Hetty’s Farmhouse Bakery by Cathy Bramley

Book Reviews, Contemporary fiction, Women's Fiction 27 Comments

🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰 5 cake slices

Don’t let the sweet little innocuous cover fool you. Sure, there’s a sheep farm, homemade pies and a quaint little village called Carsdale in Cumbria, England, that’s filled with caring neighbors….

My vision of Hetty’s farmhouse

But there’s also secrets, bad decisions and the resultant consequences that will astound you…

When Hetty Greengrass learns that her daughter, Poppy, is inspired by her aunt Naomi, and not her own mother, Hetty feels inadequate and slightly jealous. She’s a sheep farmer’s wife, while Naomi runs the successful Sunnybank Farm Shop that she built from the ground up. Hetty re-evaluates her life; she wants to be her daughter’s role model. So instead of living to appease everyone else’s wishes and desires, she decides to finally put her own first. What can she do? Folks rave about her homemade sweet and savory pies, including Poppy, so she’s determined to bake pies, not just recreationally for charities and the village fete, but for profit. Everyone is supportive except the one person whose support means the most: her husband, Dan. He relies on Hetty to help with farming duties, and expresses his reluctance to allow her to pursue this new venture. But when she gets entered into the Cumbria’s Finest competition without her knowledge, Hetty’s life begins to change, in more ways than one.

I loved this book!! I learned a lot about the goings-on of a sheep farm. I got lost in the imagery of the beautiful Lake District with its rolling hills, valleys and meadows. And although there are witty and heartwarming scenes, there’s also the complexities of life that will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. I’m so glad I purchased this book, even if I had to wait for it to arrive all the way from across the pond. I think you will love it too. Highly recommended.

The beautiful Lake District

Do you enjoy books set in England and written by British authors? Please, share your thoughts.

Have a great day. And thank you for visiting Cozynookbks.😊

27 thoughts on “Hetty’s Farmhouse Bakery by Cathy Bramley”

        • Really?? Books can be expensive in the U.S. too, but there are so many sources in which to get them so you can usually find them discounted in one place or other. I bought Hetty’s Farmhouse Bakery through an Amazon affiliate seller in the U.K.
          Do they have The Book Depository in Australia? You can get books from the U.K. through them too, and the shipping is free.

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          • From my uni days I use a website called booko.com.au . It is fantastic and saved me a fortune over the years. It compares all the prices of a book so then I pick the cheapest. Book depository and Booktopia are very good on price 😀😀

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    • Oh no, I live in the U.S., but I’ve always wanted to take a trip to the English countryside. It’s my dream. Do you live in England? I didn’t know that. I’m obsessed with that show, Escape to the Country. Do you know it. I’m a real Anglophile.

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    • The English Countryside is exquisite! I never tire of looking at it. That’s why I love watching Escape to the Country, where the hosts hope to find prospective buyers a new home in the countryside (U.K.). I do marathon watching of that show.

      Thanks for visiting. 😊

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    • Hi Holly!! Since I enjoy reading British books I started following British authors on Twitter and found Cathy Bramley. I researched her books and chose this one. It was one I could get delivered to the U.S. I had to have the actual book because the cover was so beautiful. 💜 I’m sure glad I did. It was delightful, and now I want to read more of her books. I just love the British wit.

      Thanks for commenting. 😊

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  5. Thank you so much for this lovely review! I’m thrilled that you like it. And you’ll never guess what – your vision of Hetty’s farmhouse is 100% correct! That was the farm which inspired my descriptions of her home! It’s Yew Tree Farm which used to be owned by Beatrix Potter!

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    • Hi!! And thank you so much for visiting my blog, Cathy Bramley. I’m honored. ☺️
      You’re kidding, right?! Just goes to show how incredibly descriptive you are in your writing. 👏🏽👏🏽
      I loved this book so much!! Thank you for writing such lovely books that allow me to escape to the English countryside.😊

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  8. Good things are worth waiting for! I’m glad this one did not disappoint you. Yes, I love the British sense of humor and even the way a cup of tea is the pathway to soothing every difficulty. I like a lot of the current cozies with a British Isles background. My all time favorite mystery writer is Agatha Christie.

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    • They sure are worth waiting for, aren’t they? And you hit the nail on the head with your comment. I, too, love the British sense of humor and the tea as a remedy for any problem in life.
      I’m finishing up a cozy right now that is set in the English countryside.
      I really have to read some Agatha Christie mysteries. People love them. I think I have The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 🤔 I’m going to make it a goal to read that one.
      Thanks for commenting. 😊

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  9. I haven’t read this one, but it sounds like a great book. I love the cover and the description sounds interesting the way you say it isn’t what it seems. I do love a good country story! 💙 Great review!

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