Campari For Breakfast By Sara Crowe

[amazon_link id=”0552779644″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Campari For Breakfast’ is Olivier Awarding Actress Sara Crowe’s debut novel.

In 1987, Sue Bowl’s world changes for ever. Her mother dies, leaving her feeling like she’s lost a vital part of herself. And then her father shacks up with an awful man-eater called Ivana. But Sue’s mother always told her to make the most of what she’s got – and what she’s got is a love of writing and some eccentric relatives. So Sue moves to her Aunt Coral’s crumbling ancestral home, where she fully intends to write a book and fall in love . . . and perhaps drink Campari for breakfast.

‘Campari For Breakfast’ is Sara’s debut novel and it’s a quirky one at that. First of all I have to mention the cover which is illustrated by Malika Favre, an influential and well known artist, her designs have been used in a number of advertising campaigns. The front cover has a lined drawing of the main character Sue and the back cover features her best friend and saviour Aunt Coral, presented in vivid shades of yellow and green, makes the book most certainly pop out from the bookshelves.

The story is seen through the narrative of Sue, a 17 year old woman who has been sent to live with her Aunt Coral, after her mother tragically committed suicide. Leaving no note to explain her reasons for her sudden demise, the story follows Sue as she tries to put the pieces together as to why her mother killed herself as well as find her own place in life.

Set in 1987, Sue lives with her Aunt Coral, a gentle and sophisticated woman, who takes over the role of Sue’s guardian quite naturally, she helps Sue with her personal mission, as well as guide her in life with the introduction of a weekly writing group, helping Sue fulfil her passion of becoming an author and helping expand her mind. Living in a dilapidated old house called Green Place that is urgently in need of repair, the two women live with old retired majors as well Delia, Aunt Coral’s passionate and fiery friend who is still quite angry with her ex-husband.

The story is written like a diary entry and flows at a leisurely pace, filled with intriguing and rich characters, it’s hard not to deny that this book isn’t an entertaining story. Sue, as the lead character is an intoxicating lady. In love with the idea of love, she longs to find and write about the great romance, especially when she falls for one of her work colleagues. But, she will never be at peace, until she finds out the reasoning behind her mother’s death and finds herself delving into her mother’s past and discovering some secrets that surprise her along the way.

The story is primarily seen from Sue’s perspective but there is the inclusion of extracts from Aunt Coral’s Commonplace Journal, which also reads like an diary and follows Coral as she grows up during the war, studying and also explains how her life has turned out to be alone in Green Place.

A deliciously eccentric story from the very beginning, ‘Campari For Breakfast’ is an uplifting and poignant coming of age tale about love, discovery and a love of writing.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0552779644″ target=”_blank” ]Campari for Breakfast from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is availalbe to buy from good bookshops.