I absolutely adored this book. When I read the last page I felt I had just lost my best friends. The author created diverse and quirky characters that everyone would want to befriend. The book begins with a group of people arriving at a community centre for a cup of tea and a sweet. They are mostly complete strangers from various backgrounds and of a wide range of age who are confined to their homes or lonely. What follows is the development of friendships that will last a lifetime. The author develops each character separately letting you get to know and like each person and as we are finding more about what has happened to them to be this alone they are also learning from each other. This is one of the best heartwarming, feel good books I have every read. Perhaps it is because each character has a little something that I could relate to but I fell in love with each of them and wanted them to be happy and fulfilled. The story centres around four main characters but with each storyline they slowly integrate and we get to know their families. I really encourage all of you to read this lovely book, it will leave you with a smile on your face. Thank you so much NetGalley, Jane Gilley and AvonBooks UK for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Grab your favorite cup and tea and a cozy blanket and settle in for this delightful story. This book follows several older adults who join a tea club at their local community center for a variety of reasons- some are bored and lonely and some are forced by their children. I particularly loved the story of Stacy who is a younger woman who has had a rough childhood with strict parents. Stacy is able to reconnect with her parents throughout the story and begin rebuilding their relationship. Her mom acknowledges and apologizes for being bad parent and finally learns to stand up against her husband. Each of the characters learn something about themselves even in their old age. This story proves that it’s never too late to change your life and open yourself to new possibilities.

Thank you to Jane Gilley, Avon Books UK, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Afternoon Tea Club is a sweet, low-stakes drama with a plethora of characters and interweaving storylines. Some of the characters remind me of those from similar novels such as The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine; plenty of quirks and unique backstories laid out in a cozy, English setting.

The main reason I didn't enjoy this book very much is the writing style; it was very descriptive, with little dialogue, and contained a lot of each characters' inner thoughts. In addition, I felt that sometimes the characters had unrealistically "sped-up" moral or emotional epiphanies, which turned me off a bit.

Overall, this is a sweet, easy book and I can see many people finding comfort and enjoyment in reading it!

There are so many characters to this story so at first I was a little confused, however on getting to know Marjorie, Stacy, Raymond and Dora (these are just the four main ones!) I was eager to delve into each persons individual story and the reasons for going to the community centre in the first place. Going there introduced them to The Afternoon Tea Club whereby they could meet new people and experience new activities. I found the most interesting character to be Stacy (maybe that’s because she was crazy enough to own eight cats!!)

It was fascinating to see so many people become friends and find common ground regardless of age and background. This is my first read of Jane’s however I now want to go and put her first book on my TBR pile. Her writing is very expressive as she describes the characters and their surroundings in so much detail. I also wanted very much to be part of the club to get to know these friendly heart warming people ♥️ I give ‘The Afternoon Tea Club’ 4*/5* 😊

Thank you to Avon books for an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley

Many thanks to the author, Netgalley and the publishers for a free ARC of this book. Other reviewers have given their own summaries of the plot so I won't add to that. The story is straightforward, and contains no surprises. The characters are well developed. The pace is slow and descriptive. I didn't especially enjoy this book but know of many who would. I won't be buying any more of this authors work, it isn't my preferred style of writing. I would recommend it to those who love a heartwarming tale well told.

A book if you want a no hassle, no nastiness, feel good read

Basically a few lonely people join a new venture some helpers have started which invites folk to join them for tea and cake, there are various characters who go along, Marjorie who now lives with her daughter but rarely sees her, Raymond whose wife has passed away, Dora a restless spirited woman who is air to a family fortune from the hotel business and Stacey,
Stacey was my fav, a librarian and cat lady, the poor love ends up with 8 of them and cant cope and joins the club as needs to speak to more people rather than cats, she has a heart of gold and slips small items
into old ladies bags she sees at the local shop who have little money, she’s leads a wretched life mind and gets attacked more by her cats than anything and realises something has to change
As they all do and yep things do change for them all
And its lovely and wholesome and cute and if your in the mood for it you will love it
The writing is good and chatty, the characters easy to get to know and the predictability that can sometimes be annoying in psychological books is welcome in this book
Am an old softie I guess but really enjoyed it and was everything I knew it would be
8/10
4 Stars

What a wonderful story.Each characters so well written come alive.Their relationships drew me right in a book I didn’t want to end .#netgalley #avonbooksuk

I adored this book! I loved how each of the characters were intertwined and the life experiences they brought to the story. For me it’s the sort of book that anyone could pick up to read and enjoy.

This book was really difficult for me to get involved in. The first fourth of the book was very wordy and went on and on. I sometimes need to make a cheat sheet of characters, if a book has many, to try to keep track of who is who and how they are related. About the time I was 25% into reading, I decided I needed a note sheet. I went back to the beginning of the book and started writing names. Then I began reading again. I enjoyed the story so much more after doing that. Once I reached half way of the book, I was very interested in the story and wanted to know what would happen to these characters that I knew their pasts so well.

Sometimes quite a bit of background is needed at the beginning of a story, and that was true of this book. I think in hindsight, I was being very impatient while reading the beginning chapters. I think it was well written and in the perfect style for this story to enfold exactly as it did.

I am recommending it to other readers, but I would suggest that you note the characters down as I did. I have 23 names written down and I did not write all the character's names on my note paper! I do think it will help you enjoy the story more.

I want to thank NetGalley.com and Avon Books UK for allowing me to go along with these characters on a journey of self discovery. My review is my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC of this book.

Four friends, Stacy, Raymond, Dora and Marjorie gather together each day to drown their sorrows in tea and cookies. All feel left out of the mainstream for various reasons (love gone wrong, dreams that have withered on the vine and fear of being unseen). While their meeting may have been accidental, the chemistry they create together is nothing short of magical, as their little group helps to restore their self-confidence and sense of self-worth. This is a lovely, warm story, just what a world weary of blowhard politicians and global catastrophes needs