Magpie’s Bend

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       June 9, 2021

 

Author  Maya Linnell

Distributor:      Allen & Unwin
ISBN:                 9781760877330
Publisher:         Allen & Unwin
Release Date:   June 2021  

FaceBook:    

YouTube:   

Instagram:   

X Formally Twitter:    

Life can at times hurl some tough stuff at you and the last thing Lara McIntyre wants is a nosy journalist, no matter how interesting he looks, poking around in her life. Toby Paxton, the one man team at the local newspaper and new to the town,  just happens to be in the right place to lend a hand when the local store owner Mrs Beggs falls from the ladder in the store.

Unable to resist snapping a picture of a slender woman helping Mrs Beggs in a no nonsense manner, he does and when Lara turns on him, asking him to get rid of what he is convinced is an award winning picture, he is not to happy, but is certainly not going to take on one angry young woman.

It seems inevitable the store and will need to either close or be put up for sale, which creates an uproar in the small community of Bridgefield, as the residents totally believe they cannot manage without the centre of their community, the local store, let alone the delicious homemade pies the store is renowned for producing.

Lara, the district nurse and Toby the award winning journalist unite in their efforts to help the community raise sufficient funds to purchase the store and in doing so, Lara begins to feel that perhaps there might be more to life than living alone, embittered and single. Can Lara overcome her distrust of men and can Toby, odd socks and all be the one to bring new love and hope into her life once again.

Magpie’s Bend carries on the family story of the McIntyre girls as they return us to the comfortable setting of rural Australia where anything can happen, especially when it is backed with endless community spirit.

Comfortable and so very much like returning home to help out, Maya Linnell has once again transported readers right into the heart of a family faced with their own personal issues, but making time to lend a helping hand, capturing the very essence of country living in Magpies Ben.,