Dinner at Rose's

Danielle Hawkins

May 2012 · Allen & Unwin

About this ebook

A beautifully written, funny, intelligent and heartwarming novel about a young woman who leaves the city for her home town where she falls in love with a wonderful man - and does much more besides.

In the wake of an unfortunate best-friend-and-boyfriend-caught-having-sex-in-a-chair incident, Jo Donnelly flees her civilised city life to take up a temporary job at the physiotherapy clinic in her small home town.

Jo is ineptly assisted at work by a receptionist who divides her time between nail care and surfing the internet. Meanwhile, her new flatmate is a joyless couch potato who hogs the TV and is vigilant in her quest to prevent excessive electricity consumption. Life would seem a bit grim if not for Jo's eccentric honorary Aunty Rose, who lives up the valley with her pet piglet, four dogs and two sheep.

Rose was a wise and infinitely patient friend to both Jo and her bona fide nephew, Matthew, while they were growing up. And when Rose is hit by illness Jo moves in to look after her, while Matt helps out as much as his farming duties allow. But illness aside, it's not long before the mischievous Rose is playing cupid.

This is an utterly charming, funny, insightful novel of friendship and love.

Ratings and reviews

With warmth and humour, Danielle Hawkins explores family, friendship and love in rural New Zealand in this delightful debut novel. Dinner At Rose's fits right in with Allen & Unwin's current crop of rural lit in the Australian market, despite being set in New Zealand. The author herself was raised on a cattle and sheep farm and now works alongside her husband in their dairy farm while also working as a large animal vet. In Dinner at Rose's, the protagonist Jo Donnelly has returned to the small farming community she was raised in to take up a temporary position at the local physiotherapists after discovering an affair between her boyfriend and best friend. While her parents have moved on, Jo's beloved honorary Aunt Rose and many of her childhood friends remain in the area and Jo easily she slips back into life in Waimanu after years in inner city Melbourne. As Jo juggles dodgy clients with 'groin strain', a receptionist who barely remembers to answer the phone, a joyless roommate and her rebellious 'little sister' Kim, she realises her crush on Matt, her childhood friend and Rose's nephew, is resurfacing, though it seems doomed to remain unrequited given his relationship with 'Far

I really enjoyed the story and thought the characters were delightful However, the book was spoiled by several missing pages and many missing paragrsphs. In fact I didnt even get to read the last bit. This has never happened bef ore. Strange

I loved it! Danielle Hawkins don't make this a one and only novel. It was so descriptive and a great easy read about N.Z. farming life. It had humour, romance and family tragedy which had me chuckling to myself at one point and then a few pages later reaching for the tissue box to wipe away the tears.

About the author

Danielle Hawkins grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Otorohanga in New Zealand, and later studied veterinary science. After graduating as a vet she met a very nice dairy farmer who became her husband and switched to sheep farming. Danielle spends two days per week working as a large animal vet and the other five as housekeeper, cook and general dogsbody. She has two small children - and when she is very lucky they nap simultaneously and she can write things.