I hope you were all able to take advantage of this weird and wonderful weather. Being able to stroll around outside in a tee shirt in April has been a real treat but today the lazy wind is blowing and we’re all glad we haven’t put our winter woolies away.
So if you’re chilly and have decided to stay inside it might be a good idea to have something to read, yes? And so it might be an idea if I posted a recommendation.
Right then. This is a book I bought some time ago but managed to lose in the depths of my Kindle. It took me a while to realise that if I don’t tag and add books straight away they disappear into the largely inaccessible files and never appear again. So it was a pity that I couldn’t read it and appreciate it straight away but it gave me a heck of a treat this week.
The Bridge on the River Wye by Adam Fitzroy
I get a real kick out of reading books set in places I recognise, even more of a kick when I know from the start that I’m unlikely to find those weird assumptions – like every tiny English village having its own tea shoppe – that can jolt one out of a narrative. I knew I was in safe hands with this author so just settled down to bask.
Bridge tells the sometimes sad, sometimes edgy, but generally good humoured tale of sous-chef Rupert who has returned from Australia leaving his fraudulent partner in jail, his dog in kennels and his money lord knows where. Luckily for him, charismatic TV chef Ren is glad to employ him again and Rupert looks about him for old friends. One person he particularly wanted to see again was market trader Jake, whose organic fruit and veg is beyond par and the rest of him was pretty juicy too.
What has happened to Jake, why he left the market and what Rupert can do to help him and his beleaguered family make up the rest of the story.
This is such a British story, but I suppose there are parallels to be seen in every agricultural district. Small time operators who wish to sell ethically produced high quality wares are bound to be pushed around by the agri-giants. Town dwellers often under-estimate the isolation of country dwellers and in this case Jake etc are made even more isolated by the presence of the Bridge in the title, the scene of a personal tragedy.
If you like the more cosy sort of mystery and heroes more at home with kitchen tools or a trowel than a Glock and nicely drawn portraits of kids and dogs that aren’t the least bit cutesy-poo, then I think you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did.
Elin Gregory 
[…] “I knew I was in safe hands with this author so just settled down to bask.” Review and ‘Saturday Recommendation’ by Elin Gregory 11 April 2015 […]
Bless you, Elin, I’m so pleased you enjoyed it; as you say, geographically speaking it’s very much set in your neck of the woods – a lovely part of the country which personally I think we should be keeping quiet about in case it suddenly gets overwhelmed with visitors! I’m very glad the details rang true for you; it’s always so much easier to make up a place, of course – far less risk of running into someone who’s been there and can sabotage even your most careful research with a single casual observation.
By the way I owe you an apology for not answering your e-mail a couple of weeks ago; it (together with your address) got lost in the Great Manifold Press Host Move, I’m afraid … along with quite a lot else. (Just one of those things, alas.) But I’m not going to be attending Queer Company this time, unfortunately … my life is just too complicated at the moment!