When Least Expected

By V. Nell Jones

Two sisters leave the routine of their lives and begin an unexpected journey launched by a death, a will, and a letter. Between an eccentric Portuguese guide and persistent loves, Helen and Tyner... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0931761050
• ISBN13: 9780931761058
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Beckham Pubns
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

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I really enjoyed this book, the characters were very believable and the story unfolded in a way that left me wanting to know what happened to many of the people after the book ended. I really enjoyed the photos too, Portugal is apparently a beautiful country. I hope another book by these authors is available soon.

When Least Expected

This book is about women who learn to choose for themselves. In their learning the reader accompanies them from comfortable sameness to examination, Portugal and realization. It is a pleasant, reflective journey full in interesting people and places. Two forty something sisters from the United States are lured into a transatlantic quest to find refuge for the ashes of a beloved aunt and in so doing discover and resolve a century old family mystery and the intricacies of blood lines it created. `Father" Helen and Tyner, the two sisters, combine humor, sibling rivalry, family history and personal secret keeping into a months long steady unraveling of lives and their re assembly. The reader gets to know and adore Helena and her sister, but the real "star" of the book is the dry moist, warmish cool bright shadowy air of Portugal itself. We walk winding streets, dodge dogs, perspire, and enjoy a relaxing tea among ancient buildings, reassuring grave yards and lovely suspicious and generous people. The life of the village is filled with bird song, gardens slightly weedy, brick roads and arched bridges. Of course, Ty and Helen find their Portuguese family and of course they are as delightful and interesting as the sisters themselves. Of course, life decisions are explored: "What form is love to take? How do intellectual stimulation, creative juices, intimacy fit into a life of work, laundry, bill paying and raising children?" The authors of the book do not resolve this balancing act for all of us- more is the pity. The resolution is just for the sisters and their friends, husband, child and lover. The resolution is both tidy (handy that) and believable. Most anyone who liked the Mitford Series will enjoy this book. It embraces the struggle of all of us who have solve life's urgencies for food, shelter and adolescence and sorts out through the perspective of the sisters at least one answer to the human need to create, to love, to laugh at ourselves and avoid large dogs. I enjoyed it and recommend it.