A Place to Call Home by Carole MatthewsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Ayesha Rasheed had an arranged marriage. She left her home and family in Sri Lanka and moved to Milton Keynes to be with her new husband. Unfortunately, after a happy start her husband Suresh starts a downwards spiral of drinking, loses his job, and starts beating Ayesha. After years of abuse Ayesha escapes from Suresh and escapes to London with her daughter Sabina on the 04:30 coach to London.
When Ayesha arrives at the women's shelter in Camden, there are no places available, but a chance phone call to a friend gets them a room with a woman called Crystal. The room turns out to be in a Hampstead mansion owned by reclusive pop-star Hayden Daniels who has allowed Crystal (an exotic dancer) and Joy (a grumpy retiree) to live with him.
Ayesha can barely read and write English but together with the help of her housemates she starts to learn, but at the same time Ayesha helps each of them in different ways.
Carole Matthews may write romances but they are always a little quirky, the female characters are always a bit unusual, and this is no exception. It's had to see how armed robbery, wife-beating, and tragic death can fit into a cosy romance and yet she manages it.
Not one of her best, but still a fun read.
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