Windows by Anni Holliday
Windows by Anni Holliday
Synopsis
Windows is a celebration of the High Street, small-town life and the hard-working and dedicated shopkeepers, public servants and other people who work to keep that life going. It’s a funny and poignant portrayal of human nature and its many frailties and strengths, including love, hate, loyalty, ambition, determination, error and redemption. A key theme is the human tendency to rush to conclusions about others which can later prove to be wrong.
It’s also a celebration of family, community, childhood and play, books and the joy of reading, and the beauty of the Scottish landscape.
The apparent idyll in which it is set is, however, in danger from an unknown person secretly bent on revenge, threatening the inhabitants’ lives and livelihoods and the very fabric of the town itself. Will they realise the danger in time or will the threat strike and, if so, when, how, where and on whom? Will the townspeople escape it and, if not, will they survive and how will they put their shattered lives and town back together again?
My Thoughts
I loved the idea behind this book . As someone who loves proper high streets and supports small independent shops this ticked the box for me on many counts before I had even opened the cover, which is absolutely gorgeous.
This is a story where you really feel that you could just walk up and down the high street looking at how the different window displays are developing whilst getting to know the characteristics of the owners in each shop.
It is at times tongue in cheek, whilst at others being very poignant as the competition brings out the best and worst in people. I like the fact that the chapters are short, moving easily between the different characters and never leaving it too long before you revisit them again, which I like.
The change in their lives due to one character (I’m not going to give away any spoilers here) is gripping and I couldn’t put the book down until I found out what had happened.
A really good debut read and I look forward to reading more books by Anni in the future.
Right time for me to go shopping on my lovely local high street.
About Anni
Despite having written since childhood, this is Anni Holliday’s first published work. She graduated in English Language and Literature at the University of Reading in the UK in 1984, completed a post graduate diploma at the Colchester Institute and pursued a career in financial services until 2023. As well as books, animals, tennis and horse-riding, she loves to travel and spent some years in the Netherlands as a teenager. She has one daughter and lives with her husband and cat in Scotland.
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