Book review & giveaway: Beautiful Day

I was sent Beautiful Day by Kate Anthony to review from Penguin and read it in 2 days, no mean feat when most of my reading was done in the bath, and I’ve given up baths for lent! Reading in the shower probably isn’t the best idea so I read through nap times and in bed. It’s out on April 10th, and you can follow the author on twitter.

Kate Anthony lives close to Brighton and wrote this book in the Jubilee Library! She’s a mum of 4 (including twins) and has worked with vulnerable adults as a social worker. This means that when she writes the character of Rachel, who is struggling to keep it together as a newly-single working parent after divorce, you really understand how she feels about what’s happening in her life, even if at times I wanted her to react differently to how she does.

Beautiful Day follows Rachel’s journey as she embarks on a career as a carer for 30-something Phillip, who has never been to school and can do nothing unaided. Whilst she’s trying to help Phillip learn how to look after himself she’s still got to keep her three children in check, deal with an unruly au-pair and a cheating ex-husband. Without giving too much away, Rachel has to deal with some pretty catastrophic events that affect not just her but everyone around her. The way her relationship with Phillip develops is written so touchingly, Rachel interacts with him, her colleagues, her children and her ex-husband in completely different ways but each relationship is given the detail needed to really connect you with the characters.

The novel is definitely a feel good novel, but not in a regular predictable chick lit kind of way, as it deals with some complex and difficult situations. Unlike any chick-lit books I’ve read I actually sat and reflected for 5 minutes when I finished the book, as I think most people would.  Also the front cover illustration is just beautiful, so sitting looking at it for 5 minutes was fine by me!

I have a paperback copy to give away so if you fancy winning a copy for yourself when Beautiful Day is released on 10th April just enter below:

 

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14 thoughts on “Book review & giveaway: Beautiful Day”

  1. aww, to bad, I do not see this if only to UK readers only 🙂 please remove my entry.
    however I would like to suggest you to read Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh’s ^_~

  2. Wow this book sounds like something relevant to both my work and person life! I might actually even get round to reading it. Definitely adding it to my wishlist!

  5. I envy your ability to have time to read. I’ve entered this competition purely to give me a kick to read again! Hmmm book recommendation… Erm… How about…. The Call the Midwife books are pretty good 🙂 x

  6. This book sounds interesting, I would love to give it a read. Me Before You is an amazing book, although being a book-worm you may have already read that one! xx

  8. I wasn’t sure I would like this book when I was given it but I actually read it all one night in bed and ended up wanting to read more to find out what happens to them all. It is a really lovely book.

    The Mouseproof Kitchen by Saira Saha

    A heartbreakingly honest and funny autobiographical novel about family, love and life in rural France

    Anna knows that if you want something really badly, you have to plan it. After all, she’s a chef. To make a béchamel sauce, you need the right ingredients in the right quantities, at the right time.

    So when she gets pregnant, she plans a perfect new life in Provence for her perfect new baby.

    But Anna and Tobias are plunged into every new parent’s nightmare, as they learn that their daughter Freya has been born with profound mental and physical disabilities. Tobias, who loves all humankind, says he can’t love this child. Anna too has grave doubts, but she’s physically unable to let go of her baby. So she manages to persuade him to carry on with their move to France and take Freya along, just until she can bear to give her up.

    The family ends up in a decrepit, mouse-infested farmhouse in the Languedoc – where they become a magnet for the odd and the damaged. Surrounded by a wonderful cast of eccentrics and the riches of French life and cooking, Anna is determined to get her life back on track, or at least to rid the kitchen – her sanctuary – of the mice that infest it. But the more she tries to impose her will upon the situation, the more it spirals away from her. And what none of them can predict is that Freya, just by being herself, will have a profound impact on everybody’s lives.

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