Ruth Robinson's Year of Miracles

Wasn’t sure about this book before I started it but found it to be a very enjoyable summer read & would recommend it.

I received this ebook from NetGalley, I like books with the word "Miracle" in the title and this one was true at its word.
A woman's story, raised in a strict Catholic environment ....where her violin is her best freind and life, and disappointing her parents ends up pregnant , searching on her future what to do...and finds family is an important role that year and the bonds that help her find herself as she is going through the process.
Her uncles,who are twins, play a main event in not only her life but all the visitors who come stay with them,their cottage farm is almost like a Bed and Breakfast house except they get to stay all year.
They wear their heart on their sleeve,accepting every family member with open arms no matter what their flaws are.
Being a twin myself, I can relate to the uncles (the twins) antics and roles,and Ruth,the main character becomes very fond of them and understands their twin bond.
AN eccentric woman,Blossom...who is a true beleiver of the Virgin Mary image that appears in the Hen House wall, fights every moment for it not to be removed. Deep down, I found myself understanding her bitterness for people but deep down she loves being in this environment of family all around.
The humor and eccentriness in some of the characters keeps the reader glued to the chapters. The ending have a surprise twist and will keep you wanting to read more about these families.
I recommend this book if you want a good happy romance story to read.

Ruth suddenly finds herself unemployed, homeless and pregnant!
Now she has to figure out what to do, how to do it, how to tell her very religious parents... and the baby's father!
While she waits for her apartment to be empty again, she lives with her uncles (twins) and learns a lot about family and herself.

I got my Advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Ruth was brought up by very old fashioned religious parents who were always disappointed in her life choices and so when age 36 she turns up homeless and pregnant her relationship with them hits rock bottom! Unable to cope with the shame of an unmarried pregnant daughter they arrange for her to go and stay with her uncles in their rambling old farmhouse. Eric and Silas are identical twins in their seventies and completely eccentric,.... Silas is obsessed with picking up dead animals from the side of the road and practising taxidermy and Eric is intent on proving that Noah' s Ark couldn't possibly have held all those animals! With all sorts of animals floating around, a mad cleaner and various other people turning up to stay at the farmhouse it is certainly not going to be a quiet pregnancy for Ruth!

A lovely book with great characters all totally eccentric and living in a madhouse but one you couldn't put down until you had finished it

This book was exactly what I needed for my bedtime reading. It was like being a fly on the wall in this family's life and watching the soap opera unfold as they went about their day to day life.
I really liked the character of Ruth and really felt for her, especially with her parents and their views. Uncles Silas and Eric were charming and I could imagine these eccentric older folk living life their way out in the sticks.
I enjoyed the community element of this story and how their house atttracted all sorts of 'waifs and strays' but despite most of them having no shared history, they all participate in daily life together.
The drama was not overstated or 'overdone' and seemed to be a natural part of the ups and downs of an ordinary group of people's lives. It was a delighful read.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. A real heart warming summer read. Poor Ruth how I felt for her but could not put this down.

Thanks for the early review copy!

I recommend this novel to fans of contemporary novels. It was well-written and interesting novel.

An enjoyable, funny read. This is a real feel good book. It is a laugh out loud funny story that is wonderfully written and full of lovable believable characters. This story is about family, love and new beginnings and I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Such a fun summer read! I really enjoyed reading this light, fun book!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book with lots of laugh out loud moments, Ruth goes to live with her adorable eccentric uncles and their crazy cleaner,while she comes to terms with her pregnancy. Her parents also have to move in after a house fire and they all have to deal with the image on the hen house. Brilliant reading.

An heartwarming, entertaining and enjoyable book. It made me laugh and was the perfect read for a lazy afternoon.
It's well written, the characters are fleshed out and likable and the setting is very nice.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Ruth Robinson’s Year of Miracles is the fourth novel by British author, Frances Garrood. At thirty-six, Ruth Robinson is still hopeful of a life partner, but finding herself single, pregnant, jobless and (temporarily) homeless does not seem to auger well for the immediate future. Her parents have never understood her love for music nor her (obviously insecure) career choice (violinist) and, when she turns up needing a place to live, at least for a while, her father (religious, strict and expertly killjoy) is disappointed in his daughter and worried only about what their church friends might think.

He arranges accommodation with Ruth’s maternal uncles in the country and her mother (doormat) goes along with it. But the seventy-four-year-old twins, Silas and Eric, are delighted to have her, and make her welcome even if their housekeeper, Blossom (cranky and irritable, with copious Catholic disapproval) doesn’t.

Although she has nothing but happy memories of her childhood summer vacations at Applegarth, adult Ruth is surprised to find that she doesn’t mind the social isolation and the lack of connectivity (no internet or mobile reception), and begins to quite relish the farm chores, the fresh food and the company of her eccentric uncles. Silas is a budding taxidermist, while Eric is hell-bent on disproving Noah’s Ark. A bit of busking in town with Mr. Darcy, the dog brings in welcome funds.

But then their peaceful existence is disrupted. Initially it is Blossom’s discovery and enthusiastic promotion of an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has a stream of pilgrims flocking to their chicken shed. Later, Applegarth becomes a refuge for various family members and acquaintances, putting them under further stress. And of course, an elderly gentleman, however fit and healthy, is more likely to succumb to a medical condition, to the distress of his twin.

What a cast of quirky characters! Apart from those already mentioned, there’s an absent trombonist, a pole dancer, a jobless young man with an affinity for animals, a gay godfather figure and a retired piano tuner seeking a parent. And Applegarth, with its animals, fowl and shambolic house adds to the charm. While they may start off a little stereotypically, most of the characters soon develop depth and appeal. And Ruth, for all her flaws, is easy to cheer for.

The story is separated into trimesters with a description of foetal development prefacing each of these. Regular sources of humour are Eric’s ongoing discoveries of successive complications in the logistics of the Ark, and Silas’s preoccupation with all matters medical, including a purely academic interest in his own. The dialogue is quick and clever, and the plot does include several miracles, even if they are of the very human variety. Funny and heart-warming.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Sapere Books