This fun story has Margery roping her friend Olive into the adventure of hiring her as her lodging house, Mersea House, housekeeper. It's quite a motley crew who find themselves living together. They become a rather cohesive lot, however; even the 11 year old orphan, Juniper "tree", in that abode by the sea.
Juniper has suffered the effects upon her body of having contracted polio as a younger child. I love her amazingly cheerful, infectious attitudes. I believe that she had learned well, how to embrace life despite it's setbacks. I love that the author, Marty Wingate, included such in her story. One hopes that others who live with such polio effects will take courage from Juniper's example and have the loving support system of carers, too. However, will Miss Binny the town gossip and Mrs. Pagett the social worker spoil Juniper's chances for a "real family" by exposing the secret lives of some of those Mersea House lodgers?
Besides polio, the LGBT lifestyle is touched upon and in both cases, the prejudices and/or the acceptances against such are alluded to in the way the townfolks react or respond. Thank God for the Mrs. Wilkins's of the world who come to the rescue of the protaganists in this smallish town. Addtionally, it's good for the reader to realize the story is set in postwar UK, thus the deprivations a war causes were also factors affecting the book's characters. What a lovely, feel good in the end, story.
~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~
December 2021
Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the review copy given by NetGalley and the publisher.
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