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Windmill Hill
In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage.
Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful Incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him, at all costs.
Windmill Hill is the story of two very different women with painful pasts and their unlikely friendship - deep, enduring and loyal to the last.
Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful Incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him, at all costs.
Windmill Hill is the story of two very different women with painful pasts and their unlikely friendship - deep, enduring and loyal to the last.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2023
77 people are currently reading
631 people want to read
About the author
Lucy Atkins
66 books422 followersLucy Atkins is an award-winning author and journalist. Her bestseller, MAGPIE LANE, is a literary mystery set in an Oxford College, and was chosen as a Book of the Year by the Guardian, The Telegraph, Good Housekeeping magazine and Radio 4's Open Book. THE NIGHT VISITOR has been optioned for television. Her latest novel, WINDMILL HILL has been described as 'a triumph' by Philip Pullman and was a Summer Books 2023 pick in The Guardian and The Observer.
Lucy teaches on the Creative Writing Masters degree at Oxford University. She is a book critic for The Sunday Times, the Guardian, and other publications. She has also written several non-fiction books, including the Amazon #1 parenting bestseller, First-Time Parent (Collins, 2008).
Instagram @lucyatkinswriter (includes Free Live Creative Writing Classes)
www.lucyatkins.com
Lucy teaches on the Creative Writing Masters degree at Oxford University. She is a book critic for The Sunday Times, the Guardian, and other publications. She has also written several non-fiction books, including the Amazon #1 parenting bestseller, First-Time Parent (Collins, 2008).
Instagram @lucyatkinswriter (includes Free Live Creative Writing Classes)
www.lucyatkins.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
March 31, 2023
‘Nothing is but what is not ‘
A dilapidated but much loved windmill in Sussex, two adorable ageing occupants in Astrid Miller and her friend Mrs Baker, their dachshunds, ‘Tony Blair’ a taxidermy stoat, a Kit Cat clock and a taste for Jim Beam. Intrigued?? Let’s add in Lady Constance Battiscombe, the eccentric owner of the windmill in the 1920’s, a huge scandal in the 1970’s that wrecked Astrid’s promising acting career and her ex-husband Magnus Fellowes now on his deathbed and writing a tell all memoir. Oh, and let’s not forget ‘The Awful Incident’. Eighty two year old Astrid is incandescent with rage at Magnus as he seems about to detonate her life yet again so she decides to set off to Scotland, determined to confront him and put a stop to the nonsense of a memoir.
I’m totally in love with the characters Lucy Atkins has created here in Astrid and Mrs Baker but also in Nina who is helping to write the memoir. The two elderly ladies are some of the most colourful, eccentric and wonderfully portrayed characters I’ve come across in a long time, they are truly unforgettable. As for the dialogue between them- oh yes! It’s clever, funny, witty, at times laugh out loud and sometimes sad and very moving. What can I say about the dachshunds? They’re like fantastic characters in their own right as I chuckle at lazy Juniper, grimace at taciturn Hendricks and wish to cuddle insecure Gordon. Although we don’t actually meet Lady C her bohemian world is vividly captured in letters which intersperse the narrative and I love how she scandalises the 1920’s village world. The other major character is of course, the windmill, who knew they could be so ‘sweep’ingly fascinating! It is used to glorious effect in the storytelling, it’s there constantly throughout the drama, it’s still standing up against everything that is thrown at it although it’s distinctly rough around the edges.
The plot is vibrant and marvellously complex and via Astrid's mind which drifts backwards and forwards in time the truth about the scandal and The Incident emerges. I love the way it arrives at this, it feels hazy at times as you just catch hold of fleeting glimpses, it’s almost as if your viewing events down the wrong end of a telescope! What is undoubtedly true is that Astrid and Mrs B keep you delightfully entertained throughout. At the core of this wonderful novel is female friendship demonstrating just how important this is and how lives are enriched by it. This emerges as the strongest message demonstrating that powerful men can control and silence women but not forever. Ultimately they’re rightly found out. The ending is brilliant and a perfect way to round off a magical reading experience. Thank you Lucy Atkins, I love it!
Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
A dilapidated but much loved windmill in Sussex, two adorable ageing occupants in Astrid Miller and her friend Mrs Baker, their dachshunds, ‘Tony Blair’ a taxidermy stoat, a Kit Cat clock and a taste for Jim Beam. Intrigued?? Let’s add in Lady Constance Battiscombe, the eccentric owner of the windmill in the 1920’s, a huge scandal in the 1970’s that wrecked Astrid’s promising acting career and her ex-husband Magnus Fellowes now on his deathbed and writing a tell all memoir. Oh, and let’s not forget ‘The Awful Incident’. Eighty two year old Astrid is incandescent with rage at Magnus as he seems about to detonate her life yet again so she decides to set off to Scotland, determined to confront him and put a stop to the nonsense of a memoir.
I’m totally in love with the characters Lucy Atkins has created here in Astrid and Mrs Baker but also in Nina who is helping to write the memoir. The two elderly ladies are some of the most colourful, eccentric and wonderfully portrayed characters I’ve come across in a long time, they are truly unforgettable. As for the dialogue between them- oh yes! It’s clever, funny, witty, at times laugh out loud and sometimes sad and very moving. What can I say about the dachshunds? They’re like fantastic characters in their own right as I chuckle at lazy Juniper, grimace at taciturn Hendricks and wish to cuddle insecure Gordon. Although we don’t actually meet Lady C her bohemian world is vividly captured in letters which intersperse the narrative and I love how she scandalises the 1920’s village world. The other major character is of course, the windmill, who knew they could be so ‘sweep’ingly fascinating! It is used to glorious effect in the storytelling, it’s there constantly throughout the drama, it’s still standing up against everything that is thrown at it although it’s distinctly rough around the edges.
The plot is vibrant and marvellously complex and via Astrid's mind which drifts backwards and forwards in time the truth about the scandal and The Incident emerges. I love the way it arrives at this, it feels hazy at times as you just catch hold of fleeting glimpses, it’s almost as if your viewing events down the wrong end of a telescope! What is undoubtedly true is that Astrid and Mrs B keep you delightfully entertained throughout. At the core of this wonderful novel is female friendship demonstrating just how important this is and how lives are enriched by it. This emerges as the strongest message demonstrating that powerful men can control and silence women but not forever. Ultimately they’re rightly found out. The ending is brilliant and a perfect way to round off a magical reading experience. Thank you Lucy Atkins, I love it!
Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
May 27, 2023
EXCERPT: There had been the sound of tyres on the chalk path one summer's evening, and a tentative knock on the door. A tall, thin young man stood on the threshold, wearing a black suit that was several sizes too large for him. 'I've brought the hearse,' he said.
It felt like a continuity error. 'Am I dead?' she asked. She saw the hearse, parked in the courtyard.
It took them a while to work out that he'd come to the wrong windmill - he was supposed to be collecting a body from another mill twelve miles away. As omens went, it had felt pretty heavy-handed and for a while Astrid had lived with a sense of dread. This had, of course, turned out to be entirely misplaced, because here she was at eighty-two, alive and well. Or maybe not well, exactly, but certainly N.D.Y.
ABOUT 'WINDMILL HILL': In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage.
Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful Incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him, at all costs.
MY THOUGHTS: Windmill Hill is a book to be lingered over, a bit like a fine red wine. Take your time and appreciate it.
Astrid is the most fascinating character that I have come across in a long time. She possesses a chaotic mind and feels no different, inside, at eighty-two than she did at thirty-two. It's just her aging body that slows her down - different parts of her body behaving like tantruming toddlers. I love her thought processes, or perhaps her lack of them. She flits from one thought, one subject to the next with no apparent, to the reader, connection. Strangely, libraries fill Astrid with gloom - they are a harsh reminder of all that she will never know.
Mrs Baker is the perfect foil. She is as steady and solid and practical as Astrid is a flibbertigibbet. Astrid's companion for over two decades, she says she only stayed because she felt sorry for Astrid. But Mrs Baker, too, has a secret in her past. Mrs Baker isn't Mrs Baker.
Although the plot dives off on tangents and jumps about in both timeline and subject randomly and quite without warning, it works and rather wonderfully.
Other than the mysteries contained within, revealed tantalisingly slowly, Windmill Hill is a story of love. A love that may have been ignored, buried and denied, but which has never died.
Windmill Hill is both entertaining and strangely soothing. I chuckled and wept, probably in equal amounts. This is deserving of a second read, and probably more than that. I look forward to reading it again many times in the future. A definite keeper.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#WindmillHill #NetGalley
I: @lucyatkinswriter @quercusbooks
T: @lucyatkins @QuercusBooks
#contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #historicalfiction #love #mystery
Before becoming an author, Lucy worked for Amnesty International (UK), and then the Times Literary Supplement. She studied English at Oxford University and was a Fulbright Scholar to the USA for a Masters in English & American literature. She has lived in Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia, and is now based in Oxford with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Windmill Hill by Lucy Atkins for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
It felt like a continuity error. 'Am I dead?' she asked. She saw the hearse, parked in the courtyard.
It took them a while to work out that he'd come to the wrong windmill - he was supposed to be collecting a body from another mill twelve miles away. As omens went, it had felt pretty heavy-handed and for a while Astrid had lived with a sense of dread. This had, of course, turned out to be entirely misplaced, because here she was at eighty-two, alive and well. Or maybe not well, exactly, but certainly N.D.Y.
ABOUT 'WINDMILL HILL': In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage.
Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful Incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing a tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him, at all costs.
MY THOUGHTS: Windmill Hill is a book to be lingered over, a bit like a fine red wine. Take your time and appreciate it.
Astrid is the most fascinating character that I have come across in a long time. She possesses a chaotic mind and feels no different, inside, at eighty-two than she did at thirty-two. It's just her aging body that slows her down - different parts of her body behaving like tantruming toddlers. I love her thought processes, or perhaps her lack of them. She flits from one thought, one subject to the next with no apparent, to the reader, connection. Strangely, libraries fill Astrid with gloom - they are a harsh reminder of all that she will never know.
Mrs Baker is the perfect foil. She is as steady and solid and practical as Astrid is a flibbertigibbet. Astrid's companion for over two decades, she says she only stayed because she felt sorry for Astrid. But Mrs Baker, too, has a secret in her past. Mrs Baker isn't Mrs Baker.
Although the plot dives off on tangents and jumps about in both timeline and subject randomly and quite without warning, it works and rather wonderfully.
Other than the mysteries contained within, revealed tantalisingly slowly, Windmill Hill is a story of love. A love that may have been ignored, buried and denied, but which has never died.
Windmill Hill is both entertaining and strangely soothing. I chuckled and wept, probably in equal amounts. This is deserving of a second read, and probably more than that. I look forward to reading it again many times in the future. A definite keeper.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#WindmillHill #NetGalley
I: @lucyatkinswriter @quercusbooks
T: @lucyatkins @QuercusBooks
#contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #historicalfiction #love #mystery
Before becoming an author, Lucy worked for Amnesty International (UK), and then the Times Literary Supplement. She studied English at Oxford University and was a Fulbright Scholar to the USA for a Masters in English & American literature. She has lived in Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia, and is now based in Oxford with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Windmill Hill by Lucy Atkins for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Read
November 2, 2022What a fabulous character Lucy Atkins has created in Astrid! 82 with a wandering mind, she is eccentric, determined, loyal, and wholly believable. This novel, ultimately about female friendship is playful, brilliantly observed, and with a plot that leaps and skips and surprises in the best possible way. I loved it.
May 18, 2023
**TRIGGER WARNING** Domestic Abuse
In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage. Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing his tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him at all costs.
This story has a dual timeline, the present day and the early 1920s when Constance Battiscombe owned the windmill. I really like Astrid and Mrs Baker who were quite quirky characters, and their hilarious conversations. Both women have suffered bad treatment from the men in their lives. The pace is on the slow side but there is enough going on to hold your attention and stop it from wandering. I loved the way this book ended.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #QuerecusBooks and the author #LucyAtkins for my ARC of #WindmillHill in exchange for an honest review.
In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage. Her ex-husband, the charismatic Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too - one that's caught up with them. There has been an 'Awful incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around. Then Astrid hears that Magnus, now on his death bed, is writing his tell-all memoir. Furious, she sets off for Scotland, determined to stop him at all costs.
This story has a dual timeline, the present day and the early 1920s when Constance Battiscombe owned the windmill. I really like Astrid and Mrs Baker who were quite quirky characters, and their hilarious conversations. Both women have suffered bad treatment from the men in their lives. The pace is on the slow side but there is enough going on to hold your attention and stop it from wandering. I loved the way this book ended.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #QuerecusBooks and the author #LucyAtkins for my ARC of #WindmillHill in exchange for an honest review.
April 15, 2023
If you love a brilliant read with characters who have a little bit more life experience, then you need to get your hands on this!
I was really lucky to hear @lucyatkinswriter discuss this novel and the inspiration behind it, the Jack & Jill windmills in Sussex, and I knew straight away I’d enjoy it! The windmill location lends such a wonderful sense of place, atmosphere and history to the story, and is a character in its own right. But the star of the show for me was the entertaining friendship between Astrid and Mrs Baker - what a duo! Oh, and obviously all the dachshunds didn’t hurt either 🐶
There’s some great mystery in this story as we slowly uncover what happened in two separate events referenced early on - and even though it gets pretty dark, with domestic abuse, violence and death - it’s just an oddly joyful and amusing story most of the time thanks to the bond between Astrid and Mrs Baker, and their often hilarious conversations!
I was really lucky to hear @lucyatkinswriter discuss this novel and the inspiration behind it, the Jack & Jill windmills in Sussex, and I knew straight away I’d enjoy it! The windmill location lends such a wonderful sense of place, atmosphere and history to the story, and is a character in its own right. But the star of the show for me was the entertaining friendship between Astrid and Mrs Baker - what a duo! Oh, and obviously all the dachshunds didn’t hurt either 🐶
There’s some great mystery in this story as we slowly uncover what happened in two separate events referenced early on - and even though it gets pretty dark, with domestic abuse, violence and death - it’s just an oddly joyful and amusing story most of the time thanks to the bond between Astrid and Mrs Baker, and their often hilarious conversations!
Read
February 6, 2023An intriguing tale of secrets, friendship ... and a windmill (this book made me want to live in a windmill, it was obviously researched so brilliantly). A very memorable narrator in Astrid, an eighty-two year-old woman with a troubled past, who lives in a cottage next to the windmill with her friend Mrs Baker, who has a troubled past of her own, and the past has a nasty habit of catching up with you. Even when you live in a windmill. Lots of dogs in this story (which I loved), a sprinkling of ghosts, and more than a measure or two of Jim Beam. Also, as an added bonus and very unexpectedly, I learned so much about windmills!
April 21, 2023
A beautifully written, gentle storyline, Charming, emotive and utterly captivating. Such a satisfying read. Loved it.
June 29, 2023
Review to come.
June 17, 2023
I probably felt equally amused and annoyed by the end of this book. The flitting about of thought and therefore story was too much for me. It’s a gentle enough ramble but lacked something to get me enthralled.
January 23, 2024
This is a difficult one for me. I don’t want to give a bad review because this wasn’t a bad book.
But sadly, it just wasn’t for me, as there were too many turn-off elements for me.
Having read Lucy Atkinson before, I really wasn’t expecting this style of writing. And unfortunately, I’m really not a fan of ‘humorous writing’, especially when it feels a bit too try-hard.
There were several times in the book when I was very close to putting this on the ‘DNF’ pile - mainly because Atkinson employed too many of my pet peeves about humorous fiction.
The references to the ‘awful incident’ and the scandal at the hunting lodge were very reminiscent of Stella Gibbons ‘something terrible in the wood shed’ in Cold Comfort Farm. The overt eccentricity of Astrid’s character; Tony Blair the stuffed ferret; the thieves known as The Slipper Gang … just a bit too laboured for me.
Well, at least there weren’t silly names for the characters (which really is my number one pet peeve). But, oh wait! Three quarters of the way in and there’s a mention of a ‘Clarissa Pelham-Hole’. Urgh! I’m curmudgeonly, I know, but the employment of ridiculous names just really does my nut in!
So yet again, this is definitely an “it’s not you, it’s me” review.
There were some lovely and quite poignant moments and I really loved the ending. But overall, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Sorry!
But sadly, it just wasn’t for me, as there were too many turn-off elements for me.
Having read Lucy Atkinson before, I really wasn’t expecting this style of writing. And unfortunately, I’m really not a fan of ‘humorous writing’, especially when it feels a bit too try-hard.
There were several times in the book when I was very close to putting this on the ‘DNF’ pile - mainly because Atkinson employed too many of my pet peeves about humorous fiction.
The references to the ‘awful incident’ and the scandal at the hunting lodge were very reminiscent of Stella Gibbons ‘something terrible in the wood shed’ in Cold Comfort Farm. The overt eccentricity of Astrid’s character; Tony Blair the stuffed ferret; the thieves known as The Slipper Gang … just a bit too laboured for me.
Well, at least there weren’t silly names for the characters (which really is my number one pet peeve). But, oh wait! Three quarters of the way in and there’s a mention of a ‘Clarissa Pelham-Hole’. Urgh! I’m curmudgeonly, I know, but the employment of ridiculous names just really does my nut in!
So yet again, this is definitely an “it’s not you, it’s me” review.
There were some lovely and quite poignant moments and I really loved the ending. But overall, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Sorry!
April 15, 2023
Thank you to Quercus and to NetGalley for my advance review copy of this book.
Windmills and dachshunds ★★☆☆☆
Eccentric octogenarian and ex Hollywood actress Astrid lives in a dilapidated windmill cottage in Sussex with longterm friend Mrs Baker and three misbehaving shorthair dachshunds.
Having left acting in shame after an ill-fated night with her actor husband, his director, and a young actress, Astrid has withdrawn from the world.
However, after an accident at the windmill which Astrid and Mrs Baker must keep secret, and the announcement of an ill-timed memoir by Astrid’s ex husband, all of the women’s secrets and truths risk bring brought to light and Astrid must leave her seclusion to travel to Scotland and confront her ex husband and their past.
This is an eccentric novel with oddball characters which speaks of the depths of female friendship. There is a capacity for great humour at times but for me it was too quirky in both characters and plot.
I do recommend Lucky Atkins’s previous novels The Missing One (2014), The Other Child (2015) and Magpie Lane (2020).
Windmills and dachshunds ★★☆☆☆
Eccentric octogenarian and ex Hollywood actress Astrid lives in a dilapidated windmill cottage in Sussex with longterm friend Mrs Baker and three misbehaving shorthair dachshunds.
Having left acting in shame after an ill-fated night with her actor husband, his director, and a young actress, Astrid has withdrawn from the world.
However, after an accident at the windmill which Astrid and Mrs Baker must keep secret, and the announcement of an ill-timed memoir by Astrid’s ex husband, all of the women’s secrets and truths risk bring brought to light and Astrid must leave her seclusion to travel to Scotland and confront her ex husband and their past.
This is an eccentric novel with oddball characters which speaks of the depths of female friendship. There is a capacity for great humour at times but for me it was too quirky in both characters and plot.
I do recommend Lucky Atkins’s previous novels The Missing One (2014), The Other Child (2015) and Magpie Lane (2020).
May 26, 2023
I like to judge a book by it’s first line and this one is a corker ‘Hendricks had eaten her hearing aids and her wrist was on fire. those were Astrid’s two most pressing problems.’
82 year old Astrid has retreated to a derelict South Downs windmill with her dachshunds, who are all named after brands of gin, following an international scandal in Hollywood that ruined her glittering stage career and her marriage.
She lives with her friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean 20 years ago and never left.
Beautifully written, with witty observations of enduring friendship - what a duo, friends till the end,
Thanks @lucyatkinswriter, @quercusbooks & @netgalley for the eARC
82 year old Astrid has retreated to a derelict South Downs windmill with her dachshunds, who are all named after brands of gin, following an international scandal in Hollywood that ruined her glittering stage career and her marriage.
She lives with her friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean 20 years ago and never left.
Beautifully written, with witty observations of enduring friendship - what a duo, friends till the end,
Thanks @lucyatkinswriter, @quercusbooks & @netgalley for the eARC
October 26, 2023
If you enjoyed Frederick Backman's A MAN CALLED OVE, then you are going to love Atkin's eccentric 82-year-old heroine Astrid. Ever since the breakdown of her marriage to famous actor Magnus thirty odd years ago, Astrid has been living in a derelict old windmill with only her housekeeper cum friend Mrs Baker and three miniature dachshunds for company. It's merely by chance that Astrid spots an article in the paper announcing that her terminally ill ex-husband Magnus is about to publish his much awaited autobiography. She knows that she will have to stop him at all costs, because of an incident in their past that destroyed Astrid’s own acting career and has altered her life irrevocably. She simply cannot face having to relive the shame. So, this reclusive octogenarian embarks on a journey to Scotland to confront her dying ex-lover.
Atkins tells her story through multiple timelines, jumping back and forth between the past and the present. Whilst Astrid is the main POV, excerpts from letters written by an earlier owner of the windmill to her husband also reveal some of the windmill's tragic past. I admit that initially there were many threads and mysteries that didn't seem connected and didn’t come together until the very end, but it was all worth the wait!
What wonderful characters Atkins has created with her two elderly ladies. Astrid might be over eighty and not as sprightly as she used to be, but she constantly reminds us that she is NDY (not dead yet). As the past threatens her reclusive and humble existence in the windmill, she must face up to one of her life's biggest regrets- with surprising consequences. It's a rare story that can evoke such a range of emotion - I laughed, I cried, and at one point I could hear my heart breaking clean in half. There were so many themes in this book that resonated with me, and I won't forget Astrid in a hurry. There aren't many novels out there that feature old women, especially ones that focus on the present, which made WINDMILL HILL even more special.
WINDMILL HILL has definitely earned a place on my favourites list. Atkins is a master at creating complex characters and intriguing stories (both her previous novels THE NIGHT VISITOR and MAGPIE LANE were also 5-star reads for me). Very highly recommended!
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
Atkins tells her story through multiple timelines, jumping back and forth between the past and the present. Whilst Astrid is the main POV, excerpts from letters written by an earlier owner of the windmill to her husband also reveal some of the windmill's tragic past. I admit that initially there were many threads and mysteries that didn't seem connected and didn’t come together until the very end, but it was all worth the wait!
What wonderful characters Atkins has created with her two elderly ladies. Astrid might be over eighty and not as sprightly as she used to be, but she constantly reminds us that she is NDY (not dead yet). As the past threatens her reclusive and humble existence in the windmill, she must face up to one of her life's biggest regrets- with surprising consequences. It's a rare story that can evoke such a range of emotion - I laughed, I cried, and at one point I could hear my heart breaking clean in half. There were so many themes in this book that resonated with me, and I won't forget Astrid in a hurry. There aren't many novels out there that feature old women, especially ones that focus on the present, which made WINDMILL HILL even more special.
WINDMILL HILL has definitely earned a place on my favourites list. Atkins is a master at creating complex characters and intriguing stories (both her previous novels THE NIGHT VISITOR and MAGPIE LANE were also 5-star reads for me). Very highly recommended!
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
February 23, 2024
Note to self - grabbing random books is hit and miss. I have enjoyed a few books with elderly women as main characters. This book could have done with a hard edit. The setting was a nice change but I got bored by the time spent on Astrid's fractured & fractious relationships. Thank goodness for some romance at the end.
September 26, 2024
A very sweet book, especially with all the dachshunds dotted throughout the story! The two main characters, eccentric old ladies in their 80s are just like Frederick Backman characters.
Like a warm blanket of a read, easy to follow and dip in and out of.
Like a warm blanket of a read, easy to follow and dip in and out of.
June 26, 2023
Tremendous fun and the Sussex windmill setting was irresistible.
July 23, 2023
A beautiful story that kep turning page, Strong and well rounded characters, excellent storytelling
Highly recommended
Many’s thanks to the publisher, all opinions are mine
Highly recommended
Many’s thanks to the publisher, all opinions are mine
August 14, 2023
A lovely lovely book. Hard to describe. There are some very eccentric characters in it and the story is most unusual. The heroine is, I think, the windmill. I’ve not read anything by Lucy Atkins but I’m now looking to see what else she has written. Thoroughly recommend this book
October 1, 2023
How could a story of two old friends, a windmill and 3 daschunds (in jumpers) be anything other than wonderful? Another great book from Lucy Atkins.
January 21, 2025
Fun characters but super slow first half and too much windmill mechanism info for my liking
September 25, 2023
A lovely book. I enjoyed every bit of it especially the relationship between Astrid and Mrs Baker. I have read three of Lucy Atkins books and found each one special.
December 15, 2023
I preferred Magpie Lane to this novel. I found the story too lighthearted without much direction or purpose. I did, however, admire and find Astrid’s (the narrator’s) love and care for her dogs touching and heartwarming. For me, the miniature dachshunds were the stars of this story.
February 18, 2024
An easy, comforting, nice read :)
November 22, 2025
4.5 ⭐ I loved this book! It jumped around in time a bit, which I found hard to follow initially, but it all comes together into a wonderful story. It would make a good 'holiday read' where you can just settle in and consume it rather than dipping in and out.
November 28, 2023
Maybe a 2 and a half? This was quite an enjoyable lightweight, feel-good read but I found it a bit twee and predictable. Not as good as 'Magpie Lane' in my opinion.
August 1, 2023
This is the story of Astrid, the former actress and Mrs Baker, her cleaner/ companion. They live in a decrepit windmill along with their 3 gin related dash hounds. All are are eccentric, quirky, and a little bit decrepit, including the windmill itself! Add to this heady mix the correspondence from the 1920s regarding the outrageous Lady Constance Battiscombe, the slowly emerging details of the scandal that brought an end to Astrid’s career and the more recent ‘awful incident’. Whilst dealing with dark issues such as abusive relationships, abandonment and poverty, bizarrely it remains joyful and amusing. I was hooked.
July 19, 2023
Having enjoyed Lucy Atkin’s last two books, Windmill Hill was a book that I was really looking forward to. So I was disappointed that I found it so hard to get into. At first I was thoroughly confused by what was going on and irritated by the way that everytime the story seemed to be going somewhere it would backtrack or divert. But eventually I realised that this was deliberate and that it mirrors the confusion that the protagonist – 87 year old former actress Astrid – feels.
Astrid lives in a dilapidated windmill with her former employee and long time companion Mrs Baker. Years ago, Astrid was married to Magnus who went on to become a Hollywood superstar, while her career derailed in the midst of a scandal. Now Magnus is writing a memoir and she’s terrified that it will revive the scandal. This is particularly important because there has recently been a bad event at the windmill that she and Mrs Baker don’t want people finding out about – but it’s not clear what that is.
By the book’s end I was thoroughly enjoying this and had got very fond of the characters but it is a book that takes its time to win you over. I’m very glad I stuck with it and I do recommend it, especially if you enjoy Joanna Cannon’s books.
Astrid lives in a dilapidated windmill with her former employee and long time companion Mrs Baker. Years ago, Astrid was married to Magnus who went on to become a Hollywood superstar, while her career derailed in the midst of a scandal. Now Magnus is writing a memoir and she’s terrified that it will revive the scandal. This is particularly important because there has recently been a bad event at the windmill that she and Mrs Baker don’t want people finding out about – but it’s not clear what that is.
By the book’s end I was thoroughly enjoying this and had got very fond of the characters but it is a book that takes its time to win you over. I’m very glad I stuck with it and I do recommend it, especially if you enjoy Joanna Cannon’s books.
June 21, 2023
Fabulous characters ,a whole lot of past trauma and a lot of love
The trauma is not painted so grimly it’s hard to read ,I tend to avoid them, this is just moving and touches on the sins of men and the battles us women face
It’s about bonds we make and the comfort we find in our fellow female friends
How we take each other in and support one another to face and recover form challenges
It’s about the weakness of men and their power and the way that is abused
It’s also about forgiveness ,repenting and new beginning's
This author doesn’t dissapoint
This may be strangely less dark in some ways than her previous novels and is lighter at times
It is though dark and has a shocking example of exploitation I have ever read ,i literally was like woooh what is that about and had to research it as was so astounded
It’s a good novel ,it took me awhile to get into it and at times was confused but i stuck with it and I’m glad I did
I felt v v v close to the women characters and ithe windmill was wonderful to imagine and a character in its own right.
The windmill finally moves again as the lead characters find their closures and their next chapters
The trauma is not painted so grimly it’s hard to read ,I tend to avoid them, this is just moving and touches on the sins of men and the battles us women face
It’s about bonds we make and the comfort we find in our fellow female friends
How we take each other in and support one another to face and recover form challenges
It’s about the weakness of men and their power and the way that is abused
It’s also about forgiveness ,repenting and new beginning's
This author doesn’t dissapoint
This may be strangely less dark in some ways than her previous novels and is lighter at times
It is though dark and has a shocking example of exploitation I have ever read ,i literally was like woooh what is that about and had to research it as was so astounded
It’s a good novel ,it took me awhile to get into it and at times was confused but i stuck with it and I’m glad I did
I felt v v v close to the women characters and ithe windmill was wonderful to imagine and a character in its own right.
The windmill finally moves again as the lead characters find their closures and their next chapters
February 4, 2024
Windmill Hill holds secrets within its walls or does it? If only 82 year old Astrid could remember events clearly and concisely. There was an awful incident or was there? Then there is loyal Mrs. Baker who has been living with Astrid in the windmill for twenty years. Together they made me laugh, I mean side splitting laughter where I’m sure my neighbors wondered what the hell was going on downstairs! Don’t get me started on Magnus, the bane of Astrid’s existence; well, as much as her tortured memories will allow her to remember certain events.
Lucy Atkins has written such an entertaining novel. However, issues such as, aging within a friendship circle, memory loss, marriage, divorce, were not lost on me. I am grateful to the author for not wrapping everything up at the end with a big red bow.
Lucy Atkins has written such an entertaining novel. However, issues such as, aging within a friendship circle, memory loss, marriage, divorce, were not lost on me. I am grateful to the author for not wrapping everything up at the end with a big red bow.
October 21, 2023
I loved Magpie Lane and, like other reviewers, found this book comparatively disappointing. I’m afraid I found the deliberately rambling & repetitive nature of the protagonist’s thoughts to be tedious & wearisome. Some of the ‘twists’ and ‘secrets’ were dangled and withdrawn so often, I was not surprised (and no longer cared) by the time they were revealed.
The elderly characters and female friendships were warm and engaging, but overall this book left me cold.
The elderly characters and female friendships were warm and engaging, but overall this book left me cold.
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