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Jan Birley
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The Lost and Found Life of Rosy Bennett Kindle Edition

by Jan Birley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 71 ratings
Rosy loved her London life – her job in a designer shop, her gorgeous West London family house and of course her gorgeous family (although young sons are enough to test anyone at times). All that disappears when, one unremarkable morning, after one unremarkable school run, her husband collapses on a crowded tube carriage and dies.
As she struggles her way through the grief, she discovers her husband’s secret life: secrets accounts, secret deals that their solicitor knew nothing of, secret debts and what looks like a secret “very close friend” at least.
Totally unprepared and suddenly in debt, Rosy is forced to leave London to start a new life with her incredibly reluctant boys in the countryside. Can angsty urban teenagers cope with farm life, let alone enjoy it? More to the point, can their mother? It’s certainly not going to be easy but when you are at rock bottom the only way is up.
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  1. Print length
    279 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 4, 2015
  4. File size
    944 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017MF6B0I
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Acorn Independent Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 944 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 71 ratings

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Jan Birley

Jan Birley

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
71 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Victoria Pitts Caine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Learning to Survive
    Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    With the death of her husband Simon, Rosy’s life naturally plummets, but she learns over the next year just how far that free fall takes her, and yet she manages to survive.

    Brilliantly written this emotion packed novel unfolds to the quandary Rosy is left in with the death of her husband. Everything she thought she knew about him and what they had together wiped clean with news from her solicitor the family’s finances had been depleted.

    The story begins in London and moves to the English countryside of Dorset when Rosy discovers the alpaca farm where her late husband invested their money. Rosy makes the best of things along with her young sons and a handful of delightful characters including two suitors.

    I truly enjoyed this story and hope there is more from Ms. Birley. Well done!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Book Gannet
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Family Drama - with added alpacas!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2016
    Well, wow. What Rosy goes through in this book… one moment her life is perfect, then her husband dies, she finds she’s deeply in debt, there is no money to pay for it and her youngest son clearly hates her. And that’s just in the first few chapters. To say that Rosy goes through the mill during this book is a massive understatement. And I really enjoyed the journey.

    Rosy is a pretty incredible character, for all that she frequently seems unable to cope. The situation Simon leaves her in is awful, not just because of the dying and debt, but the mystery as to why he bought an alpaca farm in the first place. His feckless selfishness is breathtaking at times, yet Rosy does her best not to blame her husband for any of it, mostly to protect her sons’ memories of their father. She’s not always the strongest of characters, and definitely isn’t stern or often fully in control, and there are a few times I just wished she would stop messing about and make a decision (Harry), but somehow she also achieves so much. She loves her boys and tries so hard to do her best against some pretty tough odds, and I loved how she turned everything around.

    As for those boys – Archie was amazing, while James was a complete horror. I don’t think Rosy always handled either boy brilliantly – letting Archie take too much onto himself and neglecting him a fair bit, while James got away with far too much and constantly seemed to be reward for his behavior – but it fit in with her personality and I can’t imagine how I’d handle a grief-stricken eleven-year-old as headstrong as James. As for Megan, poor Megan – the selfishness of her mother in not preparing anyone for that was just staggering and borderline cruel.

    Then there are the alpacas, the wonderful alpacas. I loved them and the way they wormed their way into the family’s hearts, providing them all with purpose and a new focus for their troubles.

    Okay, if I’m honest, I do think that Rosy and her boys adjusted a bit quick to country life (there didn’t seem to be any difference between town and country, except that they were further away from their friends – only Emma complains about the mud), and I didn’t really get any sense of Dorset from the story – it could have been set anywhere with a village and some fields – while the idea of everyone encouraging Rosy to move on romantically less than six months after Simon’s death seemed a bit quick, but overall I liked this. The characters are strong, the story is well told and there are alpacas! Although if swearing offends you, do be warned that there’s a fair bit in this tale. It doesn’t bother me (I can remember being a foul-mouthed little urchin at James' age, though never when I was at home), however, it might come as a bit of a shock to those it does.

    So, if you’re looking for an absorbing, enjoyable read that turns one family’s life upside down and gives it a thorough shake before settling down again, you will probably enjoy this. It has emotion and arguments, alpacas, troubled children, a touch of romance and characters you can really feel for, all wrapped up in a town to country, life goes on tale. In other words, Jan Birley has done a great job with her debut and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

    (I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
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  • Paula Bledin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Rosy Bennett will become your Best Friend
    Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This novel is a compulsively cozy read. Rosy is everything you could want in a best friend: real, flawed and raw from tragedy. Emotionally written and easy to visualize the country life and vivid village characters, I curled up and fell in love. A delightful read.
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  • Kristyn
    5.0 out of 5 stars What do you do when your whole life is twisted upside down?
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2016
    This book follow Rosy as her husband suddenly dies and she is left to find out he had a secret life. Rosy lived what she thought of as a simple life in London with her husband and two sons. Rosy had what seemed like everything in order and when her husband dies she finds out none of that was true.

    The author did an amazing job developing Rosy as the lead character. Rosy was a very strong individual even if she didn't know if throughout the whole book. I felt as a reader I couldn't help but root for Rosy the entire time. I felt like the internal dialogue that we got to see from Rosy on how conflicted she felt when making decisions really helped to bring her to life. The story is told from Rosy's POV only and it is perfect! I felt like I really got to know her and her thought process.

    I loved the author descriptions used throughout the novel. The author really brought all of the scenes to life with the descriptions. I felt like I was right alongside Rosy in her trips to the country or event the store. I felt like I could completely imagine what her clothes looked like and the colors of everything around her.

    The book takes a lot of turns that I did not see coming at all. I felt like once everything was starting to fall into place something else would happen and everything would change again. The author did a great job keeping me wanting more and at the end feeling complete. The twists and turns this book takes will keep you on your toes and you wouldn't see everything coming.

    I would suggest this as a perfect nighttime read. It gave me a lot to think about so there were easy natural stopping points. Also, there are parts where you just want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen to Rosy in the end.

    I received a copy of this book from Jan Birley for the purpose of providing an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • fictionreader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Serve with a nice glass of wine, to banish those winter blues.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a lovely read, with a family you get to know and characters you can really care about. When her husband Simon dies, not only is it a shock, but Rosy Bennett is about to find out some nasty secrets about the husband she thought she knew so well. Without giving too much away. suffice it to say she has to move house, to an alpaca farm - to the horror of her townie children.

    For chick-lit lovers there is plenty of detail about fashion (Rosy is a designer), some gorgeous men - which one will Rosy choose? The hunky vet or the handsome Lord of the manor? The children are realistic, complete with James's appalling language and obsession with computer games - but it only makes you love the alpacas even more!

    A well-written novel, with each new secret arriving at exactly the right time.
    For a wet weekend, you can't do better than pour the wine and settle down for this treat of a read.
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  • Dr J Chatterton
    4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Read.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Read this book - it's good! It is very much of its time with lots of up to date descriptive minutiae placing it firmly in the "here and now". Birley has the gift of drawing the reader in, from the very beginning, to hold his/her attention through a speedily moving plot that has some great surprises. There are some pleasing turns of phrase: "Family Jewellery hung from fingers and wrists and whilst not in any way ostentatious, there was certainly a recession-proof atmosphere." Although, if editing this book I would have toned down some of the language in places. Meg comes across beautifully as a troubled seven year old who loves pink and "Puddles" whereas James, equally troubled, seems a less likeable character and I found it harder to empathise with him despite his situation. The pedant in me wonders how Simon's estate was sorted out so quickly, especially with the selling off of all his assets surely raising questions from the tax man, but I willingly suspend disbelief on this score.
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  • Brenda Dixon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Rosy Bennett - an interesting lady
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I have just finished reading Jan's first novel. Quite a roller-coaster ride and I always found myself wanting to know what the next highs and lows would be. It was hard to put the book down for long.
    The characters are depicted well and it was easy to identify with Rosy and the predicament she found herself in.
    The information about alpacas was interesting and my vocabulary has increased!
    I cared enough to want to know more. A thoroughly good read.
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  • Steph Coombes
    5.0 out of 5 stars First novel from a new talent. Can't wait for the second!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This first novel is a blend of real life experiences that I am sure many women will empathise with. I have found it difficult to put down and would thoroughly recommend it, particularly for Book Clubs. There is much to discuss within the book as it is essentially a story of how one woman copes with the sudden death of her husband and the resultant problems. A really good read and it makes you think, 'How would I cope?'.
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging story with interesting characters and unexpected turns. ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    An engaging story with interesting characters and unexpected turns. You want to know what happens and just when you think you do, there is another surprise twist!
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