The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser

Buy on Amazon: The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser
If you’ve ever lived in a small town The Lumby Lines will seem pretty familiar to you. If you’ve never lived in a small town, The Lumby Lines might just make you wish you did.

The bulk of this story is about a young couple, Mark and Pam Walker, who move from the East Coast to a little town named Lumby. They find Montis Abbey, a ruin that was destroyed by a fire years before and work on restoring it.

This book had me reaching for a cup of tea and snuggling under a blanket, sighing with happiness and, quite often, giggling uncontrollably. This is not a book of high-handed, cryptic writing. This is a meal that you sit down to enjoy at your grandmother’s house, or a homemade sweater that you put on at the end of your day. It’s comforting, happy and full of love.

My favorite moments in the book were the parts taken directly out of the towns newspaper (for which the book is named). The Lumby Lines contained some of the most hilarious reports from the Sheriff and equally funny articles. For example here is a portion of the Sheriff’s Complaints:

9:42a.m. Woman from Hunts Mill Road reported a bat hanging on her screen door.

10:55a.m. Lumby resident requested that her grass be measured by front walk.

1:13p.m. John Morris reported two dogs trying to down a steer. He shot at them, chasing them off.

1:15p.m. Rev. Olson reported three bullets going through stained class windows at Holy Episcopal.

3:39p.m. A Lumby caller reported that two draft horses had wandered into his pasture.

4:17p.m. Caller reported that aluminum ladder stolen yesterday had been returned bent.

11:22p.m. Pickup vs. deer. Pickup wins.

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That’s just a sample of what was scattered throughout the book. Subtle, fun, quirky humor. I laughed even typing it up for you to enjoy. The antics of the animals, the people, the rowdy teenage boys, the small-town dramas, the romances..both new and old, everything added up to make this a thoroughly enjoyable, much needed read. I’ll be recommending this book to my friends and family and, in its honor, have created a new “cozy” bookshelf to place it on.

You can find more information about this series at The Lumby Books.

This review copy was provided to me by FSB Associates.

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