The back copy of this one left me unsure if I would enjoy it but other reader reviews convinced me to try it. The quirky cover appealed too! However, this one is not for me, I enjoy unusual but this was bit too strange for me! I have consulted those who loved it and this is the very thing they appreciated. It is full, and I mean full, of superstition and tradition. Each family behind the two leads have so many opinions, on everything, from weather, to walking down pavements and skipping the lines, who to talk to and who to avoid. It is also a time-slip novel which I didn’t anticipate and the author weaves past and present together. The writing is lovely and the characters well-formed. If Lauren Brandenburg took to a different genre, I would read her again! If you have access to a preview of the novel, it will give you a good sense of the style throughout. As I didn’t enjoy it but can’t fault the writing, it’s a 3 out of 5.

This book was an absolute treat. Picking up where 'The Death of Mungo Blackwell' ended, the story centers around the engagement & wedding of Margarette Toft & Roy Blackwell - basically the town of Coraloo's version of Romeo & Juliet. But it also ties in with the story of the mysterious cleaning woman, Innis Wilkinson and her omnipresent scissors strung around her neck.

As far back as anyone can remember, the Toft and Blackwell families have been locked in a vicious feud that would do the Hatfield's and McCoy's proud. The ancient story is filled with grand adventure, gross hyperbole, and pirates. The townsfolk are ridiculously eccentric - which makes them all the more charming.

It was fun to revisit with the characters from 'Mungo', and to learn more about the traditions & superstitions held by each family. The stories - told several decades apart - wove together in a way I was not expecting, complete with a twist that made me smile and shake my head.

Laura Brandenburg has created a world rich with intriguing characters who are - for the most part - more than meets the eye. I highly recommend this book, as well as 'Mungo', and hope there will be more of this charming world to come.

Whimsical and completely unique, Brandenburg's assured voice and sly, cerebral wit have shades of Frederik Backman ,Rachel Joyce and Phaedra Patrick.


I enjoyed her deep character study and how at ease she is in letting her story unfold. What's more, I felt cold after leaving this world that was at once a burst of rainbow and a quiet solitude during a year when we all long to travel.

With just the write notes of whimsy and irony, the duelling families and eccentric onlookers in colourfully-drawn Coraloo are a singular and wonderful escape.


I look forward to where Brandenburg's intelligent and playful and surprising imagination takes us next.


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Very strange story of the long time feud between the Blackwells and the Tofts. Now Constable Roy Blackwell is marrying Margarette Toft and it's causing more anxiety. Innis is the cousin of Margarette and also a Toft.

An enjoyable and quick read. Good storytelling and found myself pleasantly surprised by the story. I know several friends that will want to settle in with this and some hot cider and a comfy blanket now that fall is here!

An interesting read. I have to say that it took me a while to get into the book. Parts of the story are still a mystery now that I have finished.
In some ways, life in Coralee is old-fashioned, the townspeople being concerned with what others think and a feud between two families. Then the internet is mentioned, so you realise that it is set in modern times. The romance too, seems naive and the traditions of both families of a bygone age.
I didn't get the relevance of the title and other story until later on in the book. But it all dies come together as the book progresses and I am glad that I perservered with it.
I was looking for a different genre after reading a couple of crime stories. This fitted the bill. An unusual writing style, but worth the effort.
Thanks to Net Galley for the Arc in exchange fir an honest review

The first few chapters of this book left me quite sad, thinking that it was going to be one of those "quirky books", a la Jonathan Safran Foer, setting the story into a Dr. Seuss world, where nothing makes sense and the story is hard to follow. But luckily I was very wrong!
The plot is apparently simple: Margarette Toft and Roy Blackwell are in love and want to get married, even though their families are the equivalent of the Montagues and Capulets. Very much not in love.
As I said it seems simple and basic, but once you get into the story you start to fall for these characters, so full of life and so realistic it's almost scary.
There is also another story, similar and parallel to the main plot, that stood out to me as a very interesting plot twist, but I obviously cannot say anything about it.
Lastly, the book is beautifully written. The words flow in a perfect arrangement and it is honestly a pleasure to read.
Give this book a go and you won't regret it!

Very cute and enjoyable story, I really liked the sweet Roy and his Margrette. And a very unexpected plot, quite a twist - didn't see that coming!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.