First impressions are that choosing Ray over controlling George is a bit of a no-brainer. The book cover and blurb suggest this novel is a simple romance, but there’s far more to it than that. Does Jeanie have the courage to turn her life upside down for another shot at love? George decides he and his wife should sell up and move to the country. When Jeanie and Ellie meet Ray and his grandson Dylan in the park, she soon begins to live for Thursdays. The novel begins 10 years previously, however, when George physically rejects Jeanie and moves out of the marital bedroom – something he refuses to explain or discuss. He is retired and she runs her own health food shop in London, finding the time to play tennis with best friend Rita and look after her granddaughter Ellie every Thursday afternoon. Jeanie, who is approaching her 60th birthday, is married to George.

Once I heard that Hilary was coming to the LitFest, it was next on my ‘must-read’ list. I already had a copy of Thursdays in the Park on my bookshelf – yes, the actual book – as I’d bought it for my Mum (I don’t think she’ll mind me revealing that she is a 60-something herself) and she passed it on to me to read. We’re delighted that Hilary will be coming to Guernsey in May to talk about her writing, the ‘gran lit’ phenomenon and how digital publishing had such a major impact on sales of her books. Yet sales really took off when it was launched as an e-book.

Hilary Boyd found success when Thursdays in the Park, a novel about a romance between 60-somethings, was published when she herself was in her early 60s.

Thursdays in the Park by Hilary Boyd