Fabulous Reads: A place to find answers

The Guest House by the Sea, Faith Hogan, Jonathan Ball Publishers, ISBN: 9781803282541

IF you’re looking for feel-good, drama, romance and delightful and well-rounded human stories, The Guest House by the Sea has it all.

Esme has been running the Irish guest house for decades. It saved her soul years ago, but now, in her nineties, although full of inner fire still, her eyesight is failing and she’s just had a fall and broken her ankle. She’s not allowed to walk around and run the guest house as she’s used to. Frustrated at first, Esme tries not to feel guilty as her dear friend, Marta, runs the house while she sits in a chair in the entry hall and meets the guests and chats with them, spouting her wisdom of the years. Soon, though, she discovers she can be useful in an entirely different way. But she has some deeper concerns about the future of her life and home that I wondered if they would be resolved.

Everyone who visits the guest house this season has a story, and many of them are filled with grief, angst and confusion. With the help of Esme and the summer Irish coastal air and the beautiful surroundings, the guests find answers and discover things about themselves that bring healing and direction to their lives.

I was deeply invested in several of the stories and was, at times, surprised at the outcomes. They all had satisfying conclusions though. The inherent wisdom in the book was a lovely infusion, too. The surroundings were beautiful, and the author described them in a way that made me want to visit the guest house. The book was a feel-good, easy read that kept me entertained the whole way. I would definitely look at reading another Faith Hogan book. – Kathy Bosman 4/5 stars.

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