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  • Location: London, Oxford, Lourmarin

Friend of the Family

Friend of the Family

Why a Booktrail?

1995, 2018: Be careful who you invite into your home

  • ISBN: B077MPRJMX
  • Genre: Fiction, Psychological

What you need to know before your trail

Your job
Amy is more than happy to offer the daughter of an old friend work experience at her London magazine. Josie is young and ambitious. She just needs a foot in the door.

Your home
When Josie arrives, she swiftly makes herself indispensable at work and at home. And when childcare falls through before a long-awaited university reunion in Provence, it begins to look as if Josie may be staying longer than Amy had bargained for.

Your husband
In the heat of Provence, Josie’s presence starts to unsettle Amy, especially around her husband. As cracks begin to appear in Amy’s perfect life, she cannot shake the feeling that the family friend may not be a friend at all…

Travel Guide

London

Parties, PR and more litter this booktrail around London! Working for a PR agency means that Juliet has drinks and dinners at the best places such as like in the Tower between the Shard and the London eye. “ An abandoned wasteland of wharves and warehouses, now transformed into a buzzing media enclave. The Tanjerin where they eat one day does sound lovely! Wish Marion’s Brassier was real in Notting Hill though as it’s described as the new River Cafe!

Cliveden

They head out here to a photo shoot ad it’s every bit as glamour as you might think. It’s described as a Photographer’s dream with fountains, pathways and a stunning honey coloured facade.

Lourmarin

Clare and Max have a bolthole in the dusty hills of Provence just outside the pretty village of Loumarin

More food here with tales of nights at Bastile Moules and the mythical foodie haunt El Bulli which the Bastide Moules is set to take over.

“The property was spectacular , built from pale stone with ivory blocks around the doors and windows the gently sloping roof dimmed with pink and white undulating tiles. the details – the pastel shutters, the whitewashed steps – all said ‘Traditional French farmouse’ but the scale, and the elaborate sculptured fountain in the middle of the drive way spoke of unmistakable wealth.”

The inside of the villa however is as impressive as the outside. And it’s inside where there’s no wifi and no way of knowing really who is there with you, that’s the most interesting of all.

The village in Provence…

“Lourmarin was near perfect, like a disney version of a cute Provencal town. Surrounded by fields and vineyards and nestled in the shadow of the medieval chateau, the streets were cobbled and winding , lined by shuttered houses draped in wisteria and shops selling pretty objects d’art that spilled out onto the dusty streets: terra-cotta pots bursting with long stems of lavender, artfully distressed picnic tables, stylish straw totes, muslin scarves in every colour.”

Tempting alleyways too…

Booktrailer Review

Susan: @thebooktrailer

I fear that after this book, people aren’t going to want to have people stay over for a while or are they going to want to offer work experience to a friend’s daughter….Jeepers talk about hitting on the everyday and turning it into a nightmare! That’s why the novel will hit on so many levels as it could happen to anyone.

It makes me wonder what does go on behind the scenes in the London Magazine scene as well! Tasmina writes from experience apparently – and now I know there are many Miranda Priestly’s and people obsessed with what blue suits the palest skin etc. It’s a step up from the characters lives back at home however and jealousy strikes when one comes to visit.

It’s a mad world out there in those magazines! I was more scared of that than I was with Juliet for a while. But blimey that girl can cause chaos. Sneaky and devious is not the word. Mother not much better. Amy had made a life for herself but some people are just too jealous to let her be happy.

I do feel I’ve read this story before but it was a nice escapist read. I went to the hairdressers later the same day and picked up a copy of a glossy. Boy did I look at that differently!

Booktrail Boarding Pass:  Friend of the Family

Destination : London, Oxford, Loumarin  Author/Guide: Tasmina Perry  Departure Time: 1995, 2018

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