Is That You, Beth Cherry?

Lucy Dillon

EVERYONE deserves a second chance at love! Step into the troubled world of Beth Cherry and join her as she digs deep into her hidden reserves to take her life by the scruff of its neck… and become the hero of her own story. Is That You, Beth Cherry? is the latest warm, wise and witty romance from Lucy Dillon (pictured below) who grew up in Cumbria and is now the bestselling author of eleven novels set in the fictional market town of Longhampton.

Beth’s life, like the unfinished screenplay on her laptop, is stuck between chapters. Since her break-up with Fraser – which was not part of the script – she has retreated into a lonely working from home world of sweatpants, disordered hours and comfort eating. The one luminous constant in her life is her love for her rescue dog, Tomsk, and his for her.

When Beth’s house-share falls apart, she is thrown a lifeline by the least likely person… Fraser’s mother Martine who offers Beth and Tomsk a temporary space above her garage in which to start over.

Returning to Longhampton, scene of her happiest memories with Fraser and his family, feels like a second chance… might this be a sign that she and Fraser are meant to be?

But when Beth is recruited as a writer for a project called The Story of Your Life, she starts to gain more perspective on her own life. Run by the local retirement community, some of the stories she hears are heartwarming, some are heartbreaking. All of them, Beth notes, reveal a little more than the teller realises. And when she is sent an anonymous story of first love that threatens to destroy more than one family’s identity, Beth has to decide… is it sometimes better to keep a secret than reveal the truth? With its enchanting premise, a leading lady whose self-loathing cannot help but tug at the heartstrings, and a story of love and hope that crosses the generation divide, this gentle, insightful and thoroughly uplifting story will leave readers with the warmest of glows.
(Hodder & Stoughton, hardback, £20)