Synopsis: When Mona Ramsey married Lord Teddy Roughton to secure his visa—allowing him to remain in San Francisco to fulfil his wildest dreams—she never imagined she would, by age 48, be the sole owner of Easley House, a romantic country manor in the UK. Now, with her adopted son, Wilfred, Mona has opened Easley’s doors to paying guests to keep her inherited English manor afloat.
As they welcome a married American couple to Easley, Mona and Wilfred discover their new guests’ terrible secret. Instead of focussing on the imminent arrival of old friend Michael Tolliver and matriarch Anna Madrigal, Mona will need to use her considerable charm, willpower and wiles to set things right before Easley’s historic Midsummer ceremony.]
Review: What a treat to revisit these characters in the setting of the English countryside! I have been an avid reader of the Tales of The City books for many years, so this was such a fun summer read for me. As with all of Maupin's stories, there is substance and lessons to be learned from one another amid the goofiness of the characters and their relationships. It's a short book that makes a big impression and brings us moments with beloved characters like Anna Madrigal and Michael Tolliver. My one issue in the storyline is with Michael and his character's behavior toward Wilfred, which isn't necessarily out of line with the Michael of old, but it would have been nice to see he had evolved and matured a bit more in his 50s. Nevertheless, if this was the last Tales book, I'm grateful for it.

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