The Lemon Tree Café: The Heart-warming Sunday Times Bestseller

by Cathy Bramley

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

'Delightful' Katie Fforde
'Full of joy and fun' Milly Johnson
'Uplifting . . . Books by Cathy Bramley are brilliantly life affirming' Good Housekeeping

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Rich espresso, delicious biscotti and juicy village gossip - will Rosie fall for this new way of life?

When Rosie Featherstone finds herself unexpectedly jobless, the offer to help her beloved Italian grandmother out at the Lemon Tree Cafe - a little slice of Italy nestled in the rolling hills of Derbyshire - feels like the perfect way to keep busy.

But Rosie is haunted by a terrible secret, one that even the appearance of a handsome new face can't quite help her move on from.

Then disaster looms and the cafe's fortunes are threatened . . . and Rosie discovers that her nonna has been hiding a dark past of her own. With surprises, betrayal and more than one secret brewing, can she find a way to save the Lemon Tree Cafe and help both herself and Nonna achieve the happy endings they deserve?

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Readers are falling in love with The Lemon Tree Café:
***** 'A treat! . . . It will tickle your taste buds, squeeze your heart and refresh your soul.'
***** 'A charming and heart-warming story that will make you laugh but that will surprise you too'
***** 'What a fabulous read . . . a lovely story about family and love and community spirit.'

• ISBN10: 055217209X
• ISBN13: 9780552172097
• Publish Date: 24 August 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 12 August 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Corgi Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[tellemonstar]

Looking for a mostly light-hearted, but touching weekend read? Then the Lemon Tree Cafe might be right up your alley. I really enjoyed The Lemon Tree Cafe. Cathy Bramley has a lovely voice and weaves a story thoughtfully and you are soon caught up in the characters lives in the small town where the story is set.

Rosie is a strong-willed, stick-to-your-guns woman who quit her job after refusing to do something that she felt was unethical. Turns out Rosie is rewarded for this attitude in the end.

Being strong-willed, Rosie feels that the large gardening supplies company that just purchased the former gardening center are going to put The Lemon Tree Cafe and the other retailers in her small town and that they need to strike a blow against the company by trying to undermine them as much as possible. In the end though, Rosie comes to accept that maybe not everything is as she seems to think, and that if she doesnt open both her heart and mind, she might wind up a lonely old lady like her beloved Nonna was.

The real highlight of the book for me was Rosie's grandmother - a lovely but stubborn little old Italian lady who worked in and then took ownership of the Lemon Tree Cafe for years and years after moving to England after fleeing her old life in Italy. Her favourite swear word is 'dicky heads' and she clearly adores both her daughter and granddaughters, even if she finds it hard to say so aloud. Nonna is also the central figure in one of the two major story arcs.

I won't spoil too much of what happens here because it will ruin your reading experience, but I must say that the Lemon Tree Cafe was one of the books I soaked up on a rather rainy summer afternoon and evening and I am looking forward to reading more books from Cathy Bramley.