A wonderful story ,I enjoyed the story from first to last page.A story of friendship community that swept me away.Will be recommending.#NetGalley #s&suk

This is the best Caroline Scott book I have read since The Photographer of the Lost. The author excels in portraying the post-war English countryside in all its bounteous glory without ever ignoring the effects that war and suffering have had on the people who live there. In this story, we meet the residents of Anderby estate, a loose collective of artists and creatives who support each other and estate owner Gwendoline in maintaining their home. Into the mix comes gardener Robet Barsdley, fleeing his own troubled past, only to find fresh challenges at Anderby.
Can he restore the gardens? Can he help Gwendoline with her vision? Or will financial pressures mean the estate has to be sold?
With a whole host of warm, interesting and diverse characters, like Trudie, an aristocrat fleeing her dominating mother, schoolteacher Faye, who has strong political views about everything, and gentle Daniel, bowed but not broken by his wartime experiencs, there is always something interesting and worthwhile to discover on every page.
While the strong main plot of saving the estate would be enough to carry the story, there are many fascinating subplots going on, and many different themes. Love, friendship and community support shine through the story, balanced but never dwarfed by the trickier themes of loss, betrayal and human greed.
This story is warm, funny and immensely heartfelt. I fell in love with Anderby, with its residents and with the idealism they nourished despite all their challenges.
A joy of a book which I will definitely re-read just to experience its magic all over again.

The Best of Intentions is a quietly powerful novel that lingers long after the final page. Caroline Scott weaves a poignant narrative of love, grief, and the fragile aftermath of war with incredible sensitivity and grace. Her lyrical prose brings post-WWI Britain vividly to life, capturing both the physical and emotional landscapes of a nation trying to heal.

The characters are richly drawn, especially the central figure whose personal loss mirrors the wider collective mourning of a generation. Scott masterfully explores themes of identity, memory, and the moral complexities of doing the right thing when nothing feels certain.

This is historical fiction at its most affecting—elegant, thought-provoking, and full of heart. A must-read for anyone who appreciates stories that explore the quiet, often overlooked costs of conflict and the resilience of the human spirit.

I was so looking forward to reading The Best of Intentions. I am always drawn to books revolving around gardens and find them very special reads, and this was no exception.

The book is set in the 1930s in the beautiful setting of the Gloucestershire countryside. The main character is the very passionate young gardener Robert Bardsley, who arrives at Anderby Hall to bring its gardens back to life. Anderby Hall is an Elizabethan Manor House but is now very run down and needs a lot of restoration work - inside and out. Anderby Hall is now home to a creative community, brought together by shared needs and quiet hope. The community is called Greenfields and the book is very cleverly written, unfolding over the course of a year. We start in Spring and it is wonderful to read and envisage the changing seasons, watching not only the gardens bloom into life but also the characters too.

Robert is looking to start a new life for himself. He plans to keep his head down, tend to the gardens, and stay under the radar, but life at Greenfields has other ideas!

It is not long before Robert finds himself drawn into the lives of the artists who call it home. It is the other residents, along with Robert, that make this such an extraordinary book. Each character has their own history, their own story, their distinct personalities, and their hopes for the future. Every one of them helps make Greenfields. the community it is.

I loved Robert's relationship with the other residents, particularly the very eccentric Trudie! She was just brilliant! And her legendary cocktails are something to behold! No recipe needed! Just a splash of this, a generous splash of that, and lots of personality! Trudie made me laugh alot!

As the Anderby Hall orchard faces demolition, due to the owner of the estate selling to a property developer, Greenfields come together to protect the place they love and where they call home. The orchard soon had newly built Tudorbethan bungalows on. This was a sign that the world outside Anderby Hall was changing and the residents found this understandably very hard to cope with and resisted all they could.

I loved how, despite their reactions at first, that the residents in the end, welcomed their new neighbours, because they soon came to realise that they were here to stay but also that they could benefit the Hall by bringing in very much needed income.

This is such a heartwarming story about a community which comes together to protect what matters most. It is a book about friendship, courage, compassion and most of all hope, which in these times was so very much needed. I loved how when new residents were welcomed to stay in the House they all helped out with their own skills, working on restoring the house.

The Best of Intentions is a warm and nostalgic historical novel, exceptionally written, and one that I really enjoyed. This beautiful story leaves you quietly reflecting on what it truly means to live with intention, something the Greenfields community embraced with grace, warmth, and open hearts.

Thank you for such an immersive read. Five enormous sparkling stars!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I very much like a novel set in England in the 1930s. it was such an interesting time. The Best of Intentions was a comforting and entertaining read. As our main character Robert was a gardener, I loved how a year in the lifetime of the gardens at Anderby Hall were described. I could absolutely see them in my mind. They are like an extra character in the book.
Nostalgic, yet modern in outlook, the trials of the community who are having to deal with change and progress, and how to keep the Hall and it’s grounds going after the stock markets crashed, was beautifully written and engaging. I'd definitely recommend this charming read.

A wonderful ‘English’ country house setting with great characters and a storyline which kept me hooked from start to finish. I felt I was living alongside the characters in this book. Such a well written novel.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A lovely story of a community coming together to fright for what they believe in. The characters are well drawn, countryside is perfection , you can almost smell and feel the changing seasons.

A beautiful story described with heart. It was quite slow to start with and took me a while to get my head round all the characters however it was well worth persevering with.

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

Robert has traveled to Greenfields to take up a new position of gardener at a country estate.
There are lots of residents living in the cottages in the estate and Robert enjoys getting to meet them.
When the residents find out that the owner of the estate has sold the orchard to a property developer, they must find a way to stop this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

the descriptive details in this book are just so wonderful. i felt like i could see them, smell them. i love gardens,plants and all things of the type we are given in such beauty in this book and so thoroughly enjoyed these parts.
the book mainly tells us the story of Robert but we get to know other characters too and these are my fav type of books. the plot is the characters and the characters are the plot. and getting the right balance isnt easy at all. so when its done well like in this one it truly does feel like a joy to read.
Robert has come to Anderby Hall to create a new life for himself. and being involved in restoring the gardens seems just the thing to do it. Anderby is currently a place for creatives, a little boho kind of feeling to it if you will. and we are given the story of Robert and a few others in the commune
but as Robert starts to feel settled news comes that the Orchard on the estate is being sold to build new homes. and lets just say things spiral somewhat as there certainly isnt praise for this new plan. not at all. its going to ruin everything they hold dear. isnt it?
i loved how even though this wasnt the place i love or live i truly felt what it was meaning for those who did live there. those who cherished this place they've found. how will they ever deal with such a change?
i really did love this book. it didn't need to scream to be heard.it didnt need to shock to grip you. it was just really very good.

Gloucestershire, 1932.
Robert Bardsley arrives at Anderby Hall with a firm resolve to be a better man. The ancient door is opened by American Gwendoline Fitzgerald, a vision in green silk with her glorious vibrant auburn hair giving her the air of an artist’s muse. The house is clearly neglected and is as icy as the exterior and as for the gardens, which will be Roberts job, there’s much to do especially reviving the famous roses. Anderby is now a home and retreat for artists and idealists, a kind of Bohemian Utopia. The novel is told from several perspectives including Robert, his colourful neighbour Trudie, famed for her lethal cocktail combinations, Daniel, whose recovery from the Great War is understandably slow and school teacher Faye, with whom Robert has a tricky relationship. Just as Robert believes he’s settling in, the news arrives at the Orchard has been sold to make way for an estate of Tudor inspired bungalows. Indeed. Will this put everything that Anderby and the nearby village of Greenfields stands for in jeopardy. What will this tight knit community do? It’s a violation of somewhere they hold as precious, a link between the past and the present. Anderby ancestors will be spinning in their graves.

It takes me a little while to get into this, to sort the characters out but once I do, I really love this beautifully written historical novel. It’s a wonderful snapshot of an idealistic community and how they respond to inevitable change as it’s an inescapable fact that Britain needs more homes. The language at times is almost lyrical which means that scenes and characters spring to life as vividly as the appearance and personalities of this eclectic bunch of individuals. It captures the times in society, the language used and contextually depicting the increasingly darker times abroad as authoritarianism bites hard. The author really does create a strong sense of community and their palpable shock at what may happen to a place that they’re both invested in and love. It’s very atmospheric with a strong sense of place.

I love the idea of very likeable Robert rescuing, reviving and re-creating the old garden designs that date back hundreds of years and the roses which are of Tudor origin. It mirrors the efforts of post Great War recovery and these are some of the strongest sections of the book.

Amongst the wit, humour and excellent dialogue there’s betrayal, treachery and manipulation which comes as a shock to most but not to a few and there’s an impending sense of devastation and doom. However, fear not, these are people with strength and backbone and it builds to a very heartwarming ending.

This is a must read for fans of Historical Fiction and ensure to read the authors fascinating afterword.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Simon and Schuster for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

Atmospheric..
Anderby Hall, 1932, home to a community of the creatives. A tale of life, loves, creativity, inclusion, community and, perhaps above all, friendships. With a cast of well drawn and credible characters, a firm sense of time and place and a plot that captures the ups and downs of life in a period of inter wars, this is an uplifting and harmonious read brimming with empathy and atmosphere,

This was a lovely little novel of finding a community and helping it grow. Not quite what I had expected but was really lovely to read

An enjoyable book set in the early 1930s in Gloucestershire following a fictional community set up after the horrors of WW1. This was a time where several such communities were set up involving creative and arty people and were an early form of communes. The main character is Robert, a gardener employed to help get the overgrown gardens under control. As with all such set ups there is disagreement and this comes to a head when land is being sold off. A gentle read which evokes the atmosphere of the gathering uncertain times. A good range of characters, some quirky and a villain or two for balance. Delightfully heartwarming at times

I really enjoyed this beautifully written novel set in the inter wars years. When Robert is forced to leave his position as a gardener under a cloud thanks to his liasion with the daughter of the house, he seeks employment at Greenfields. His new home is an artistic community built around Anderby Hall, a decaying manor house owned by Gwendoline Fitzgerald, once a glamorous American heiress who lost most of her fortune in the stock market crashes of the late twenties. Robert's arrival is greeted with suspicion by Gwendolin's younger husband Teddy and Faye the passionate and political school mistress and the job, to bring the neglected formal gardens back to life is daunting, but slowly, despite the precarity of his position thanks to his forged references, Robert starts to feel at home in the idealistic community. But when Gwendolin makes a decision that threatens all Greenfields holds dear fault lines start to emerge and Greenfields itself is at risk of collapse.
Filled with gorgeous descriptions of the gardens and countryside and peopled with very real characters I savoured every word of The Best of Intentions. Highly recommended.

Please see link to LoceReading.co.uk for the full review.

I’ve reviewed The Best of Intentions for book recommendation and sales site LoveReading.co.uk, I’ve chosen it as a Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month.

Set in the 1930s, in an arts and crafts commune set up in a dilapidated country estate, Robert arrives to become the new gardener. Over the course of a year we get to know the residents, following their trials and tribulations, heart break and love stories. The announcement that the ancient orchard has been sold to build mock Tudor bungalows sends shockwaves through the community, can Anderley and its ideals survive?

A well written, piece with lovely characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to review.

A story of friendship, community and staying true to yourself, this is a nostalgic and funny novel. Gardener Robert Bardsley arrives at Anderby Hall, an Elizabethan manor house in Gloucestershire which is home to ‘Greenfields’, a community of artists and idealists. He has been employed to revive the garden, and starts to befriend the other residents, but soon discovers that the orchard has been sold to a property developer.

A really beautifully written novel based in the 1930’s from the viewpoint of new Anderley Hall gardener Robert and other members of the community. I absolutely loved the descriptions of the garden and the natural world in general, such a relaxing read that the plot itself was secondary to me. I did also enjoy reading about how the commune developed and how everyone came together to fight/accept the changes thrust upon them. I will seek out other books by this author.

This is a very well written book.
Most chapters start very lyrically, describing the garden, its flowers, or the produce for sale in the market. This I particularly liked. The story itself was also different to most romances, in that these were not a major plot device; in fact, the 'commune' itself, and the lives of the people in it, is the real story and this
A couple of things did jar: the phrase 'operatives in cotton mills' when used to describe Robert's parent (surely 'operatives' should have been replaced by 'employed' or 'workers'? Operatives feels too modern for this book's date), and the fact that things happening in the outside world felt shoehorned in and had no bearing on the plot e.g. the Jewish situation in Germany, refugees coming to England. Without these points, this would have been a five star book.

Welcome to Anderby, between the wars.

It's not your typical manor house.

True, there is a lord and lady of the manor. But the estate is home to artists.

Newly arrived Robert is the gardener employed to revive the historic rose garden. It's also a convenient escape from his past...

But the community's security is threatened when the orchard is sold to a property developer to build bungalows...

Lovely characters