Cover Image: A Wedding in the Country

A Wedding in the Country

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Member Reviews

I love Katie FForde, I have read all her books, waiting each year for a new one to be published. This time we have been taken back to the 60`s which is a lovely different twist. When I started reading I kept thinking the story would be a double timeline jumping back to now and then return to the 60`s, so it took me a little while to get into the swing (perfect pun for the 60`s!!!) of staying in one era, but when I did I just gobbled up the story, Lizzie's exploits in London and her mother wanting her to be the perfect wife material was fun, it made you realise how people's attitudes have changed over time I loved the characters and the situation they were in. Katie is able to give depth to the characters, and you feel you get to know them well and smile and grimace at them. Fans of her books will not be disappointed with this one.

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Katie is up to her usual excellent standard with this book. Lizzie, the main character has parents who had her life planned out for her since birth. She leaves home to live with an aunt where her life really begins to change. It’s always a real delight to read a beautiful story such as this.

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This is a lighthearted story, but I couldn’t get into it. I wanted to love it, as I loved the characters but it just wasn’t for me.

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I really enjoyed this book. Set in the 1960s, it is the story of Lizzie who moves to London to learn to be a good housewife and discovers London, love and what she wants to do with her life. Very cute and a great read

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In these very 'trying times' at the moment, I was sure that I would enjoy this book immensely, and I wasn't wrong!!
This is a truly, lovely typical story by Katie Fforde!! She has a definite way of writing stories that you'd recognise as hers, but are very different from each other!! And this one didn't disappoint!!
There's love, friendship, hardship, nastiness, you name it, it's all practically there!!
A definite 'take you away from the stresses that we are suffering at the moment' read!!
Loved it!!

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I have read quite a few of Katie Fforde's books, and always love them. They are like scones with jam and clotted cream on a warm summer afternoon - delicious, comforting and quintessentially British. I find her writing consistently reassuring, and this book certainly delivered. . A Wedding in the Country is set in 1963, which was slightly unusual for the author, but it really worked. Despite it being a time of rapid social change (especially for women) the 1960s feel nostalgic to us now. A time without social media, mobile phone access and celebrity culture. To set a love story back then was refreshing and enticing. I particularly liked the loyal female friendships portrayed. A lovely book.
Thank you to Katie, the publisher and @NetGalley for th opportunity to read this charming novel.

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I really enjoyed this. Set in the 60's it tells the tale of Lizzie, who goes to a cooking school in London where she meets some other like minded girls. She gets kicked out of her aunts house as she doesnt want her new man to show interest in Lizzie and so Lizzie moves in with some class friends overseen and chaperoned by a wonderfully gay man.

I enjoyed it, if i had seen the blurb in the shop i never would have read it because its not my cuppa tea but it was a fun read.

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Well, having been in London as a student, at approximately that time I found myself taken back to all the things I remember! What a different life it was, and how safe we felt as we dipped in and out of the coffee bars and markets.
Lizzie has some choices to make. Her mother feels she should be traditional and go the Cookery/finishing school route to find a husband. It doesn't always work like that!
I did enjoy this book, and have been reading Katie FForde since way back . The story didnt disappoint. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review and reaad the book.

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A Wedding in the Country by Katie Fforde a perfect four-star read if you are a fan of the 60s. I love this author and was expecting the usual, but still enjoyed it. Lizzie made me smile so much, but she wasn’t the only character I adored in this story, there were many that made the story, there wasn’t one that didn’t add something special. If you like a great story please do pick this up, as you wont be disappointed.

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A lovely, light Ms Fforde book to read during theses difficult times. Set in 1963, Lizzie’s parents send her to London to take a cookery course so she can become a good wife (whatever that is?). Lizzie has always been the compliant daughter who wants to enjoy her London life before she settles down.

However an unexpected moment of madness seals Lizzie’s fate for the future, and no more spoilers from me!

Suffice it to say that the book contains wonderful characters - especially Lizzie's parents who are snobs.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the chance to read and review.

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Lizzie's mother had planned Lizzie's wedding since the moment she was born. Lizzie, however, had other ideas and wanred to have some fun before thinking of settling down. This was a a lovely story of friendships and family. It was a lovely read at such difficult times for everyone. I loved it.

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Set in the sixties Lizzie has moved to London and is living with her Aunt while she does a cookery course. After a new, modern haircut and modern clothes her Aunt asks her to leave. Her friend on the course suggests she moves in with her and their other friend asks if she can move too.

Such a fun read exploring life in the sixties. The perfect book to relax with. Its a nice, relaxed paced storyline centering around the three girls and their male housemate. Some great laugh out loud moments especially at what happened in that time. I've only read a short story by this author but I'm hooked on her writing style and will be definitely reading more. Highly recommended.

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I love Katie Fforde's novels, they are so light and romantic. In this one, the heroine goes to a cookery school in London in the swinging sixties, has a makeover and makes some new friends while getting used to a newly Bohemian world outside of the countryside where she was raised.

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A wonderful story set in the 1960s. I am not usually a fan of books set in the past, but this was adorable and I struggled to put it down. It tells the story of Elizabeth, Alexandra, Meg and later Vanessa, girls from different backgrounds thrown together and trying to juggle choosing the lives they want and can now have, while trying to please an older generation. An enchanting read, I was sad when it ended.

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Katie Fforde takes the reader back to the 1960's in this delightful tale of three girls and a man sharing a house in Belgravia.
Lizzie, Meg and Alexandra meet at a cookery school and in spite of their different backgrounds become firm friends and housemates.
This tale of love overcoming social barriers felt different to other books by this author. Maybe because of the setting, but it was a refreshing change and a very enjoyable read.

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A lovely waltz through the 1960's protocols of a young girl going up to London for a "Cookery Course" to improve her marriage prospects, the girl getting pregnant and the aristocratic young man eventually finding out and "doing the right thing" and marrying her. With all the parental trauma one would expect back in the 60's.
There was never any introduction at the beginning of the book to set the time in history, however, being from that era I could understand the dialogue and behaviours of the characters, but I wonder what younger readers would think? Some of the writing I thought a little childish and condescending in explanations.
The basic story line and characters were all very cosy and happy ever after. Not one of Katie Fforde's strongest novels, but a quick and feel good read.

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Katie Fforde never fails to deliver a wonderful, feel good story you can curl up with and forget the outside world, pandemics included. Lizzie goes to cookery school in London in the swinging 60's. Meets and falls in love with Hugo, just the type of man her mother wants her to marry - but he has a fiancée already. Brilliantly s written, as usual.

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Having read a few incredible romances in a row, I found this one very average.

Lizzie has escaped her ambitious, stifling parents in the country to attend a cookery school in London. Quickly she makes friends with girls completely different from her and realises how rich life can be. She also gets her first taste of falling in love...even though he already has a steady debutante girlfriend.

Its set in the 60's and great mood is set with fashion and clubs of that era. Lizzie and her friends are likeable and the love interest dashing. The first half showed potential and I was curious to see where the story would lead, but the second half was extremely slow and lost momentum.

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In these stressful times, a nice, gentle book can be called for – and this sounded like just that!
Here’s the blurb:

“Lizzie has just arrived in London, determined to make the best of her new life.
Her mother may be keen that she should have a nice wedding in the country to a Suitable Man chosen by her. And Lizzie may be going to cookery school to help her become a Good Wife.
But she definitely wants to have some fun first.
It is 1963 and London is beginning to swing as Lizzie cuts her hair, buys a new dress with a fashionably short hemline, and moves in with two of her best friends, one of whom lives in a grand but rundown house in Belgravia which has plenty of room for a lodger.
Soon Lizzie’s life is so exciting that she has forgotten all about her mother’s marriage plans for her.
All she can think about is that the young man she is falling in love with appears to be engaged to someone else …“

Lizzie (Elizabeth to her parents – I’m also an Elisabeth – but everyone apart from the doctor calls me Libby, including my parents!) is sent to London to a posh cookery school in her mother’s bid to make her attractive to a ‘suitable man’! However she also wants to enjoy the swinging sixties in the big smoke!

Lizzie soon makes friends – and moves in with them rather than her wayward Aunt Gina! And the shared house in Belgravia sounds great fun.

There is a real mix of classes – which causes some stresses – and reminded me of Downton fast forwarded a few decades!

There is one ‘sex scene’ which is fairly fundamental to the entire book – but it is done with incredibly good taste – and I’d be happy for my honorary Grandmother or teenage daughter to read it (although they’d probably both think it incredibly tame! The honorary Grandmother is registered blind and so sometimes has audiobooks. She listened to ’50 Shades of Grey’ as it helped her go to sleep!!)

The story twists and turns and made me want to keep reading – in a gentle Sunday night drama kind of way. It was inoffensive and well told.

A lovely, easy read – sometimes EXACTLY what is required.

Many thanks to the published and NetGalley for my ARC. It’s out in February 2021 if you want to pre order.

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I have read and enjoyed many Katie Fforde books over the years, and was thrilled to be given an opportunity to read an ARC of A Wedding in the Country.
Fforde's books tend to be set in more contemporary times, so it was a pleasant change to read a novel written entirely in the 60s.
Lizzie, or Elizabeth, as her mother insists she be called, has come to London to take a course in cooking and certain skills that become a young lady, and gives her that extra 'something' when she is looking for an eligible groom.
Lizzie is not that interested in getting married, just yet, but the thought of coming to London, and widening her very narrow horizons, gives an air of extra excitement to the whole adventure.
Along the way, she makes new friends and ends up living in a house with her new friends, in the rather affluent Belgravia area.
It's not only new friends that she makes, but she gathers a couple of admirers, too.
And she manages to find herself in quite a predicament...
I enjoyed reading the story, immensely and loved certain characters, like David, the not-quite closet homosexual housemate Lizzie has.
A lovely, easy read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Cornerstone UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

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