A Strange Inheritance by Mark Neilson

A Strange Inheritance by Mark Neilson
Buy A Strange Inheritance by Mark Neilson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Women's Fiction
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: A feel-good read about a woman who inherits a mill in the Yorkshire Dales and decides to live there.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 224	Date: July 2012
Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN: 978-0709099505
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Meg had just lost her job when she received the letter from the Solicitor. It was all very mysterious but when she presented herself in his office she discovered that an Uncle she knew nothing about had left her an inheritance. It wasn't just any inheritance, either – in addition to a substantial sum of money she was now the proud owner of a mill in the Yorkshire Dales. Almost on a whim she decided that she wouldn't sell the property. The more that she saw of the mill, the more that she felt she wanted to live there. She loved the local town and it was a bonus when she made a friend – a fellow Scot – on her first day there.

There's something of a mystery behind the bequest. In a letter her uncle asked her to help close the circle. She's no idea what this means and no relatives to whom she can turn. As time goes on it's something which she'll feel she wants to look into, but getting the mill habitable is her immediate concern and she's fortunate to find a local expert who can help her with advice as to how a listed building should be treated – and who can also do the work at a reasonable price. Worth his weight in gold, isn't he? Meanwhile, her solicitor has decided that he's going to have a break from London and comes to the Yorkshire Dales. It's not just the scenery he's taken with either…

It's a feel-good story. I read it in one sitting, delighting mainly in the descriptions of North Yorkshire (Mark Neilson has the sounds perfectly – which might sound odd, but once you've been to the area you know exactly what he means) and the mill. The story was heart warming but did lack something in the way of dramatic tension. After the initial problem of being jobless in Edinburgh everything seemed to go relatively smoothly for Meg – and that's just about unheard of with projects like this.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

It's autobiography rather than fiction but if this part of the world appeals to you as much as it does to me then you'll enjoy Road to the Dales: The Story of a Yorkshire Lad by Gervase Phinn. You might also enjoy The Valley of the Vines by Mark Neilson. For more of the Yorkshire Dales, try The Mistress of Windfell Manor by Diane Allen or The Lost Guide to Life and Love by Sharon Griffiths.

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