Opening with the approach of Christmas in the busy village butchers’ shop in the Forest of Dean, perhaps the delayed publication of this book was always meant to be – but although the small family business has always been the heart of the rural community, the supermarkets on the edge of town have made life considerably more difficult. When Jo’s parents decide that the time has come to retire and move closer to family, she decides to take on the business: armed with spreadsheets and big ideas, challenging the way things have always been done, she walks away from her career as a junior barrister and seeks the comfort of the place – home – where she was happy.
Tessa has spent time away from the community too, although she’s always been rather on its periphery, her life blighted by a traumatic event in her youth that left her with pain and guilt: with the end of her relationship with Marnie and her life in Bristol, a rare time when she felt she belonged, now living in an isolated cottage on the edge of the forest, her sexuality and her increasing ill health have increased her isolation and social awkwardness, as she works as the local farrier and ekes a precarious living.
Tessa has spent time away from the community too, although she’s always been rather on its periphery, her life blighted by a traumatic event in her youth that left her with pain and guilt: with the end of her relationship with Marnie and her life in Bristol, a rare time when she felt she belonged, now living in an isolated cottage on the edge of the forest, her sexuality and her increasing ill health have increased her isolation and social awkwardness, as she works as the local farrier and ekes a precarious living.