Pilcher is quite an unusual surname so I wasn’t surprised when I discovered that Robin Pilcher is a son of Rosamunde Pilcher. I’ve been enjoying some of her books recently so I thought I would see what his are like. As he was born and brought up in Dundee he definitely comes under the category of Scottish author.

I really enjoyed this book which was published in 2010 and is set in West Sussex, Alloa and Manhattan. At times his writing reminded me of his mother’s, although it took him far fewer words to tell a good story, Rosamunde’s books tend to be chunky.

It’s an easy, smooth and quick read at 294 pages long and although the chapters jump around a lot going backwards and forwards in time and place it didn’t make it difficult to keep track of the story. I found it to be one that kept me guessing to the end which I was thankful for because I’ve found a few books that I’ve read recently to be amazingly predictable.

The main character is Claire whose father died when she was very young and when her mother eventually re-marries she finds herself transplanted from West Sussex to Alloa in Scotland. Claire’s step-siblings are less than chuffed about their home being ‘invaded’ by Claire and her mother. Jonas, a young neighbour, becomes her friend, but things don’t go to plan.

I’ll be looking out for some more of his books in the future.