A competition designed to display the most beautiful windows decorations ahead of the Christmas celebrations is opening up the windows to the souls and lives of the shopkeepers on a busy street on the Scottish town of Linlithgow - not a fictional, but a very real location. Different trades, different family stories and backgrounds, but all part of a lovely local community.
But there are always threats and the human temptation of judging too harsly the others, as there are people ready to damage the local harmony and the tight community. And, as it may happen in real life too, there could be romance but also some accidental mystery task that should be solved.
The beautiful debut novel by Anni Holliday, Windows is more than one single story at once. It is a reminder, with clear sociological and anthropological directions, about the emotional support the local community can provide, but it is also a work of fiction where we can imagine the interactions and shared destiny of some of the characters.
As a reader, I felt like watching everything unfolding from the top of a hill, empathically reacting to stories displayed in the book.
Holliday herself was born in Linlithgow, hence the accuracy of the descriptions and local ambiance, that makes you feel like being trasferred there for the duration of the read.
A cosy, meaningful read to enjoy before the start of the winter holidays´ season, so important when community is so important to enjoy and share. I hope that it will not take too long until Holliday will write her next book, as her writing is both beautiful and resonates to contemporary topics.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
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