Over the last ten years I have read all the books written by Victoria Clayton. They are witty, romantic and delightful and a joy to read. The characters range from the sweet and lovely to the eccentric and selfish and are quite often set in a background of a beautiful house, a stately home, a grand garden, all designed to make the reader feel happy and relaxed.
I have just finished reading Moonshine by this author and loved every page. It is one of those curl up on a sofa with cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit turn off the phone and chill type of books or, as in my case, switch on electric blanket on bed so it is warm and snuggly, bed socks on book. This story features a heroine, Roberta (Bobbie), who flees when an affair with a local MP with the wonderful name of Burgo Latimer (he is Tory just in case you were wondering) hits the tabloids and she takes a post as housekeeper in a crumbling old castle in Ireland. Every Irish person she meets appears to have fallen straight out of a Disney type cartoon all speaking with superb accents, completely eccentric and brewing poteen in illegal stills in the back yard. When she arrives at the castle it is to find three slightly dysfunctional children, a wife lying in a coma, an absent husband whose mistress also lives in the castle and, as she used to be in a circus is fond of turning cartwheels before breakfast (naked) and a poet, jilted on his wedding day who wafts around like a male version of Miss Havisham.
It is all wildly over the top but Bobbie decides to take them all in hand and sort them and the castle out. All goes well until the absent husband returns (turns out he teaches English Literature at Dublin university and is a Senator in the Irish parliament so he is not neglectful of his family, he is working hard), His name is Finn and as he and Bobbie hate each other on first sight we then know immediately what is going to happen....
As I have been a fan of Victoria Clayton's writing for some time now, I was very pleased and surprised 
to see her name on Fidra Books where a children's book, written by her under her maiden name of Victoria Walker, is being reprinted. This is just another example of this wonderful serendipity that I am always blathering on about. These coincidences and links pop up over and over again.
The Winter of Enchantment was written by Victoria when she was just 21. According to Fidra It "tells the story of Sebastian who travels back from his Victorian world to a magical world of Melissa, Mantari and the wicked Enchanter". The sequel, The House Called Hadlows, will be published in 2008. Now these books sound simply gorgeous and exciting and I am just waiting for the New Year when I am determined that this will be my first purchase of 2007.
I do recommend Victoria Clayton's adult books, they are written with great panache and humour and bowl along until you simply have to sit up with the aforementioned tea and the chocolate biscuit and read until the happy ending is reached.
