How many positive words and exclamation marks can you fit into the space of one email?
This is a book which is full of fun and will make you laugh out loud quite often. I really enjoyed the evolving relationship between Trudy and mother. Forced to start really communicating with each other while her mum stayed with her, they became more honest with each other and understood each other more. Her mother provided some of the funniest moments in the book, notably with her text messages often ‘helped’ by her grandson Dylan. Well, that’s fabulous is all I’m saying!
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Gina Hollands shared #TenThings she’d like her readers to know about her last week as her latest novel Yours, Trudy was published. Since then I have read the book and very much enjoyed getting to know Trudy Drinkwater. Gina also took part in my Author In the Spotlight feature last year when her novel Little Village of Second Chances was published. You can read her Author Spotlight here: Gina Hollands Author Spotlight and her #TenThings feature here Gina Hollands #TenThings
I think many people will like Trudy and identify with her constant struggle to balance home and work life, looking after teens and also to a certain extent looking after her mother. She is sad about the break-up of her marriage but while she grew up, her husband, Carlton, never quite seemed to mature. They ran a water-sports business together but an accident made going on the water, something that Trudy used to live for, become one of the last things she wanted to do.
From the back of the bookBut, in reality, there is very little Trudy has to say ‘yay!’ about in her home life. Her marriage is all but over, she’s in a near constant battle to make her two chicken nugget loving teens eat anything vaguely nutritious, and the days when she and her husband were young lovers with big dreams seem very far away.Social media linksOne of the main themes of the book is about finding what makes you happy and making sure you never let that go. The scene when Trudy realises just what will make her happy and goes for it was wonderful, a scene which put a big smile on my face. I say ‘yay’ for Trudy and her enthusiastic exclamation marks. If you are looking for a book that will make you feel happy, I give Yours, Trudy a big thumbs up!
Thanks to Liz at ChocLit/RubyFiction for my review copy of the book
If you like the sound of this book, you can order a copy here: Yours Trudy
Trudy is head of HR at Pink Fish Web Design or, to give her her official job title, Head of People Happiness. This made me smile as if you ever have to contact WordPress for support (this is a WordPress blog), it’s a ‘happiness engineer’ who will be helping you sort things out. Following company policy, she makes sure that her emails to her team are always full of enthusiasm and sprinkled liberally with plenty of exclamation marks. Trudy’s home life however, doesn’t fill her with quite so much joy. She’s separated from her husband and has two typical teens who are stroppy and fussy. To add to her complicated life, her mother announces she’s coming to stay for two months.
Can Trudy keep up the chirpy pretence of her day job, or does she really need a new start and a second chance at true happiness?
Gina Hollands was born and bred in Yorkshire, England. She has worked in public relations for 15 years, since graduating from Oxford University with a degree in modern languages. Gina now lives on the West Sussex coast with her husband and young son. When she’s not writing Gina is likely to be participating in her other hobby – dancing, be it salsa, jive or lindy hop.
A lot is the answer, if you’re Trudy Drinkwater. As ‘Head of People Happiness’, her cheery emails are carefully written to boost the morale of her ‘fellow finned friends’ at Pink Fish Web Design. Yay!
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