Today I am delighted to be taking part in the Bookouture Books-On-Tour blog tour for The Last Dinner at Wisteria House by Sue Roberts

What’s it about…

On a peaceful avenue stands the once-grand Wisteria House. Now it’s split into apartments, occupied by strangers who rarely say hello. Could one last dinner party bring it to life again?

Ninety-year-old Alice has one last wish: to fill her new home with light and laughter, just like when her husband was alive. So she sets out her favourite plates, opens an old recipe book, and sends invitations to the neighbours she’s certain need friendship just as much as she does…

Declan hasn’t believed he deserves to follow his dreams since he tragically lost his sister.

Jess has been working herself to the bone to provide for her little daughter and has no time for joy in her own life.

Mark, a widower, has been isolated in his grief for so long.

Over a shared meal, Alice reminds each of them that sharing stories keeps those we love alive, and that time is our most precious gift. As they hug goodbye, everyone feels lighter than they have in years. Little do they know Alice has her own secret reason for gathering them together…

The next morning the tenants receive terrible news. Is their first dinner party destined to be the last? With Wisteria House under threat, can they come together to save the one place that has only just started to feel like home? Or will they lose their little community just when they need it most?

My thoughts…

When the lovely Sarah at Bookouture sent me through the invitation to be a part of the blog tour for The Last Dinner at Wisteria House, I though it sounded like a gentle, uplifting read which I was very much ready for. Sometimes, when the world is a little tough to deal with, the pages of a book can be the perfect place to escape for a while. It’s a nice way to discover new characters and perhaps even make some friend along the way. This very gentle, uplifting read is just that. There was no point that I felt uncomfortable. No matter what was happening in my life or in the world, I knew that I could open this book and I’d be in good company.

The story is about everyday people going about there everyday lives. They are all incredibly likeable characters. I felt especially fond of Alice. A kind and interesting character who has lived a long and mostly happy life and now, in her twilight years, has returned to the house she knew as a child. It is a place filled with good memories for her and she wants to give others a little of that feeling. The house itself has been divided into apartments since she lived here as a child and the current occupants are all too wrapped up in their own lives that they know very little about each other. But, that is all about to change if Alice has her way. She begins by hosting a dinner party…

A gentle, easy read which at times did feel a little moralistic but it was actually quite nice to see those things that you think are generally lost in modern society being highlighted within the thoughts and actions of the characters. Wisteria house itself was lovely (I would love Alice’s garden flat!) and there wasn’t much at all to dislike about the characters – in fact they are all people who I would be very happy to live alongside with and feel happy to call them all friends. Alice was endearing and intriguing. I can understand why she had such an impact on the people around her. This story is all about friendship and the kindness that can be found in times of need, with a sprinkling of romance for good measure.

Thank you so much to the lovely team at Bookouture for providing me with an digital copy via Netgalley. It has been a pleasure to be a part of the blog tour.

About the author…

Sue Roberts lives in Lancashire with her long term partner Derek and has had a lifelong love of writing, encouraged by winning a school writing competition at the age of 11.

She always assumed that ‘one day’ she would write a book, always having a busy household and a job, the idea remained firmly on the back burner but never forgotten.

The inspiration for her first novel came to her on a holiday to a Greek village. Her daughters had left home and suddenly the time had come to write that book!

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Thank you for visiting Tales Before Bedtime today. I hope you’ll come back again soon.

Happy reading!

Shelley

(Currently reading The Brain at Rest by Dr Joseph Jebelli)