The Perfectly Imperfect Woman - Milly Johnson

Description

Marnie Salt has made so many mistakes in her life that she fears she will never get on the right track. But when she ‘meets’ an old lady on a baking chatroom and begins confiding in her, little does she know how her life will change.

Arranging to see each other for lunch, Marnie finds discovers that Lilian is every bit as mad and delightful as she’d hoped – and that she owns a whole village in the Yorkshire Dales, which has been passed down through generations. And when Marnie needs a refuge after a crisis, she ups sticks and heads for Wychwell – a temporary measure, so she thinks.

But soon Marnie finds that Wychwell has claimed her as its own and she is duty bound not to leave. Even if what she has to do makes her as unpopular as a force 12 gale in a confetti factory! But everyone has imperfections, as Marnie comes to realise, and that is not such a bad thing – after all, your flaws are perfect for the heart that is meant to love you.

The Perfectly Imperfect Woman is the heart-warming and hilarious new novel from the queen of feel-good fiction – a novel of family, secrets, love and redemption … and broken hearts mended and made all the stronger for it. 

Review

This is the first Milly Johnson novel I've read and it won't be the last.

When we first meet Marnie she is a businesswoman determined to do the best she can in a male dominated world. She has a history of picking the wrong men and is out to make sure that changes - of course it doesn't and so the foundations for the usual chick lit novel I thought were laid out. How wrong I was!

What followed was the most engrossing read. Marnie meets a lady on an internet chat board about Cheesecakes and again at first it seemed a little contrived that the lady goes on to offer Marnie a cottage rent free.

Once Marnie is settled in the cottage a whole whodunnit is unleashed, both about the village and it's lost well, which legend states contains a dead witch - and is Marnie in some way connected to the village? I got totally lost in this book once Marnie began making cheesecakes and living in the village. 

This has to be the first book of this type that I have found to contain so many twists and turns within it. If you think this is going to be a formulaic read, then think again. Yes, there is a love interest and there is some romance but there is also so much, much more.

I found Milly's writing to be very down to earth and at times was a little taken aback at the ground roots language she used - but I liked it. I also liked the way Marnie's character developed and loved the village of Wychwell - I could imagine it, inhabitants, cottages and all through Milly's words.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.