The Orphans of Mersea House: A Novel

After her mother’s death, Olive Kersey finds herself alone and penniless, struggling to find some work not only to give her money but also to give her a sense of purpose. That comes when her childhood friend Margery Paxton comes back to Suffolk from London with the plan to open a boarding house, with Olive as housekeeper. Soon she, their two lodgers, and Margery’s ward, Juniper, begin to form close-knit bonds of friendship.

All of them have secrets and trauma lurking below the surface, though, which may tear at those still-fragile bonds.

The Orphans of Mersea House is a quiet, beautifully told novel about reclaiming life and hope. Wingate’s books have not always enchanted me, but this one did. The tenderness and affection fit perfectly into the small-town post-war setting, and I was intrigued by and enamored with every character. Juniper in particular reminded me of Anne Blythe from Anne of Green Gables, and I would recommend this book to anyone who grew up reading those books and still looks for anything that has the same sense of heart but is written for grown women.