Keeping Up Appearances is an enjoyable weekend read. It centres around single mother, Paige, who relocates to the small town of Badara in country South Australia. Paige wants to make a fresh start. She also wants to escape from the perceived dangers that she feels her family is threatened by. As with any small rural town it is hard to make friends initially. Paige solves this by going to a women's fitness class and not only makes friends but obtains a supply of baked goods through the generous women of the club.
It is difficult to keep secrets in small country towns. Unfortunately some big secrets were uncovered through a time capsule. Everyone in town is on edge, friends are not trusted.
My only criticism of this book is that the the social problems mentioned are more in keeping with the views of the 1980s and 1990s. I would like to think that we have moved on, even small towns.
I have also really enjoyed Patricia Stringer's historical books, Heart of the Country, Dust on the Horizon and Jewel in the North.

An enjoyable domestic drama set in rural South Australia. Single mother Paige moves to Badara, a typical small town where everyone knows everyone else or at least thinks they do. What’s gossip and what are real secrets are gradually revealed. At first I thought there were way too many characters but they do become more distinct as the story progresses.

Sorry, this was as slow as a wet weekend. This is the first book I've read by Tricia Stringer - she's been recommended to me by others with similar interests (e.g. who like Sally Hepworth, Rachel Johns, Lisa Ireland) but this was worse than watching paint dry.

Throughly enjoyed this new offering from author Tricia Stringer.
Set in a small fictitious town near the coast, it centres around a small group of women of various ages, including single Mum Paige, who has moved to the county hoping for a better life for her children.
Most of these women have grown up in the town Badara and we find there is not a lot of love lost between some of them. They come together for a weekly exercise class and with the town hall needing repairs, it is suggested that the time capsule that was buried 50 years ago should be dug up.
But some secrets were written in and buried in that capsule and to reveal them will create a lot of grief for some.
This is just a lovely story about community and inclusion. Interesting how some may never be friends but just rub along and old jealousies don’t disappear, they just get buried too.
One to get immersed in.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read

This is a lovely novel about talking through your problems, community and of starting over. Paige has moved to the small country town of Badara with her three children. She has suffered a lot of heart ache and needs to make a new start. Marion and Briony are sisters in law, but have a prickly relationship, with Briony determined to keep up appearances. This is a novel of how these women and their families lives intertwine and how they help each other see through their problems with help and support from each other and the community. I enjoyed this novel very much and think it’s the best of Tricia Stringer’s work that I have read. Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.

Keeping Up Appearances is a tale of love, friendship and family secrets in small town Australia. When Paige moves to the small community she wonders what she's let herself in for, but as she gets to know the locals, she discovers that she isn't the only one with a few secrets to hide. Small towns breed gossip - and often what they don't know about someone, they make up .. can the community of Badara survive the bombshells that are coming!? Another fantastic offering by Tricia Stringer!

Thank you to @Netgalley and @harlequinaus for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Living in a small rural community can be a little like living in a time capsule, so it’s apt that a time capsule is a centrepiece in Keeping Up Appearances.
This story grabbed me right from the beginning. While there is a whole host of characters, and while a couple of times I struggled to remember who was who (which I do in real life, to be fair), their stories were all believable.
The story covers a few important issues, such as sexuality and drugs, as well as, as the title says, keeping up appearances. There were a couple of plot points I wondered if they were going to lead somewhere, that didn’t, so now I’m hoping there might be a follow-up book.
A very enjoyable and insightful read, iconicly Aussie, and I found much satisfaction when turning the last page.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Paige has taken her three children and moved from Melbourne to a small country town to start over and escape pressures and threats. Bu this story is about so much more than Paige and her troubles. A great story about small country town life and all its associated challenges. Along with dealing with all the personalities and associated gossip and opinions, this story lets you in to the personal struggles each of us go through, with no judgement and plenty of understanding. Each character is well rounded and each has their own appeal. A really good read, and quite thought provoking.

Thank you, NetGalley and harlequin Australia for providing me with this uncorrected proof of Keeping Up Appearances by Tricia Stringer.
Paige and her 3 children have recently arrived in Badara, a small town in South Australia, to escape her previous life in Victoria. She joins an exercise class and soon becomes involved in the life in a small town with all thei comings and goings.
The characters in Tricia's book are all very believable and engaging as the problems they face plus with so many residents related to each other.
This is a book I will recommend to my friends. Having grown up in a small country town I could certainly relate to the story and characters and couldn't put it down. Always a sign of a good read when you are sad when you finish the last page. Tricia's book never disappoint and I think this one is now my favourite.

Keeping Up Appearances by Tricia Stringer is a good feel, relaxed and enjoyable read. Set in rural South Australia in a fictitious small town called Badara with a larger coastal town not too far away, the story revolves around the people who live there, their interrelationships and the joys and sadness of their lives. With a wonderful range of characters the essential element of the story is expressed very accurately in the title - keeping up appearances which some of the members of the community adhered to while there are some that sought to break that down and let secrets be known and shared.

An enjoyable read which I would recommend.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Harlequin Australia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

‘It’s not easy to disappear.’

A small country town in South Australia provides the setting for Ms Stringer’s latest novel. Badara is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, and many families are linked by marriage. Will it be the perfect place for single mum Paige and her three children to find refuge? There’s an exercise class at the Badara Hall which Paige attends. But when the hall is closed for urgent repair work, Paige finds herself hosting the class at her rental home (which used to be the bakery). While she’s fearful of being judged by the women of the town, Paige finds kindness and generosity.

Two of the main characters, Marion and her sister-in-law Briony, have issues of their own to deal with. Briony’s eldest daughter has returned home because of marital problems, and her son Blake delivers a bombshell of his own. And while the town is looking to raise money to repair the Hall, Marion’s not too keen on one of the ideas being floated: the opening of a time capsule at the ‘Back to Badara’ celebrations. What will people think of Marion’s contribution to the time capsule fifty years earlier? And how can Briony hold her head high if her family’s dirty linen is aired in public?

Ms Stringer includes several different and important issues in this novel. I won’t list them, best to read the story and let the issues unfold as you come to know the characters.

I became caught up in this story, hoping that Paige could find security and happiness, that Briony would come to realise that there are more important things in life than what other people might think, and that Marion would find her own space. There are other characters as well, each with his or her own history and concerns. Ms Stringer took me into their world, and I was most reluctant to leave it when I finished reading.

Highly recommended.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Keeping up appearances is another fabulous book by Tricia Stringer with believable characters that will make you laugh and make you cry.

This time we find ourselves in the small country town of Badara where, like in many small towns, most of the residents are related in one way or another.

The Badara town hall is in desperate need of some repair work, the exercise class that recently retired local teacher Marion has tried to get started is in danger of being cancelled, both because of the state of the hall floor (and the plaster that keeps falling from around the doors) and because the instructor insists that for anything less than eight participants it’s not worth her while driving to Badara to conduct the class.

A decision to hold a Back to Badara fifty years later fundraising event to raise money to repair the roof, and the decision to open the time capsule buried in 1970 sets in motion a series of events that will have a devastating effect on community relationships.

Meanwhile, a stalwart of the community, Briony, is dealing with her own minefield. Her oldest daughter Chelsea has arrived home unexpectedly having left her husband who has a serious drug habit, her son Blake arrives from London with some surprising news of his own, and even her youngest Maddie throws a curveball. As she watches her perfect family crumble can Briony get past what others will think of her in order to provide her children the love and support they deserve?

And then there is Paige, a single mother with three children, recovering from the traumatic death of the love of her life, dealing with in-laws who threaten to tear her family apart, and running to Badara to hide. Will she ever fit into the community? Can she learn that friendship and support are not charity? And will she be able to open her heart and allow love back in?

Highly recommended, a five-star read from me.

Loved this book. stringer has done a wonderful job, it is so heartwarming and very country town Australia.
Paige has moved herself and 3 children away to a remote country town to get away from her eldest boy’s grandparents. She has struggled being a single mother after tragedy hits her from all over.
She meets wonderful ladies in the community who also have their struggles.
Over time friendships form and Paige’s life seems to get better.
I just wish the ending of the story had more too it, rather than just a paragraph.
Highly recommend this book

The small country town feeling of everyone knowing each other (and gossiping about each other) is captured so well in this novel - both the good sides of that community intimacy, and the bad sides (how tensions and long-held grudges can simmer under the surface).

We see Badara through the eyes of Paige, the newcomer from the city, and also several local women, as we get to know their histories and the secrets they're all trying to keep from one another. The story unfolds warmly and gently as Paige gradually opens up to the community trying to welcome her, and the women of Badara open up to one another. A lovely optimistic story about communities and family.

Living in a small rural town can have its challenges. Inter-related families, the stress of keeping small businesses and farms working, and the threats that some people see to their ‘traditional’ ways of life. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to town to sort through the complexities and offer a different way of looking at the community.

Paige is that newcomer. A single mother of three, each to a different father, she is looking for privacy away from the demands of the city. She arrives in Badara, a small Australian country town where everyone knows each other’s business. Or do they?

Trying to deal with the demands of three young children and loneliness, she joins the fledgling Tuesday exercise class. Fearing judgement from the other women there, she finds instead kindness and an overwhelming number of baked goods.

This is not only Paige’s story, though. As secrets become revealed throughout the town, it is how the characters react and support each other that is the strength of this novel.

I enjoyed this story. It’s an easy read and you know the ending will be positive. Tricia Stringer has written an insightful story about keeping up appearances and the pressure it creates.

Thank you to Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Another 5 star read from Tricia Stringer.

In this novel Stringer takes us to the South Australian town of Badara. Here we are introduced to newcomer Paige, a single mother with three children and the townsfolk Marion and Len Addicot, Briony and Vince Hensley and their three adult children, Dane and Sarah Townsend and a plethora of other townspeople. Everyone in Badara is connected in some way.

After attending a local fitness class Paige doesn’t know if she will fit and takes some time adjusting to the country hospitality, which she initially sees as charity.

Throw in a time capsule from 50 years ago, and secrets of each of the Badara residents are slowly revealed. Proofing you never know what goes on behind closed doors.

An excellent read. Stringer explores family dynamics like no one

Tricia Stringers latest book ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ is very close to what living in a small rural town is like. Nearly everyone is related somehow and everyone knows everyone else’s business.

I found it an easy and enjoyable story to read although I found the part about being embarrassed by having a gay son a bit outdated although I guess it’s a generational thing.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book..

Paige and her children move to a small town, Badara, in South Australia. She meets new people, but is tentative and reluctant to join in with them socially for her own reasons.

Everyone in town seems to know everyone else’s business, which makes things pretty claustrophobic for Paige.

High maintenance Marion has recently retired as a teacher, and is bored. She starts to organise a keep fit class in the rundown town hall. She bullies her relative, Briony, to attend, and other residents join. Paige joins, as does the quiet and private Sarah. There are “pooled lunches” after the classes, which some members eschew. I’d be eschewing them as well if I were a Badara resident!

Everyone has their own family problems. Not everyone, understandably, wants to discuss them.
To fundraise for rejuvenating the dingy town hall, the women hold a “Back to Badara” Festival, initially held 50 years earlier. This poses issues for certain members, whose secrets may be revealed.

Revelations of children being gay, the news not being received well by those supposed to love them, of Meth taking and its damaging fallout, etc, abound.

The characters are well drawn. The interactions and arguments between the women are very well covered. This is an engaging story about small town life; the loyalty, the petty feuds, the jealousy, and the inevitable face saving that occurs.

This is a well written book that I read in a short time, which I would recommend to others.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for giving a frank review.

Loved this book, it kept me interested to keep reading to the end. I will be on the look out for more from this author. Recommend this book. Five stars.

This is my first Tricia Stringer book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Real, relaxing and relatable. It’s truly Australian and could be set in any small Australian country town. I look forward to reading more of her work.