A Village Dilemma

Tales from Turnham Malpas #9

by Rebecca Shaw

The twins are now eleven. Their mother, Caroline, is unable to have children. It was an indiscretion by their father Peter - then the new rector in Turnham Malpas - that led to their birth. Their mother Susie gave them up for adoption to Peter and Caroline. Peter’s affair was one of the hardest things Caroline has ever had to deal with but now the children, who know that Peter is their father, are asking who their mother is. This is not the only problem in the village and of course everyone has a view as to how this and the other things should be handled. Usually it is Peter who calms troubled waters but this time he is at the heart of the problem.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2002

About the author

Sunday Times bestselling author Rebecca Shaw is known for her heartwarming tales of country life.
Rebecca grew up in Yorkshire and attended a Quaker boarding school before becoming a teacher of deaf children.
She wrote 28 novels. Her biggest series of 19 books set in a fictional English village called TURNHAM MALPAS chart the lives and loves of the village inhabitants.
A further six novels tell the stories of the vets, veterinary nurses and animals at a veterinary practice in the fictional English market town of BARLEYBRIDGE.
She also wrote three standalone novels.
Rebecca lived with her husband in a beautiful Dorset village where she found plenty of inspiration for her contemporary stories about rural life. Rebecca sadly passed away in 2015, but her stories continue to be enjoyed by readers across the globe.
Rebecca has been translated and sold in Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Norway. She is also published in the US.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The villagers of Turnham Malpas are celebrating their annual Stocks Day when an unwelcome visitor arrives. Bryn Fields, one time licensee of the Royal Oak, fled the village four years ago under the worst possible circumstances. the villagers are determined to find out why he is back -- and are not happy to discover that he pl;ans to use the village as a key attraction for visiting Americans.

"For the rector and his wife, Peter and Caroline, there are more serious problems to cope with when their twin children start asking them about their real mother. Having agonisingly accepted the result of Peter's indiscretion before, Caroline finds that facing up to it again now is almost more 6han she an bear . . ."
~~back cover

And so the world turns in Turnham Malpas. Bryn continues to try to win Georgie back and displace Dickie in her affections, while setting up the structure to bring a busload of American tourists to the unspoiled village. He succeeds in the one but not the other and the whole problem is solved in a very unhappy way, a way that none of them would have wished for.

Peter and Caroline face up -- once again -- to the consequences of the twins' birth, and once again wade through the searing emotions it brings up. Alex and Beth handle the information each in their own way, and the Harris family is once again a loving family unit.

You can always count on a nice ending in Turnham Malpas.

[Michelle Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on gentle reads since this Covid19 and I ran out of these books. Shipping the rest of the set seemed to take forever. But I finally got my Village fix and it was good one to come back to Bryn Fields came back to town. He's last tried to kill Dicky Bell, and so it starts off with a bang. Yes, it's gentle read as no one gets killed, you just think they might. You get so involved in these peoples lives that you get serious "Out of Book " sensation when they end. Real Reader know what I mean. Luckily I've got the whole series and all of Shaw's other Country series. I'm hoping to out last the virus. These are tough to get, you might try Better World Books. That's where I get my our of print British stuff.

[Julie Dunnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another comfortable but undemanding read. Lots of warm mostly loveable people living in an idyllic village. But extremely light reading

[H F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever I think, Amazon / Goodreads may well find it necessary to censure and scold me so I am nervous of offering an opinion.

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 9th in the Turnham Malpas series. As always a delight to read with wonderful 'returning' characters.

Back Cover Blurb:
The villagers of Turnham Malpas are celebrating their annual Stocks Day when an unwelcome visitor arrives. Bryn Fields, one-time licensee of the Royal Oak, fled the village four years ago under the worst possible circumstances. The villagers are determined to find out why he is back - and are not at all happy to discover that he plans to use the village as a key attraction for visiting Americans.
For the rector and his wife, Peter and Caroline, there are more serious problems to cope with when their twin children start asking about their real mother. Having agonisingly accepted the result of Peter's indiscretion ten years before, Caroline finds that facing up to it again now is almost more than she can bear....

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ninth in the 'Turnham Malpas' series about a small village in the UK. Quite interesting, a little moving at times, but nothing special. Easiest to read after at least one of the others as there's quite a big cast of characters.

[Carolynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quiet of old-fashioned village Turnham Malpas is shattered when hustler Bryn Fields comes back in town to try to drum up some tourist trade and incidentally recapture his estranged wife Georgie.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, with a shock death :(

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice book, easy read.

[Donna Boultwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story from Turnham Malpas. Not as good as previous books though, but still enjoyable. Muriel and Ralph were noticeably missed! Left wondering its its Mr Fitch and Ms pascoe next?!

[Kath]

Too twee for words.