Book Review: The Old Rectory By Julia Ibbotson

THE OLD RECTORY

Escape to a Country Kitchen

By: Julia Ibbotson

Published: March 8, 2013

Non-Fiction/Memoir

I am bringing you this review today as part of the PUMP UP YOUR BOOK Blog Tour.  For more information or to read other reviews, check out their site, HERE.

This is the memoir of Julia and her husband who found a lovely old Victorian rectory and wanted to make it theirs.  Through many ups and downs, their perfect little hideaway in the English moorlands eventually becomes theirs.  After many years of being neglected, the author and her husband have a lot of work ahead of them.  Especially after finding out their home was built in 1860.  Through the process of renovating, many historical stories emerge.  Julia revels in cooking for her family and friends, sharing their experiences, and "living the dream" in their quaint country home.

While reading, you will have to put your mindset in the language of the British.  Words like "chum" and "vicar" will put you in the true setting of the book.  As the author discusses the meals she fixed for her family, your mouth will water.  Each chapter then closes with recipes of the meals described that will delight your senses.  I would expect that you would want to run to the store and get these meals on your dinner table. 

The story is full of detail and charm and makes you want to visit an English village in your future. I feel like I could be sitting with Julia having tea and relishing in their story of finding their dream home.  

If you like memoirs of historical significance and charming stories that will bring a smile to your face, check out THE OLD RECTORY, brew yourself a cup of English tea and settle in for a enchanting journey.

I read this on my Kindle, but it is also available in paperback.

Julia Ibbotson is the award-winning author of THE OLD RECTORY: ESCAPE TO A COUNTRY KITCHEN, first published to acclaim in the USA and now re-launched with a brand-new cover by her new English publisher in the UK. Julia has been writing creatively all her life (unpublished!) but her day jobs to pay the mortgage have been as a school teacher and later a university academic, gaining her PhD at the age of 57. She delights in being a wife and mother to four, with four little grandchildren. She loves reading, gardening, growing food, cooking for family and friends and country life. Having published many academic texts and papers, she came late to actually publishing her creative writing, at the age of 60 plus, when she was persuaded to write the story of the renovation of her Victorian rectory in The Old Rectory. She has combined memoir, history, research, story and recipes in this first published book, which has won a number of international book festivals in the biography category, gained 5 star reviews on Amazon, and has been widely featured (along with her house) in the media. She has begun to delve into the world of blogging, facebook and now has her own website at www.juliaibbotson.com  at which she also posts blogs regularly, about writing, life and her passions. Her new project is a trilogy of novels following the life story of a new character, Jess, from fleeing to West Africa as a volunteer teacher/nurse in the 1960s to the millennium. The first of the series, Drumbeats, is due to be published later this year. You can find out more on her website and on her author page on Amazon.  Julia can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.  

I was provided with a review copy of this book for my Kindle.  I was not compensated in any other way for this review.  This review is my honest opinion.