Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional housesitter – stepping into other people’s lives - caring for their homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours. Living vicariously.

All Anna has ever really wanted is a home of her own – a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. If only she knew where to start.

Growing up in foster care, she always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. And, while those same friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in that nomadic cycle, looking for answers, trying to find the courage to put down roots and find a place to call home.

I will be completely honest here – I originally started this book a few weeks ago and put it aside as I didn’t think it was for me. Then I read some of the reviews with people saying how great it was, and so I picked it up and started again, and am I glad I did!!

This book tells the story of Anna, a woman who has been through the care system and is now trying to find her place and purpose in life. She is helped along the way by her amazing friend Kate, who is more like a sister to Anna than a friend.

The only character I didn’t quite gel with was Callie – I found her to be a petulant teenager and she drove me insane with her tantrums!

I think an amazing amount of research must have been done for this book as Anna, who is a house sitter visits lots of different locations and each one has a gorgeous description of the scenery and more importantly, the bookshops!

I throughly enjoyed this heartfelt easy feel good read. I felt I could connect with the characters and absolutely loved Anna.

This is the kind of story with so much heart that you can't help but be sucked right into, exploring adversity and joy alike. I can see so many people adoring this book!

Anna has no home, but that doesn’t matter to her. She moves from house to house, across countries, countries and continents to look after other people’s homes, the precious pets and their treasured belongings.

Living such a peripatetic life for the last ten years has seen Anna simply live unencumbered by baggage and a base. But even thought she may travel light, Anna is in fact taking the most heaviest of emotions with her wherever she goes. And she cannot out run them.

Through intersperse chapters we learn of Anna’s upbringing and her childhood where she was pushed from pillar to post through the care system – a ‘looked after child’. Seeking solace in literature, reading and books she finds herself at Oxford against or if not despite all the odds probably stacked against her.

On her first day she meets Kate and a lifelong friendship and bond begins, which lasts and as life changes for Kate, she starts to look at how Anna is perhaps conducting her life and that she needs to find the answers to what she wants in one place and not a dozen.

Having read Penny Parkes previous novels, I know she has never been one to shy away from some tricky and tough subject that perhaps do not make for comfortable reading. This book was no different in that respect, but she handled it with real skill and care. I was drawn into supporting Anna as the child and rather like her friend Kate, wanting Anna as an adult to stop running away and stay still long enough to find what she was looking for.

It was great to have a book where it was not all going to be tied up nicely with everyone living happily ever after. I adore those books but I also love a book which is left open ended for the characters to continue just as much as the readers. Whilst this book perhaps felt a bit repetitive in parts and for me a tad too over-laboured, it was still compelling enough to become totally involved in all the characters, no matter how they floated into Anna’s life and how long they stayed there.

I recommend this is one of those books that everyone is going to be reading in 2021.

This is the first book I have read by Penny Parkes and I will definitely be reading more of her books. This was a heartfelt easy feel good read and inspiring. I felt I could connect with the charecters and absolutely loved Anna.

Anna Wilson is a professional house and pet sitter, travelling anywhere and everywhere for a week or longer to step temporarily into someone else’s life. She has few possessions and her battered old Mini contains most of them as she goes from one job to another – whether it’s a large country house or a small flat.

Part of me secretly envied Anna’s unencumbered lifestyle – free from possessions, however Anna’s baggage may not be physical but it certainly is emotional. There is a reason for this choice of life and as her touching back story is revealed, my heart ached for the life that Anna was missing out on. Anna was a child of the foster system and has been profoundly affected by her experience.

Home shines a light on the care system and the long lasting effect it can have if you become part of it. Anna had two parents, who for their own reasons were unable to care for her and so the state took over and the young Anna was subject to a life of pot luck and hit and miss with care. During her years being passed around from one home to another, Anna had varying experiences but the overriding mental scars together with trust issues, have left her afraid of commitment, afraid of making the wrong choice and of getting things wrong. It was easier not to make any choice at all.

The one constant in her life was Kate. Kate was a fantastic friend from university and though their personal lives went in different directions, their love for each other never changed. It was Kate, together with the support of her family, throughout Anna’s university life who tried to provide the family that Anna never had. Kate could see the potential in Anna but it was making her believe in herself that was the biggest hurdle. Everyone needs a Kate in their life.

This was a deeply moving story of trying to find your place in the world and having to deal with deep rooted insecurities and deciding what you really want from life. I must be honest and say that there were times when I thought that the story slowed a little – even so, I enjoyed it very much. Anna was such a resilient character and some of the people she came across on her travels had such an impact on her life -many for the good, others not so.

I was already familiar with Penny’s ‘Larkford’ series which I had enjoyed however Home elevates her writing to another level. The characters here were so superbly drawn, even those on the periphery and the telling of Anna’s story from childhood to present day makes her such an easy character to empathise with. A thought provoking and heartwarming story of friendship and of finding the courage to make changes.

My thanks to SJ of Team BATC at S&S for the tour invite and copy to review.

Thank you to SJV for my invitation to the tour for this gorgeous book and to the publishers for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.

Anna has had a tough upbringing, she was moved around in foster care as child. When she thought she had found happiness, fate intercepted again and dashed those plans. She has close friends in particular Kate but she longs to find her own home.

She works housesitting and after a really unpleasant experience in the most recent job she ends up in the small village of Dittisham looking after a huge unruly dog called Chewie.

There she meets some of inhabitants of the village including Henry who tries to show her that life is too short to put on hold. Unsurprisingly she is very cautious and also not willing to let people get too close to her.

The story is very moving as it switches between the present day and Anna’s childhood in care. There are parts of Anna’s story that are really heartbreaking and totally set the scene for her nomadic lifestyle but she takes on Henry’s advice and starts to make a plan. Bath is the first stop and there things change for Anna in a most unexpected way.

This is a wonderful story, I loved Anna and so wanted her to find a home and the characters in the book are so real and I really couldn’t put it down.

Warm, funny and deeply moving, you may need a packet of tissues for parts of Anna’s story. This is a a book that once you start you will not want to put down until you turn the last page. I absolutely devoured it !


5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow! Home is an emotional rollercoaster that is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time.

Anna is the lead character in this book and by following her story we see how her present day life of being a professional house sitter, moving constantly, has been effected by her past of growing up in foster care.

When we are introduced to Anna at the start of the book I couldn’t have predicted the journey that we would go on with her. The book is told through Anna’s present day life as well as in the past, and essentially that all Anna has ever really wanted, from being a child to now 30, is a home, somewhere that she belongs.

I think belonging is a key theme to this book and Anna’s story. From being abandoned as a child, from moving around foster homes, to going to university and now in her job, all Anna has wanted is a home, a true home, somewhere that she belongs. I think that this element of the book is something that each and every person can relate to. What we all want is to belong, and to feel as if we are a part of something.

Anna’s story is enticing and heartwarming. I didn’t want to put it down but I also wanted to savour every word. This book left me reflecting on my own life. From start to finish I was hooked, I can highly recommend this thought provoking novel.

This is my first Penny Parkes book and what a treat to read. Thought provoking and emotional, but expertly written. Will be looking for more books by this author.

This was a great, poignant story, filled with great characters and a wholesome centre at the core of this book.

Home by Penny Parkes is a poignant and enveloping story about home, and that it really is where your heart is, surrounded by the people you love.

This was my first book by Penny Parkes, and I loved her writing style. When we are first introduced to Anna, it seems that she has everything, an exciting job that enables her to live vicariously through the lives of other people by living in their luxurious homes and looking after their pets. It becomes clear when we first see a glimpse of Anna entering the care system, in many transient foster homes, that there is a reason why she moves from one house sitting job to the next.

I adored the connection that young Anna had with Marjorie, her best and most welcoming foster parent. I loved their time together, and I found that Marjorie had such a wonderfully eccentric and warm personality. Sadly for Anna, that foster placement was the only positive one she experienced, with many negative ones. We are taken between the past and the present to see Anna as she was, and as she grows into the Anna that it is impossible not to love for her resilience and her empathetic nature.

The relationship Anna had with her best friend Kate was so beautiful and supportive. Kate effectively became her family, from their very first meeting. Kate was perfect at helping Anna see things from a different perspective and in many ways helped her grow.

The other characters that Anna met in her journey to find home were a great addition to her life and also helped with her own personal growth. I particularly liked Henry and Callie, and I finished the book really wanting to hear more of their stories.

Home by Penny Parkes is a story of friendship, family, and how home is where you are surrounded by the people you love.

I love when we get a book about an unconventional character or an unconventional lifestyle because life isn’t all black and white and we all have our own paths and our own journey and so meeting Anna and finding out about her journey was really special and something which I desperately needed in my reading life.

It was brilliantly frustrating that we get information about Anna’s past drip fed slowly throughout the course of this novel and yet we know that her past is what has shaped her and why has made her who she is today. I love that we get to see the ‘now’ before finding out about the ‘then’ but you have that desperation as a reader to find out as much as you can about ‘then’ because Anna has obviously been affected negatively by it.

It’s so interesting that Anna has chosen to live life through other peoples houses. Her last obviously inspired a lot of this and she is essentially homeless. It just shows that someone without their own home can come in many shapes and forms. I love that Anna is so successful at her job and we do get to find out more and more about why that is. I’ve done some house sitting in my time and it was so intriguing to read abojt someone who does that full time!

This book also explore the concept of found family and friends often being more of a family than those we grew up with. This is often seen in movies and TV but i don’t think that we get enough of it in books. Kate has such a great relationship with Anna and I loved watching their friendship grow and change as these two women did. I know I will be thinking about where the two of them are now for a long time.

We also get a glimpse into the foster system and what it take for a child to be removed from a home which again is generally only explored in books that are specifically about that issue and not just as part of the main characters life and background. I love that we are getting more of that in general fiction and I think Penny Parkes made some brave but necessary choices when crafting Anna’s story and her character.

This book definitely made me think and opened my eyes to some issues I hadn’t really given much time and attention. I enjoyed the slow feed of information but do be warned, Anna’s story will consume you when you’re reading it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book is such an thoughtful, well written read.

Anna, whose been moved from different foster homes, and all she wants is to be loved and wanted.. A sad story, but one that’s filled with heart touching message, that family is not about being blood related, but looking for those that you love, and those that will love you, for who you are.

She’s a very strong character but also one that’s had a bad pack of cards given to her in life. But still, she’ll find somehow, to keep going.

The way her relationship with Kate was portrayed was lovely, and Marjorie, I just fell in love with.

I would recommend this book, it was enjoyable and thought provoking.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Books in the City for letting me take part in this tour. I’ve only read the first book in Penny’s Larkford series but I absolutely loved it. When I saw Penny had a new standalone I knew I had to read it.

The main character in this book is Anna. Anna has not had the most stable upbringing which has really had an affect on her view on herself. Anna is smart, capable and very resilient. She would completely disagree with that statement too. I really liked Anna. Her story was so interesting.

I loved the structure of this book. Each chapter told you where you were and what year. I liked that we flicked from the present and then back to the past to give some relevant back story. It really helped to make a more rounded story.

I loved Anna’s relationship with Kate. I love how they will be there for eachother no matter what. They can be truly honest with no fear that they will be cast aside by the other. It’s a very rare thing.

Penny manages to write about the foster care system in such a way that you really understand everything that Anna has been through. It is such a difficult topic to write about but I think that Penny did it beautifully.

This book is a story of life, of love, of friendship, of broken hearts and happy endings. It was a real pleasure to enter Anna’s life and the story will stay with me for a long time.

If ‘Home’ and Anna Wilson don’t break your heart I don’t know what character and book would!

Penny Parkes drip feeds information and allows us, the reader to gain a gradual insight into the life of the main character Anna, and what makes her tick. How the childhood she knew, moulded her into the adult she’s become. She leads a transient lifestyle, moving from place to place, stepping into a multitude of homes in her capacity as a professional house sitter. Never staying in one place long enough to put down roots, have a social life or get too close to anybody. Living on the periphery of peoples lives, whilst not really living her own.

Early on in the story we learn that as a child Anna had been shunted like an unwanted parcel from foster home to foster home. Her confidence and resilience battered a little more with each move. This explains a lot about character, I truly believe that the life we led as children has a strong bearing upon the adults we become and for Anna this was definitely true. She’s seemingly unable to put down roots and attach herself too strongly to either people or places.

Thank goodness for one of her foster parents Marjorie - what an absolute angel, I loved her as a character so much! She was just beautiful and kind, inside and out - boosting Anna’s confidence and teaching her to reach for the stars, to learn and grow. I really thought that Anna would get to settle here, so it was utterly devastating to read that Anna didn’t get to live her happy ever after life with Marjorie. Their interactions, each giving the other the comfort they needed with the life lessons Marjorie taught her instilled in her a drive to succeed, yet no matter what she achieved she never quite believed in herself. The bar set so high she consistently felt she could never quite sail over it. The mental pressure she put on herself was so hard to read at times, she was always striving for perfection but never quite believing in herself, not allowing anyone to get too close, preferring to keep herself to herself with the exception of best friend Kate.

Kate was the closest thing thing she had to family - she was the family she chose and a better cheer leader she could not have wished for. The sort of friend that is always there for you no matter what but, when needed tells you straight, not afraid to gently pull the punches - I loved her she was funny, resilient and dependable.

I loved watching Anna bloom, find herself and discover what Home meant to her - it isn’t always blood and nature that makes a home but nurture, love and gentle kindness. People who love you for you, not because they’re family and should. With Home Penny Parkes has woven a magical tale laced with honesty, openness, resilience, love and friendship. An uplifting, mentally descriptive read - the words painting vivid pictures that were at times both painful and beautiful. I loved it and loved that without realising it Anna left behind a little bit of herself behind with each and every house sit, touching the hearts of everyone she met until eventually she emerges like a butterfly and slowly begins to bloom and trust in herself.

This is a book I'll be shouting about for a long time to come - it is humbling, breathe takingly beautiful and a book that I know I shall read again and again. Thank you SJ & Books and the City for introducing me to another amazing author in Penny Parkes.

What does home mean? It's a question that Anna Wilson has been searching for since her father walked out and her mother abandoned her when she was just six years old to a series of foster homes. At 30, despite her Oxford degree, she still leads the life of a Nomad, working as a home and pet-sitter for affluent families, with no settled abode of her own. But a narrow escape from a sexual assault by one of her clients forces her to confront the reality of her life - it's time for Anna to finally do some serious heartsearching and explore what is stopping her from moving on from her abandonment issues.
This was a compelling if sometimes unsettling read. Anna is a complex character, spiky and aloof, somewhat intellectually snobbish, and quite difficult to warm to at first. But as the story of her childhood emerges, she wins our empathy and understanding. Despite some of the awful things she's been through, she's loyal and loving to her friends, and compassionate to those in need - including Callie, a problem teenage who reminds her so much of herself.
But Anna can't truly reach out to others until she reaches inside to her true self.
Apart from Anna, there are are some super characters here - Margery, her first foster mother; Kate, her best friend; Henry, a young man she meets while home-sitting, Annabelle, an old lady who teaches her that life doesn't have to be all earnest, and Callie herself. They help the narrative along, providing sometimes welcome relief when Anna's understandable navel-gazing gets too intense.
Home not only poses the question of what home and family means, it offers a rewarding insight into how the journey to self-discovery can be difficult, emotional and draining, but always, always worthwhile.

Home’ is the latest book by Penny Parkes.

Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional housesitter – stepping into other people’s lives – caring for their homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours. Living vicariously. But all Anna has ever really wanted is a home of her own – a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. If only she knew where to start. Growing up in foster care, she always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. And, while those same friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in that nomadic cycle, looking for answers, trying to find the courage to put down roots and find a place to call home.

I haven’t read many books by Penny, so when I was offered the chance to read her latest book, I was delighted.

The story is seen through the eyes of house sitter and budding writer Anna Wilson. With no permanent roots or place to call home, she looks after other people’s houses when they travel. Having spent her life in and out of foster homes, she has never known a home but decides now is the time to finally face up to her family’s past and finally see if she can finally put pen to paper and write the story that she’s always dreamt of telling.

I loved this story, it was beautifully written, impactful and tender in parts that really made for lovely reading. I loved Anna, she’s kind, caring and has never known a proper home, so doesn’t know what it would feel like to have one. After a traumatic childhood, she’s always on the run, never settling down and she treats her adult life like her childhood living in one bag and always ready for the next upheaval.

Although her job is admirable and exciting visiting luxurious houses and friendly pets that provided company, there was an underlying sadness to the story with Anna not having a permanent address.

The story is written in past and present tense, Anna as an adult and as a child. The reflections back to her younger self made for sad reading, as she had finally found herself a home, only for it to taken away and how she drifts from pillar to post without proper connection to her blood family.

Penny writes sensitively about the concept home, how it’s not only about the four walls that you live in, but it’s also the feeling you get when you close the door. The sense of calm and protection and your own wee world away from the chaos of the world.

With an absolutely stunning cover and storyline that really struck a chord, ‘Home’ is a clever and warm story about visiting old ghosts and making new friends that is both uplifting and heartbreaking in equal measures.

You can buy ‘Home’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

Before I say anything anything else, I have to share with you that Anna is the best ‘lost and found’ fictional character I’ve ever read. I found it easy to identify with her and admired her resilience. I even fell a little bit in love with her.

The format of Anna’s life in 2019 juxtaposed with her childhood and key events are really effective in building the overall picture.

Critical realisations flip us back to Anna growing up, each and every one of those giving me an emotional punch.

Anna’s journey of self-discovery is prompted by something truly terrible that has a negative impact for a while but ultimately is the anchor that forces a change. The floodgates are opened and Anna has no choice really but to move with it when she moves on to Dittisham and Bath and the people she meets there.

The characters she meets keep her moving on her path and one in particular teaches her just as much about life as she teaches them. Her best friend Kate is a solid foundation. Friendship. Such a simple word but multi-layered in action and that’s what’s at the core of Home.

There is something that I didn’t see coming that left me an emotional wreck for a myriad of reasons. I so want to talk about this! but no spoilers. Nothing is ever clear cut is it?

Penny Parkes story-telling and writing style had me from the beginning. I loved the ‘show not tell’ discoveries. She is an author who knows what makes people tick, not afraid to dive deeply into those shadows to find the light.

I loved this quote:

“<snip> she felt like a glass of orange squash, diluted down to a pale imitation of herself.”

There are a few nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the story too:

“A goal without a plan is a wish.”

As Kate’s dad would say 🙂

Home shows us that despite having choices taken away, being overshadowed by others’ perceptions and not feeling as if we belong anywhere, it is possible to find our ‘home’ (not of bricks and mortar). Main caregivers aren’t the only ones who can give unconditional love. It’s possible that there will be others who will love us unconditionally and become our home – if we’re brave enough to let them.

An uplifting and inspiring read that you really don’t want to miss. It’s outstanding.

Anna is a house – sitter, moving from place to place, from country to country, from continent to continent, never stopping, never putting down the roots. The closest to a family that she has is her best friend Kate and her family in Oxford. Anna, from the age of eight, grew up in the foster care, moving from one foster family to another, always in abeyance – she couldn’t have been adopted as she had both her parents, her father usually in prison, her mother simply having left. The only thing that is certain in Anna’s life is her brain and ambition – studying hard, she makes it to Oxford. However, Anna can’t settle, there is something missing in her life. After three unforgettable house – sits in a month, she’s forced to re – evaluate her life and face some of the truths that she tried to forget. Will sie face up to her past? Will it help? Will she find her peace?

I liked how very few main characters there were in the book, as I could truly feel a part of their lives. They were all well developed and interesting, with depth to them.
Anna is such a memorable character! I liked and fell for her right from the very beginning and the more I learnt about her, the more I adored her, her determination, strong character and never giving up. She didn’t have an easy life and while it normally would have broken so many of other people, she kept going. Sure, she had her downs to her ups, it’s only normal, but it made her even more real and genuine. Her – even if unconsciously - searching for the place that she could call home was heart – breaking and so very poignant, there was so much to Anna than met the eye, and Kate had found, long time ago, how precious and valuable person Anna is and how much she has to give.
Anna’s story is told really in a brilliant way, offering us enough flashbacks to satisfy our curiosity and to raise it at the same time, so that we desperately want to read the story. It was lovely to see that she not only had the bad examples in her foster families, but that she also found people who believed in her, who supported her – it was so uplifting. Because you will quickly fall for Anna and will keep everything crossed for her, such a lovely person she is. I had a feeling that she’s growing up in front of our eyes, the author gave such a brilliant perspective and view into her life and deepest thoughts.
I adored her friendship with Kate, well, I actually loved Kate! She was Anna’s family and fiercely supporting her all the time, but also not afraid to tell what she thinks – and this ist he best kind of friend, as our Anna needed it from time to time, to think things over, to re – evaluate, to see the things from different perspective.

The author touches upon important issue upon important issue, one of them the children being in care and how being moved from home to home, how having no-one special in their lives, nobody they could trust, affects them. I loved how, indirectly, she also showed us that behind every door there is a story to tell, each one so different. The tale jumps between present and past and we get the chance to learn about Anna, her life and her choice, and to completely understand her, her ways, her angst. It’s easy to follow the changes in time, I’ve never felt confused where we are and which moment of Anna’s life we are in.

Penny Parkes’s previous books, the Larkford series, were light reads but with depth to them. However, with „Home“, the author has shot herself up to totally different level of heartfelt, evocative and thoughtful. This was a lovely, emotionally charged read about the fact that family is not only about blood. It was about the power of friendship, about finding people who love you and accept you just like you are. It is a poignant story, full of sad moments, nevertheless there is this overwhelming feeling of hope and that everything will be okay. It was really well thought – over and I think every situation and every character was needed and had their place in this story. It feels nostalgic and melancholic and the yearning for finding your own place in the world is there, all the time. This story is not only milk and honey, it touches upon some uncomfortable truths, nevertheless it’s written in such a beautiful, almost lyrical way that makes the reading a truly gentle experience. It’s a raw, honest and very emotional rollercoaster journey, insightful, gentle and filled with hope – a gorgeous read, so thought – provoking and unforgettable. Highly recommended!

Home by Penny Parkes This was another NetGalley read and I picked it because it looked good and also it kept popping up so thought I would like it. The main character is Anna Wilson who travels the world doing the enviable job of house sitting, but is she just running away from what she’s really wanting and what she didn’t have growing up.
Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me and I don’t feel that I actually connected with the book at all, I was simply turning the pages and reading the words. It’s hard to get into from the beginning. Sometimes it felt like I was just reading a bunch of words, rather than a story. The different parts of the story didn’t seem to gel together and at times the move from chapter to chapter and current time and past narrative was very confusing to pick up where you were and what was happening. The book feels as lost as its main character and perhaps that’s what the author wants , empathy for the main character who doesn’t know where she belongs. It has a narrative that is repetitive and therefore I felt like the story was never moving forward therefore never progressing and this for me was very annoying as I wanted the story to move on. Although not a fan at all of this book I did find the concept of travelling the world by house sitting for other people across the globe a interesting idea and I think we’ve all gone through trying to find who we actually are and where we belong in life, however I think this all gets bogged down in words and the repetitive nature of the book. The main character Anna is indecisive, comes in parts she comes across as confident but is anything but, she’s a thinker, she lacks confidence in everything in life as a whole and weary of people’s intentions. Anna is scared and that’s what’s stopping her living her life to it’s full potential. Anna is lonely character, who is afraid of commitment, afraid of the past effecting her future and afraid of the unknown that lies within the future. Yet she is also determined and at times strong minded and fearcly independent. The books about what the effects of the past have on Anna, now and on the future. Anna has a habit of dithering, putting things off. I found it hard to connect not only with the book but with Anna and I think there in lies the problem of why I didn’t enjoy the book, the narrative and Anna’s character felt messy and unstructured, on the verge many times of becoming something but going off in another messy direction of indecision. The positive perhaps being that, that’s how Anna comes across and maybe that’s how the author wants the reader to feel, but it made the story never ending when there was plenty of occasions where this story could and should have ended. Sometimes in stories like this the ending can tie up loose ends and redeem the book a little however this was not the case. Something came to light at the end but I was still left wondering about a lot of things, about characters who I thought were significant but with a passing mention were obviously not as vital to the story as I first thought. Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend this book to others, it was a drag from the first page and unfortunately didn’t improve.