A Wedding in the Country: An feel-good escapist romcom from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Warning - this book is set in the 1960s. Lizzie is a sheltered Home Counties middle-class girl who comes to London in 1963 to attend Cookery School in her mother's fervent hopes that she will then be able to catch Mr Right (eg a man in a well-paid job). If you have ever seen the start of the film Thoroughly Modern Millie, the start of this book is very similar as Lizzie gets a radical new asymmetric hair cut and Dolly Bird clothes (strange that Lizzie thinks that being a Dolly Bird is glamorous and something to aspire to!). At first Lizzie is living with her aunt Gina in up-market Chelsea but when that falls through she ends up sharing a dilapidated house in Belgravia with two of her classmates, a small dog and an actor. See the swinging sixties through the eyes of a young woman as she leaves home for the first time. Can she forge a life for herself in London, gasp and get a job, or will her mother get her engaged and married off in no time? Setting this book in the 1960s works well for Katie Fforde's brand of heroine, because they are always artistic (Lizzie is a genius with a sewing machine and she has a talent for arranging flowers), and slightly innocent, ie married at a young age or only ever had one serious boyfriend, ill-at-ease with men, and this works well in the context of a sheltered girl from the Home Counties being introduced to wicked London. There are dinner parties and country house parties and beatniks and aristocratic gels just doing the Season don't you know! This was lovely, just what I expect from Kate Fforde and I practically read it in one sitting. Two minor niggles. One is a bit spoilery (view spoiler) and the other is that I'm not sure the title is right. Otherwise, sublime. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A new Katie Fforde novel is a wonderful gift particularly at this point in time. Her latest offering, A Wedding in the Country, takes us to 1963 and London as it started to swing. Lizzie is in London to attend a cookery school for a few weeks in order to further her mother's plans for her to marry a 'suitable' young man and chain herself to 1950s style domesticity for life. Lizzie is to stay with her mother's sister but, when Lizzie takes the plunge, has her hair cut into one of the geometric cuts and buys herself a new dress with a short hemline, Lizzie's aunt decides that she is far too much competition to have her living in her flat with her. Lizzie moves in with two of the girls from her course, into a shabby but huge Belgravia mansion and her life opens up before her. I loved this book, it's romantic, amusing, and in my opinion, one of the best that Katie Fforde has ever written. I couldn't put it down and recommend it with all my heart, perfect for fans of Erica James.