Product Description

Flora Stanza has sub-let her London life in a bid to join the family antiques business. Her knowledge of antiques extends only to the relics of information she has crammed from frantic daytime TV watching, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in blind enthusiasm. So she is more than a little put off when she doesn't receive the warm country welcome she expected. Her curt, conservative cousin Charles and his fiancee Annabelle are determined to send Flora packing, and their offer to buy out her recently inherited majority-share of the business is tempting...until a strange warning makes her think twice. Stuck with a cat about to burst with kittens, and keen to avoid a certain man back in London, Flora soon discovers country life can be anything but dull and sets about rebuilding the crumbling business...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #305649 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From the Publisher
THE IRRESISTIBLE NEW NOVEL BY THEBESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RESTORING GRACE

From the Back Cover
Flora Stanza has sub-let her London life in a bid to join the family antiques business. Her knowledge of antiques extends only to the relics of information she has crammed from daytime TV, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in blind enthusiasm. So she is more than a little put off when she doesn't receive the warm country welcome she expected. Her curt cousin Charles and his fiancée Annabelle are determined to send Flora packing, and heir offer to buy her out is tempting ... until a strange warning makes her think twice.

Stuck with a cat about to burst with kittens, Flora has little choice but to accept the offer to stay in an abandoned holiday cottage miles from any neighbours, let alone a trendy winebar. And between fighting off dinner invitations from the devastatingly handsome Henry, and hiding her secret eco-friendly lodger William, Flora soon discovers country life is far from dull as she sets about rebuilding the crumbling business ...

'A fairytale-like, gently witty read ...

About the Author
Katie Fforde lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and some of her three children. Her hobbies are ironing and housework, but, unfortunately, she has almost no time for them as she feels it is her duty to keep a close eye on the afternoon chat shows. FLORA'S LOT is her eleventh novel.

Customer Reviews

She's done it again!
Katie Fforde has done it again! This book is awesome! If you haven't read it yet you're missing out! It is funny,witty,and touching! I always look forward to the newest story from this author! Thank you Ms. Fforde for another very enjoyable read! Please keep them coming!!

take me out to the auction!
Flora's Lot is another triumph for Katie. Flora's a scrappy city girl who decides to take on the challenge of the family auction house, despite not knowing anything about the business. She's frostily greeted by her very, very *distant* cousin and his fiancé, an odd preppy woman (well, I found her odd!) As usual, Katie develops an inviting cast of supporting players who round the plot out and make it human and believable. Flora's fey, but not flighty and you find yourself rooting for her early on. Another one of Katie's specialties is delving deep into different worlds, in this case the world of the auction and weaving that world into the personal relationships you form with the key players. Excellent book, wonderful fiction!

shepherd's pie in print
Katie Fforde specializes in stories about more or less ordinary people with a hodge podge of challenges that are nicely overcome to most everyone's satisfaction in the end. Her characters are so endearing you wish you could go on reading about them.
Flora's Lot is a lovely mix of familiar Fforde components: a bit about art, a bit about stately homes, a bit about country life, and of course a character like Flora, who finds her city self mired in country life and not sure about the whole mix. Fforde has done some fine research into her heroine's new and challenging lifestyle and career, and this book should put to rest one reader's complaints that she knows nothing of 'real' country life. She seems to know quite a bit about the romantic notions we all have about lifestyles different from our own, and about our insecurities when faced with life fairly radically different from what we think it is or should be. And as always, her people adjust quite well, surprising themselves if not those around them or the reader, in being able not only to 'cope' but to shine. My only complaints about Fforde's books are, when I start reading one, I can't seem to put it down until it's finished, thereby losing a lot of sleep (I'm a slow reader). And when I'm done, I wish there was more to read (which would only make me lose more sleep or more time I should be spending on house work or something).