‘The Bench At Cromer Beach’ by R.J Gould is a story about people and their lives. Five particular people actually; Clive, Ellie, Jamie, Saskia and Andy.

They all live near Cromer Beach in a small town. They all come from different walks of life, Saskia has moved up from London, bringing a husband that is truly thoughtless as well as a cheat! Clive and his wife, Rosemary have retired to Cromer for the quiet life. Andy and Sharon are childhood sweethearts and are now planning a wedding, that is not going so smoothly. Ellie is married with two children, her husband Sean works away frequently and although she is in love with Sean, is frustrated and beginning to feel temptation nipping at her heels. Then we have Jamie a lad that does house clearances and antiques. Spent his working life buying for nothing and selling for much more, cheating people along the way. He almost loses the only important thing in his life and the question is will he be able to turn back on the right path, or not?

The book devotes individual chapters to each of the characters. We learn about all the ups and downs, the good and the bad of them all. I loved getting to know everyone and found myself cheering them on in the good times and commiserating in the bad This book does have you reflecting upon relationships and how even the people with the charmed life can struggle sometimes. It does bring topics such as faithfulness, love, family and more to the fore while reading this.

We see how the five people become connected and their lives overlap at times. I started out just wondering what I would make of this book and by the time I was done, I felt I was almost leaving friends of my own behind!

Thanks to Rachels Random Resources and the author for the copy of the book to be on the tour today.