The Sister Surprise
By Abigail Mann
Scottish countryside, tracing a sister and an unexpected romance, all wrapped up with great humour that will bring a smile and a giggle, and is sure to lift the spirits; is what The Sister Surprise brings to readers. This is the second novel by Abigail Mann who wrote the much talked about debut novel – The Lonely Fajita. Each book is complete within themselves.
Thank you to One More Chapter – Harper Collins UK publishers for The Sister Surprise.
Blurb
The next hilarious, uplifting book from Abigail Mann, author of The Lonely Fajita.
Journalist Ava takes a DNA test hoping to discover her roots. Instead, she finds out she has a half-sister … whilst on a live stream watched by 100,000 people. Her boss thinks it’s the perfect click-bait story. Ava just wants to go to Moira’s tiny Scottish village and meet her.
But when Ava arrives undercover as a volunteer farmhand, she realises Moira – who’s her pig-wrestling, chatterbox polar opposite – might not be delighted by the news. And the longer Ava stays in Kilroch, with its inappropriately attractive reverend and ties to her hidden family past, the more complicated this surprise is going to get…
The perfect funny, heartwarming read for fans of Marian Keyes, Beth O’Leary, Sophie Ranald and Mhairi McFarlane.
‘Abigail Mann is a sparky new talent on the scene’ Milly Johnson
‘If you like Beth O’Leary, this is absolutely the book for you!’
Review
Ava Atmore is a very quirky 27 year old journalist at Snooper who has a cuddly cat and quite the mother to live up to in some ways, with her high expectations and her occasional jibes. It is fun however, getting to know her mum and family friends Ginger and Rory.
There’s some humour mixed in with bites of popular culture and the guessing to who are Ava’s relations, as light-hearted conversations between the characters progress.
Family Trees, Family Connections, DNA can be absolutely fascinating and this is what Ava bravely embarks on, with the brave part being it is all there for the world to know, on a live-stream! Her family is interesting and especially since she finds a sister she never knew she had up in Scotland. The Scottish references of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Irn-Bru etc add a bit of fun and also may interest people to Google them, if they are unfamiliar. People in their late 20’s to late 30’s will have a nostalgic flashback to Matt Baker in his Blue Peter days, referenced as Ava travels up to Scotland to find her sister.
Ava is very much a city girl and it shows, which is quite amusing with her pre-conceptions and questions, as she tries to acquaint herself with the countryside and animals, so it is fun seeing her learn. There are many comical parts to the books, which makes it pretty uplifiting in what is a meandering book, which then picks up interest again when she finds her sister, Moira and her family story starts to all be unwrapped. There is also a lovely romance simmering away for Ava.
All in all, it’s a story with very good, proper humour and is a good read for escapism and a bit of a journey into the countryside.