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EXCERPT: George was just stepping out of the cafรฉ, takeaway coffee in hand, when he saw Grace appear in the window of the tabac opposite. He recognised her instantly, despite his throbbing temples, and felt his neck prickle as he remembered trying to talk to her at the garden club meet and finding his tongue had tied itself in knots. It had shocked him, this sudden mutism; he'd always been able to talk for England, so everyone told him. But then he wasn't in England any more. And he'd felt a bit out of place among all those posh retirees.
The cold, silvery, winter light crept softly around the edges of the white, February clouds, and fell on Grace's skin as she searched for an empty place in the window. Reaching up, her tongue protruding slightly at the edge of her mouth, she pressed the corners of the A4 sheet against the glass alongside the adverts for a local artisan market, a babysitting service and a poster advertising a music night, the date of which had already passed. He could just make out the word 'club' in bold on the paper.
Another club. He tried not to laugh. He barely knew the woman, but he'd gathered that if there was an event or club or fete or pretty much anything going on in the local community, she'd be involved somehow. He wondered what she was up to this time.
He busied himself, looking at the property adverts in the estate agent window while he waited for her to leave, and then, when she had, strolled nonchalantly across the street and had a quick gander.
Sure enough, it was an advert for a new organisation - with Grace at its helm. This time, it seemed, she was starting a book club for 'Anglophones' - the advert written in English, with French translation underneath in the hope of attracting a wider clientele.
He wasn't sure why he took a picture of the number with his phone. Just in case, he told himself. He hadn't read a book for years, not a fiction one at least. But maybe it was time. Another night in with the boys at the house would probably finish him off - he was getting too old for so much alcohol. And he couldn't just sit around in his tiny flat - he'd go mad. At least it would be something to do.

ABOUT 'THE BORDEAUX BOOK CLUB': Love books? The Bordeaux Book Club is seeking new members!

When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, itโ€™s not the โ€˜good lifeโ€� sheโ€™d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yield a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear.

So, when her friend entreats her to join the new bookclub sheโ€™s forming, Leah decides itโ€™s something she will do for herself. The chance to make new friends, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to escape into stories that take her miles away from the life sheโ€™d thought would be her own happy-ever-after.

But the book club is a strange group of misfits. Thereโ€™s prickly Grace, who lives alone and seems to know everybody and like no-one. Buttoned-up Monica, who says her husband is away and appears to be parenting her baby all alone. Handsome builder George, who has barely read a book before. And Alfie โ€� who is a full two decades younger than everyone else, and is hiding a devastating secretโ€�

As the stories they read begin to bring the new friends closer together, Leah is about to discover that happy-ever-afters donโ€™t always look how you expect them toโ€�

MY THOUGHTS: The Bordeaux Book Club is an eclectic mix of characters -
Grace, divorced, heading for sixty, organised and opinionated;
Leah, who has a sullen teenage daughter, a husband who suddenly needs 'me time', and a terrifying clutch of chickens;
Monica, a mother with a young baby, an absent husband, who is missing her friends and family back home;
George, a builder helping a friend renovate his French dream home; and
Alfie, a sixteen-year-old who joined the book club to please his mum.

They don't sound like a scintillating bunch of people, do they? And yet, as I came to know them and their life problems are slowly revealed, I began to feel a great affection for them. Their problems are ordinary ones, nothing exceedingly dramatic, just problems, at least some of which, we all experience at one time or another. As friendships are formed and support networks build up, the book club members find their lives changing slowly and inexorably for the better.

I think this is the first book about a book club I have read where the books are discussed fully and frankly, and I gained a new perspective on some old favorites. Personally, I would enjoy belonging to this book club.

A charming and uplifting read.

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THE AUTHOR: I'm a British author and freelance writer, currently living in France with my husband and 5 children. I write contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I listened to the audiobook of The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey superbly narrated by Lucy Scott.