Abandoned by Booklikes

I don't know what to say about this. This was a very well done book. It was recommended to me by several people and I finally read it this past weekend. I have no critiques. I loved the characters, writing, setting, and the ending. The only thing I wish is that we had a chance to follow up with all of these characters in a later book. I wonder what happened to Henry, Alexa, Vi, all of the people we got to meet in this one. 

"September" is all about the preparations that are leading to a dance, celebrating the 21st birthday of a young woman named Katy Steynton. Though it's been some time since the village has done a huge dance, all of the inhabitants are happy to do so. Though we hear about Katy and her parents, they are not the focus of this book. Instead we follow Edmund and Virginia Aird and their family (their son Henry and his daughter, Alexa, along with his mother Vi). We also follow Archie Balmorino, his wife, his daughter and estranged sister Pandora. 

The characters are so very well done. We follow some other characters who will impact the characters above, one named Noel who appears to have a loose connection to the Aird family. Also a long-time servant/nanny whose creepy cousin seems hell-bent on destroying the Aird family. 

The writing is so lyrical. Pilcher made me remember being a kid again and the summers of my friends and I playing games, going wading in the nearby creeks, catching fireflies, playing tag, staring at the clouds and telling each other the shapes, eating on a run so that we could be outside with our friends again. I could actually picture Scotland while reading this book. It made me long for a place that I have never been before. The loch, the trout, the smells, the heather, the people, friends, and food. She does such a great job that you may want to run out and book a trip to Scotland right away.

The ending was messy, but it worked. Not all things are neatly tied up, but tied up enough that you realize that the families will continue on., That people will pass away, but the bones of the families will still remain for years.