Book Summary…

Dead Ernest is a heart-warming, emotional and humorous story of one woman’s attempt to make sense of her life after the death of her abusive husband.

No one had expected Ernest to die, least of all Ernest…

Ernest Bentley was a pillar of the community. But when he suddenly dies of a heart attack his wife Annie refuses to have the words ‘beloved husband’ added to his gravestone. Their son, Billy, is exasperated with his mother and worries about how she will cope on her own. Unwilling to take time out of his own busy schedule to take care of her, he enlists the services of the local vicar, Andrew, to keep an eye on her.

Before she knows what is happening, Annie finds herself telling the vicar things she has kept hidden for years. Dark secrets that had plagued her sixty-year marriage to Ernest.

When Annie’s estranged granddaughter, Ophelia, turns up for a visit, the two bond over their problems with Billy and his controlling behaviour. But when Ophelia meets Andrew, the unhappily married vicar, things start to get very complicated…

What is the truth about Ernest? Why is Annie behaving so strangely now that he is dead? And how can Andrew reconcile his growing feelings for Ophelia with his respect for his marriage and his religion?

Our Review…

We were skeptical of this book because it isn’t our usual genre! Let me tell you how NOT disappointed we were! This was a most endearing, heartfelt, funny account of Annie’s past, present and future.

Readers may experience a range of emotion as Annie’s story unravels. We laughed, cried, felt frustrated, and wore big smiles as we learned about Annie’s past. She was treated unfairly growing up, had to endure a dreadful marriage, and only began to know what it felt like to be free after her husband’s unexpected death!

The relationship she developed with her granddaughter, was so special. The friend she makes with the Vicar and the strings she feels severed as she details her story were just endearing. We are so happy to have been asked to be a part of this blog tour as we may have not chosen this book on our own. We love being exposed to different genres and learning that our love for reading stretches far beyond our comfort zone!

Bravo Frances Garrood and Sperebooks!

About the Author…

My main career was in nursing, but I also trained and worked for many years as a relationship counsellor with Relate. Widowed in 1992, I re-married and now live with my husband in Wiltshire, where I enjoy riding my horse in the beautiful Pewsey Vale, reading, writing, singing in our large church choir and keeping up with my grandchildren. I also write regularly to a prisoner on Texas Death Row and do local voluntary work with homeless and vulnerable adults.

I first started writing as a child; mainly poetry, but there was one horrific novel (mercifully, never finished) in which a woman gives birth to a hideously deformed child in a thunderstorm. While I was bringing up my four children, I began writing and selling short stories to magazines before the enforced immobility following a fractured spine gave me the time to tackle my first novel, Dead Ernest.

All my books are very strongly relationship-based. My writing has also been affected by my widowhood and my experiences with my Relate clients, and my books sometimes include issues of death and bereavement. Strangely (and not by design) they all seem to include pet animal funerals (not a subject which normally occupies my mind!).

What others are saying…

PRAISE FOR FRANCES AND HER BOOKS

“Frances Garrood is a magnificent writer.” — thebookbag.co.uk

“Dead Ernest is remarkably well written, well constructed.” — Grumpy Old Bookworm

“Light-hearted, heartwarming and enjoyable.” —writers-online.co.uk

https://saperebooks.com

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