Alison Robinson
Sophie Apperley is her family's dogs-body. Looked down on for neither being intellectual nor artistic, she 'merel' cooks, cleans and generally looks after her father, mother and brother whilst also holding down a number of odd jobs (mainly waitressing and bar work), helping out others less fortunate and designing/altering clothes in her spare time. Forced by her mercenary family to look after an elderly relative known colloquially as Evil Uncle Eric, she finds he is actually quite nice (and probably only evil to family members trying to scrounge money) and he tells her about a family oil well which might produce an income if 'someone' could ever unite all the shares and get someone interested in drilling for oil. Years ago a female relative in New York tried to do just that but Uncle Eric doesn't know whether she succeeded. Coincidentally, one of Sophie's friends who works at an art gallery in New York gets her a temporary job as a nanny. At an art show Sophie helps an elderly lady who is about to faint, the elderly woman, Matilda, turns out to be fabulously wealthy, befriends Sophie and invites her to spend Thanksgiving with her and her family at her mansion in Connecticut. The only fly in the ointment is Matilda's grandson Luke who seems determined to believe that Sophie is somehow trying to extort money from his grandmother. From the Cotswolds to New York to Connecticut to Cornwall, Sophie and Luke bicker incessantly - but is there more to their relationship than meets the eye? This is exactly what I want from a Katie Fforde novel, an artistic, caring heroine, a wealthy hero, lovely houses and eccentric relatives.