Robin is 48, divorced from Todd and mother to their eighteen-year-old daughter Amber. Robin hasn’t seen her mother Faye (now 78) since Amber was born and hasn’t been back to her home village of Stonedale since 1989, but after hearing Faye has had a fall, Robin’s Uncle Ralph urges her to go back to help her mother. As she feels she owes Ralph, who has been like a dad to Robin since her own father died, she does as he requests.
Arriving back at her old home, she goes into her bedroom and is surprised to see everything left as it was when she moved out. Being a teenager in the 1980s myself, I enjoyed ‘seeing’ Robin’s old bedroom with its pop music posters and teen magazines.
Amber has just started at Manchester University when she has housing issues and needs somewhere to live, so she moves in to Faye’s house and the three generations are living together. There are tensions between all of them, so it isn’t an easy ride.
In a box, Robin finds an old scroll, one of the ones her dad used to make, so Robin and her mum could complete a treasure hunt. Faye isn’t keen, but once Amber sees it, her enthusiasm urges them to try to solve the clues. After all, Robin’s dad had promised finding the answer would make life easier…
I loved all the characters, trying to work out what was behind the difficulties in their relationships and hoping things would improve between them. They are all flawed and damaged from life’s experiences. Faye and Robin have a very difficult relationship and I can completely empathize with Robin, as I live with my mother and it is often very hard. My mother, like Faye, isn’t very maternal and I have faced years of her criticism, so I could definitely understand Robin’s feelings! It all feels very real and very well-observed. The dog is brilliant too! Always a pleasure to read a well-written pet.
The novel is a complete treat, the last few chapters are especially beautiful and I found it very moving and uplifting.
9 out of 10
BLURB
Under One Roof
One forgotten discovery will change three women’s lives for ever…
Robin hasn’t been home for decades. After running away to London, she never expected to see her cantankerous mother, Faye, again. But when Faye has a fall, the two women are thrown together once more.
The years apart have not made their hearts grow fonder and the ground between them is unsteady. Then Robin finds an unopened scroll – the last of the treasure hunts her much-missed father used to take them on every Sunday. A hunt he believed might change everything.
Yet, not even this gift from her beloved father can smooth the way until Robin’s daughter, Amber, arrives to meet her grandmother for the first time. Amber is determined that the decades-old mystery be solved.
Can a 30-year-old treasure hunt really ‘change everything’?
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3r7hoHi
Author Bio –
Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK and studied German and French at university. She has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris as part of the Opening Crew, and has travelled widely. She enjoys family time, baking and walking and always knew that one day she would write. Samantha finally took the plunge seriously in her late thirties, and hasn’t stopped since. Under One Roof will be her sixteenth book and she has also sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines.
Samantha’s uplifting stories are about identity and self-discovery, about friendships and communities. She enjoys creating diverse characters and writing about relatable issues that make the reader feel it’s not just me. Her books have hit the AmazonUK overall chart Top Ten position twice and she has won two awards.
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