Book Review: A Country Affair by Rebecca Shaw
A Country Affair
A Country Affair
Rebecca Shaw
Three Rivers Press, 2006
ISBN 1400098203
Trade Paperback
I’m an addict when it comes to the heartwarming sort of small town story, the kind that involves a large cast of characters living unremarkable lives but you can’t help wanting to know what’s going to happen next. You know the kind of books I mean, Jan Karon’s Mitford, Ann B. Ross’s Miss Julia, Thomas Kinkade’s Cape Light, Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts. The geographical setting doesn’t matter too much, although I prefer North America or the UK and, if animals are involved, I like it even more. James Herriot is one of my favorite writers and I never tire of his Yorkshire Dales veterinarian stories so, when I came across this book, I settled down for what I was sure would be a comfortable read. It didn’t quite make it but it came close.
Kate Howard has just taken a job as a receptionist in a large veterinary practice in Barleybridge, a picture-postcard English village where life is generally charming. Most of the novel revolves around the doings of the people, not so much about the animals, and I missed that.  I didn’t like all the characters but that’s okay as it would be a bit too sappy if everybody was likable. Still, one of the vets commits a fairly cowardly act and Kate herself is a tad too naive. I reminded myself, though, that she’s just nineteen so she’s allowed to be a bit immature.
I didn’t dislike this book but I didn’t wholeheartedly like it either. Rebecca Shaw is a bestselling author in England so I’ll be reading the next in the trilogy to see if Kate and everybody else in the village will grow on me.
Recommended with reservations.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2009.
November 24, 2009
Tags: British, comfort fiction, general fiction, Three Rivers Press Posted in: Full Reviews, My Reviews
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