The Villagers


Fiction - Mystery - General
182 Pages
Reviewed on 02/10/2018
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Susan Sewell for Readers' Favorite

Nudists, swingers, and cross-dressers are respectable citizens in a post-world war English community in the absorbing fiction novel, The Villagers by A.J. Griffiths-Jones. Olive and her family are happy and excited to take possession of the lovely semi-detached chocolate box cottage they have just purchased. As Olive begins to become acquainted with her new neighbors, she realizes they all seem to have odd habits and lifestyles. Olive and her husband, Geoffrey, feel they have their hands full with their children, especially with their rambunctious and rebellious second child, Barbara. Barbara's antics spice up their lives enough without having to worry about what the neighboring residents might be doing. An unwillingly participant, Olive somehow manages to unmask secrets concealed behind the honest and decent faces of her fellow townsman. What her vicar or her storekeeper may be up to keeps Olive awake at nights and causes her great anxiety. How can her family reside in a place where nobody is as they seem? Who knows what evil may lurk behind her neighbor's garden fence?

The Villagers by A.J. Griffiths-Jones is a fascinating fiction novel portraying how a young wife and mother tries to fit into her new community. Written in the third person and woven from experiences and anecdotes of a member of the author's family, the novel has the distinct feeling of a memoir. Bizarre characters and occurrences give the story an amusing sense of reality. The captivating narrative unveils the moral, immoral, and eccentric aspects of human nature that exist in every community. With every chapter, we meet a new individualistic character with their idiosyncrasies and characteristics. Each of the characters introduced has some peculiar habit or appalling secret that adds to the mystique of the village. This is a delightful story that is mystifying, shocking, exciting, and sometimes downright horrifying. Anyone who loves stories which reveal the anomalous side of humanity will enjoy reading this novel and sharing Olive's experiences.