I picked up small miracles after seeing Julie Cohen post about it. When I was a student, I used to live in a hostel run by the Convent of the Sacred Heart, so I always have a small, soft spot for religious sisters. When I saw a book that was about three of them fighting to save their convent from being closed down, it seemed like a book that was meant for me to read.
St Philomena's is a small convent in the small town of Fairbridge. In fact, the order is very small now because there's only three of them left - Sister Margaret, Sister Bridget and Sister Cecelia - three very, very different people. Sister Margaret is struggling with the responsibility of being Mother Superior. She's terribly sensible. She loves the convent and wants to keep it open, but there's so little money and so many bills to pay! She's also battling with grief, from having lost her best friend and mentor. Sister Bridget is ebullient and friendly. She likes to cook, but doesn't have enough people to feed. SIster Cecelia is distant and academically minded. She is also obsessed with the history of the convent and making a saint in Fairbridge in order to save the order.
One of the sisters wins a small amount on the lottery and this sets off a selection of small miracles that happen one after the other. These may seem a little unlikely, but if you accept these as small miracles, it's the loveliest, most heartwarming story. I really really enjoyed this glimpse into the village life and the lives of these people.
The story also touches on the lives of people in the village.You get to hear a little bit about their lives and their loves and their dramas. There was a little bit of head-hopping (something that bothers me, but might not necessarily bother you), but it wasn't enough to stop me enjoying the book. The story is set in the 90s, which means there's a lot of telephone calls made from phone boxes and there are no mobile phones - which was rather lovely!

This is a charming, heartwarming, life affirming book about friendship, love and community. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to anyone who's finding the world a difficult place to deal with at the moment.

What a charming, gentle, read this was. It was such a relief in stressful times to read a book where all the characters were lovely and it was a pure joy to curl up with this. The sisters of St Philomena are struggling to save their convent, and members of their community are struggling with their own problems too. All are interwoven beautifully along with a local historical mystery which sees several of the characters transported to Italy. The story was maybe a little predictable in places, but it is a formula that really worked for me. My thanks for the opportunity to read this Arc in return for an honest review.

This is a really lovely gentle heartwarming story set in the mid nineties in a very pleasant sounding community which includes a convent reduced to just three nuns. The three nuns are very different, one is not at all social and has a keen interest in history, one is very friendly and an amazing cook and the other is a reluctant superior struggling to hold both herself and the financially struggling convent together. A modest lottery win leads to publicity for the convent and leads to the nuns and some of the community experiencing some small miracles of their own. The people in this are great and it’s brilliant how the story links some seemingly unrelated locals into the overall plot. I really felt for grieving Margaret and loved the gentle story, so nice to read something so uplifting.

Thank you so much for letting me read an arc of Small Miracles by Anne Booth. I’d heard good things about this novel and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The writing style and story is my favourite kind - charming, heartwarming and quirky with a cast of lovable characters whose stories intertwine. Just wonderful. I loved it.

This is a wonderful story about three nuns, all that remain of the once busy order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena. Their convent is crumbling, they have no money and no idea what the future holds for them but they have a great faith in God. There is a wonderful cast of characters introduced into the story of the sisters all of whom have their lives enriched by the faith and prayers of the nuns.

Their conversations with God are charming and touching, he's such a part of their lives that they scold him and entreat him in equal measure and the ensuing small miracles are just as momentous as the big miracle the nuns are visiting Italy to investigate.

I loved the book, it's a fabulous depiction of people's lives, their struggles, their loneliness, their individual longings. Never cloying or overly sentimental but truly heartwarming and highly recommended.

Friendship,prayers, and miracles are at the crux of this charming story set in Kent in the mid 1970’s. The once bustling St Philomena Convent is down to three sisters. Sister Margaret has unwillingly taken the role of Mother Superior through attrition, a role she is not comfortable with. Sister Margaret has to face unpaid bills, faulty wiring, and a total need for refurbishment of the convent. All of her worries are causing her a crisis of her once steadfast faith. Sister Cecilia, 90 has been at the convent since the 1920’s. Devout and unyielding, though ironically she has an obsession with the National Lottery buying a ticket each week sure that the ticket along with her prayers will save the convent. Finally, Sister Bridget, an Irish sister full of love and compassion with a belief that cake can solve all problems. Together the sisters reacquaint themselves with love and understanding while solving a decades long mystery that miraculously restores faith and prosperity to the convent. A sweet story that is long on faith with relatable characters and an ever important message. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

Small Miracles by Anne Booth

The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love.
That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold.
Such a fantastic story of Margaret, Bridget, and Cecilia , 3 religious sisters living in a dilapidated convent.
It's a heartwarming story which is funny yet poignant . Brilliant .