Table for Eight
by
Tricia Stringer
Publisher: Harlequin Fiction AU
Publication date: 24th September 2018
Pages: 496
RRP: $32.99
Format Read: Trade Paperback
Source: Courtesy of publisher via Beauty & Lace book club
A cruise, no matter how magical, can't change your life. Can it...?
Clever,
charming dressmaker Ketty Clift is embarking on her final cruise from
Sydney before she must make serious changes in her life. Supported by
the ship's all-powerful maître d' Carlos, she has a mission: transform
the lives of those who join her at her dining table every evening. Not
only can Ketty turn Cinderellas into princesses with her legendary
style-eye, but she has a gift for bringing people together.
But
this trip is different. As the glamour and indulgence of the cruise
takes hold, and the ship sails further away from Sydney towards the
Pacific Islands, it becomes clear that her fellow travellers - a
troubled family, a grieving widower and an angry divorcee determined to
wreak revenge on her ex - are going to be harder work than usual.
As
Ketty tries to deal with her own problems, including the unexpected
arrival on board of her long-lost love, Leo - the man who broke her
heart - as well as troubling news from home, she begins to realise this
might be the one cruise that will defeat her.
Ketty
Clift loves cruising and helping people so naturally she combines the two on
her numerous cruises.
Ketty’s
fashion design business has taken a recent downturn and she had thoughts of
cancelling her cruise on the Diamond Duchess’s farewell voyage but it seemed
fitting that what may be her last cruise is also the last voyage for this
magnificent ship.
Ketty
loves to observe people and her table of eight each night for dinner id the
perfect opportunity to get to know her fellow passengers; their strengths and
foibles.
One
cruise. Twelve days. Eight strangers. (well almost strangers, there is a
husband and wife with the wife’s father in the group).
Stringer
skilfully develops her characters. There are characteristics you will see in
yourself and the people around you which draws the reader in, quickly becoming
invested in the characters’ lives, eager to learn more.
Stringer
uses the backdrop of a luxury cruise liner to explore issues of broken
relationships, love, loss, grief, family relationships, self image and second
chances.
I’ve
never been on a cruise and Stringer’s luscious descriptions of the opulence of
the ship, the activities available, the night life and the beautiful islands
they visited brought it all to life on the page. If you have cruised before I
am sure it will bring back memories in vivid detail.
I
loved that the characters were older (aged between 40 and 69) and how they
formed friendships and relationships in a different way than younger people. Table
for Eight confirms that age is no barrier to love and the need to have
companionship and feel wanted.
The
story is told in multiple POV so we get a well rounded view of what the
characters think and feel. This also helps to explore the different ways that
people see the same situation.
The
main character, Ketty, is a people watcher and she loved giving people a nudge
toward love, healing or a change of direction. Some may see Ketty as a meddler
or a busy body but she always had good intentions.
Each
character has their own reasons for being on the cruise and heartbreak, secrets
and jealousies are slowly divulged throughout the story.
Stringer’s
move from her highly successful Rural Fiction stories to the Contemporary
Fiction market has been an outstanding success.
Content: themes of loss and grief
no sex
minimal coarse language (hardly worth a mention)
My rating 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
*This review is part of the Beauty & Lace book club. You can read the original review here
Table for Eight is book #33 in the Australian Women Writers challenge
and part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge
 |
| photo courtesy of Harper Collins Aus |
Tricia Stringer is a bestselling author of novels across three genres:
women's fiction, historical saga and rural romance. Her first book, Queen of the Road,
won Romantic Book of the Year in Australia and she has been shortlisted
for more awards. Tricia has spent many years in education as a teacher,
a librarian and in middle management; with her husband she took on the
first licensed Post Office in South Australia where they included a
bookshop, and she now works as a full-time writer. Tricia travels
Australia and sometimes overseas researching and drawing inspiration for
her novels which always feature an authentic Australian voice. Home is a
place near the beach in rural South Australia.
