Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book InfoKindle Edition, 308 pagesPublished 2012 by Endeavour Press Ltd. (first published March 28th 2004)ASIN B00AEAMRIOedition language EnglishSource:EARC copy from author in exchange for honest reviewBook Buy LinksAMAZONB&NBOOK SYNOPSISWhen Sir Humphrey Miles Pinkerton Strange, huntin' shootin' and fishin' Squire of Batch Magna, goes to his reward (doubtless to find God as true-blue British as his more recent but equally worthy ancestors), his rambling but rotting estate passes to distant relative Humph, a hapless dollar doodler in New York.With $$ in his eyes, Humph decides to make a killing by transforming the sleepy backwater of Batch Magna into a theme park image of rural England - a vacation paradise for free-spending US millionaires.But while the village's threadbare businessmen see the plan as a windfall, the tenants of the estate's dilapidated houseboats are above any consideration of filthy lucre and stand their ground for tradition's sake . and because they consider eviction notices not to be cricket.Each disgruntled faction sees the other as the unwelcome cuckoo chick in the family nest! So, lead by randy pulp-crime writer Phineas Cook and Lt-Commander James Cunningham DSO, DSC and Bar, RN (ret) - a man with a glass eye to suit every occasion (and all painted with naval battle scenes where the Union Jack flies triumphant) - the motley crew takes on Wall Street . broadside to broadsideMy ThoughtsWhen approached by the author the quaint village and inhabitants of Batch Magna sounded like a refreshing change from Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy and Mystery Thrillers so accepted his kind offer to send me the book's Mobi file to read and share my thoughts upon when finished.Having delighted for many years in watching BBC television shows as well as reading books that were both creatively penned by British authors there was no doubt in my mind that despite the utter serious nature of the passing on of Sir Strange, which left his estate tenants in the perilous position of losing the roof over their heads after years of enjoying life on the River Cluny, that the story would be filled with the kind of droll offbeat humor that I have come to expect which sets it apart from just being a story about inheriting a rundown property with the intent of turning it into a lucrative venture.The cast of characters in this tale is huge, after all one cannot expect a village to be inhabited by just 4 or 5 people, and range from retired estate employees to families living on the houseboats to shop keepers whose sights are set firmly on expanding their businesses if the proposed vacation paradise venture gets off the ground.The main characters are of course the ones that we spend the most time with, The Commander and his wife Priny; Phineas, his dog Bill Sikes and for a bit his son Daniel; Owain Owen, his wife Annie and 2nd youngest daughter Ffion; Jasmine Roberts and her brood of children, Clem Wroxley, Miss Harriet Wyndham and on occasion a bit of time is spent with the local shop owner Howell Pugh. This cast of characters are each in their own way endearing, or highly repugnant as in the case of Mr. Pugh, and they capture the spirit of a small town population quite realistically as we read through and learn more about them both individually and as a whole.This is the type of storytelling that soothes ones need for the simpler flow of scenes that build at a slow pace and so easily followed, it is almost like one feels at home at a gathering listening to yarns spun by the elder family members who love to relive memories of times gone by. By the time you finish not only will you feel satisfaction at how everything was wrapped up but you will also find yourself chuckling in approval at how young Sir Humphrey Strange finally found himself embracing his heritage instead of willy nilly with the best of intentions destroying it! I would be happy to return to Batch Magna and it's "cuckoos", both the feathered ones and the myriad cast of human ones, if the author ever decided to take us there again in future.Take a step back in time and immerse yourself in this heartwarming tale of a young man whose dreams come true, just not quite the way he planned them to.[EARC Copy from author in exchange for honest review]