Author: Judy Leigh
The Vintage Village Bake Off is a novel by Judy Leigh, an author of the Golden Oldies’ Book Club and The Golden Gals’ French Adventure, two of the books I read before (out of many she wrote, which are on my reading list). As with the previous two books, I also enjoyed the Vintage Village Bake Off.
The book celebrates good food, scones in particular, communities, friendships, and also making the most out of our lives regardless of our age and previous experiences. The book starts with Hattie, a divorced woman who faced 49 years of domestic abuse by her husband, Geoffrey. Interestingly, the book starts with her wedding day and the doubts she had about not being excited. The chapter after that goes fast forward and tackles her single life after 49 years of abuse, where she tries to re-build her life whilst also processing abusive and dismissive comments her husband frequently made, which made her placid and fearful. Her sister Bounty comes to visit after leaving her husband for an affair with a plumber, and the two move in with Hattie, making a mess and distorting her life just as she started to rebuild it. She then goes to her brother Robert, who lives in Millbrook, Devon. Robert was a head teacher who never married and now lives a quiet life looking after his small cottage and animals, all named with creative names linked to popular culture, e.g., a chicken called Princess Ley-a, a goat called Han Solo, a cat called Isaac Mewton, etc. He finds passion in the gardening club, whom he often treats with his home-made scones, sponge cakes, and other delicacies, which bring him a following and an admiration of eligible women in the area. Hattie becomes a part of the community and befriends local people. When two journalists discover delicious scones, they propose a bake-off competition between Robert and a baker from Cornwall. Naturally, people in Devon and Cornwall eat scones differently, and the issue is not just whose scones are better but also what is the right way to eat them, clotted cream first or jam.
The Vintage Village Bake Off as a whole tackles not just local customs and rivalries, or domestic abuse, but also loneliness and questioning whether later in life one can change things or whether they are too set in their ways, and also friendships, communities, great food, and there is a bit of a romance between some characters who then also question whether they can have a new or first relationship later in life. Having now read three books by Judy Leigh, it is safe to say she is the true doyenne of second chances and anti-ageism in writing. She also writes compellingly and creates a positive sentiment in her writing whilst still managing to tackle serious issues, such as domestic abuse. The only issue, and this runs as a theme across three books now, is that endings come too abruptly without being properly explored, but maybe that is on purpose. Maybe what matters is the community, friendship, and thoughts about second chances, which are indeed beautifully explored in-depth in all books. What I also liked is that the book started with Hattie, whose story was initially told interchangeably with Robert’s, and one thinks that this is Hattie’s book, but later, it becomes Robert’s book, and then it becomes a book for both of them. I like this type of writing and its unpredictability, and I also enjoyed the focus on the character’s personal stories and thoughts, which is what I like about British writers and why I favour them on my reading lists.
Thank you for reading!