This latest summer read from Jo Thomas is filled with love, friendship and community spirit.
Has anyone wondered what it would be like to just pack up your life and start over in a whole new country? Well this idea is right at the centre of the new story from Jo Thomas that wraps love, friendships, relationships, family and community spirit beautifully into one engaging and heartfelt book.
My Lemon Grove Summer sees Zelda and best friend Lennie looking to start a new life in Sicily having reached a sticking point in their lives in terms of jobs and relationships in the UK. But on their arrival in Citta d’Ora it soon becomes clear that not everyone is happy at them and their fellow new residents at being there. Can Zelda and Lennie help the fortunes of the community and offer the new life they are in need of?
What Jo Thomas is excellent at is really evoking the places in which her stories are set, enticing the reader with the sights and even smells of the countries that she sets her characters in. It helps the reader to see the places through the character’s eyes and actually help to reveal even the smallest details of the central characters – in this case Zelda, whose impulsiveness leads her in to trouble at times, making her doubt her own sense of judgement, particularly when it comes to romance.
I also loved the sense of community and the challenges that Zelda and her fellow new residents face along the way that form the centre of the story – particularly when it comes to Zelda and Lennie’s pact to marry each other which increasingly becomes uncertain when Zelda meets Luca. It effectively explores what it really means to get married and be in a relationship – with a lovely, heartwarming outcome at the end.
This is a light and breezy read that gorgeously unravels from start to finish. The reader is completely drawn in by the characters , the story and the location that it is hard to put down. A lovely, heartwarming read.
My Lemon Grove Summer is available to buy on the 11th July.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐