behind you on the motorway, but sometimes it’s someone like Léo.

 

 My Review:

 

I frequently giggle-snorted and cackled aloud as I made my way through this delightfully spirited and cleverly amusing tale of dueling sisters.   I adore and covet the agile pen and sly wit of Maddie Please. Her storylines zip and zing with sparkling humor and snarky observations. I was highly entertained and resented any interruption to my perusal; I should be ashamed to say there was actual hissing involved at one point. There was one item mentioned that gave me considerable pause and consternation, and fearing the worst, I was compelled to consult Mr. Google about chocolate sardines as I’d never heard of such a thing. Sweet relief, no actual fish are involved.