New Neighbours for Coronation Close

Rating: 2 out of 5

Bristol 1936. Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with her two children. Roy, her husband, struggles to find work. A chance encounter turns the tide for the family and they are given a council house. Jenny has a fresh start, especially with Roy spending less time at home. Jenny encounters an old love and her knight in shining armor during all these changes. Does she allow herself a chance at happiness?

So this book was really confusing to follow a lot of the time. I wish it had some trigger warnings because the abusive spouse dynamic came as a surprise. It didn't seem like it was going to be that type of novel. The book jumped around in topics a lot and didn't really seem to have a logical progression. I really struggled to like any of the characters which made it more difficult to read this one. A lot of the novel was full of moments which contradicted those stated just a few pages earlier. Jenny, who wasn't living the most extravagant lifestyle, was incredibly judgmental of people who were in a similar situation to herself.

I spent most of my time confused with the flow of the book and when Jenny moved to Coronation Close it almost read like a different novel. I felt very unfulfilled by reading this one. It didn't feel that anything was resolved and Jenny's infatuation with her childhood love and basically a random stranger really felt out of context, and neither of these dynamics was resolved. The conclusion presented a "reasoning" for Roy's behavior but changed nothing about the outcome of the story. It also didn't resolve any of the issues and then the book ended with a whole other topic. Unfortunately this one was a huge miss for me.