The Bordeaux Book Club is a lovely story of the importance of human connections. Gillian Harvey's characters remind us that, as humans, we cannot exist in a bubble. We each have needs and - more importantly - each have the ability to fill a need in someone else's life.

The Bordeaux Book Club started as a way to bring English speakers together in the Bordeaux area of France. The five members seemingly have little in common. They come from different backgrounds, range in age from teen to mature adult, and join the book club for varying reasons. Through their thoughtful discussion of books, they develop a fellowship that goes beyond the written word. We should never doubt the ability of books to bring people together.

This was my first book by Gillian Harvey and I was impressed with her ability to craft complex and complete characters. Her writing drew me in and the storyline was uplifting. I will definitely be checking out more of her work.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

An easy, comfortable read with a group of people joining a book club in France and becoming friends, almost family as they enter into the munuite of each other's lives,

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Bordeaux Book Club
This was an easy read, takes place in Bordeaux, a small group of different ages form a book club, good plot and characters, although for me the characters were introduced too quickly. This was a good book to read on vacation. It's the first book I've read by Gillian Harvey and I would read more.

Poignant, slow-paced and character-driven, The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey is about a book club in France consisting of English expats with various personal issues.

Summary: Grace starts a book club for Anglophones, and a couple of expats from England join it. This includes Leah, whose husband disappears for hours each day and whose daughter seems distant. The book club members explore personal issues while the books they read tie them together.

Tropes/Genres:
• book club
• contemporary fiction
• set in Cénac (near Bordeaux), France
• women's fiction
• expats
• small town

Review: This book is incredibly slow-paced and character-driven, but I enjoyed reading about the characters and their issues. It’s interesting to see how a book club ties them together. Their opinions about the books they read are also interesting, especially with how they link to their real life even though the books they read were classics.

The characters are interesting in their respective issues. In a way, it's realistic. Various topics that are touched on include a dying parent, suspicion of an affair, parent-teenager relationships and loneliness, most of which are related to their families. The story is told through a third-person narrative through the eyes of these characters. With their being English expats living in France, it's an interesting perspective to offer.

Books mentioned:
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Those who have read these books will probably enjoy this book a little more because the characters talk about them! Perhaps you may even share their opinions. I recommend this book to those who enjoy poignant character-driven books.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the read.

There is nothing better in life than reading a good book and this book is about a group of people coming together to form The Bordeaux book club.
These characters were all so different and yet to see them all connected by books was amazing. I liked the way they were able to talk about so many different types of books.
I think this book would be an excellent choice for a book club to read and discuss.
Thank you NetGalley, Gillian Harvey and Boldwood Bboks for the copy of The Bordeaux Book Club. This is my personal review.

Books bring people together and help them become friends. This is a well crafted story, full of wise ideas and hints about how to cope in life's maze..I enjoyed the book very much.

Leah and her husband's move to France, driven by dreams of self-sufficiency, falls short of the idyllic vision. Despite hours of digging, they only unearth a single, straggly carrot. With a rebellious teenage daughter and a husband prone to disappearing acts, Leah seeks connection by joining a newly formed book club suggested by her friend. This diverse group discovers unity in the stories they share, providing a support system for Leah amid strains on her marriage.

The characters, skillfully crafted, resonate against the backdrop of the French landscape, delving into themes of friendship and reinvention.

Finding joy in these stories-within-a-story, the narrative celebrates the unifying power of books.

“The Bordeaux Book Club" proves to be a charming read for enthusiasts of female-centered fiction, offering reflections on life's inevitable highs and lows—an essential addition to your TBR list.

Appreciation to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This story is like a comfortable shoe, familiar and warming! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The plot was a good one, the book club the centre, with the characters and their lives branching off from that.
The characters were great. We got to learn all about them and how the book club friendships helped their lives outside of that!. I loved them all!!
Many thanks to Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #TheBoldBookClub, #GillplusFive.

Five people too different to find anything in common. Well, anything but their language. Five English people living in Bourdeux, France, trying to find a new life. And they bond around books, but some much more. They start by sharing an afternoon drinking wine and commenting an old book and fin themselves sharing their lives, fears, dreams and helping each other in ways they never saw coming. Great.

A book club for ex-pats. A place to read the classics, make friends and deal with personal problems. Well written, allowing the reader to enter the lives of the members.

I thoroughly enjoyed this feel good novel about a group of ex-pat Brits who live in Bordeaux. All are trying to find their way, but find something slightly missing. You have the main character Leah, who has moved with her husband Nathan and teenage daughter to try their hand at self-sufficient living. Then there is Grace, who is a middle aged woman who lives alone after her divorce. Grace is the one who puts out the suggestion for a book club for English speakers and brings the group together. There is also Monica, a wealthy newborn mom, who lives mostly by herself as her husband travels a lot. And the final two characters are George, a friendly, quiet contractor, and Alfie, the youngest of the group at 19 with a mom who is afflicted with a late stage cancer. Throughout the book, you get to know the characters fairly well and see what their struggles and desires are. There was one point where I got so frustrated with Nathan, that I almost put the book down. I am very glad that I did not.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I do highly recommend it, and will look for other books by this author. It's the right sort of realistic escapism for me.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did - it is set in beautiful Bordeaux and revolves around a book club set up by Grace. She is an ex-pat whose husband left her to go back to London despite the French idyll being his dream. All the characters are actually English and the group come together thanks to Grace. Initially I found the book slow to get going and some of the characters not particularly sympathetic. We hear about their lives in France, what brought them there and how they are all dealing with life's ups and downs in a different culture. The pace does pick up about half way through and it was an okay read. I had hoped there would be more descriptions of the city itself but sadly they weren't there. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy to review.

It took me a while to get into this book for unknown reasons but I'm glad I didn't gave it up because it turned out to be a good read for me.

We have a mix of characters that is joining a book club named The Bordeaux Book Club which confused one of them.
While reading this you get to know the characters and the books they are reading plus their thoughts about them and genre.
I think I have read almost every single book the members in the book club reads which is fun.

If you are after a book with new found friends, books, wine and chats then this might be for you especially if you are in a book club.

The book club of the title is just a mechanism for gathering together a disparate group of people. It is set up as an English language organisation to help both ex-pats and French people looking to improve their language skills. As the group read / re-read mostly classic novels they (re)discover both the texts and themselves. They do not necessarily see the books in the same way as when they read them as teenagers. Despite their differences the group also finds friendship, which sees them through some difficult situations.

"The Bordeaux Book Club" is a heart warming story of friendship and love, and might make people consider more carefully the issues around relocating to a foreign country.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I'm so disappointed with this book. The prologue and outline instantly drew me in but sadly it didn't keep it although I managed to get to the end.

It's unusual as I normally love Gillian's books but sadly not this one.

A good mix of different characters from different backgrounds with a shared interest in books. Put the mix together and you get a good story. 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

Put the word book club in a novel’s title and I always want to take a look. That, plus the cover of this one, made me want to read The Bordeaux Book Club.

This is an easy and enjoyable read about a group of ex-pats. One of them, Grace, likes to keep busy and perhaps to feel important. She posts a notice for a book club for ex-pat English speakers and waits for people to sign up.

Among those who attend the first meeting is Leah. She is already a friend to Grace. Leah and her husband moved to France looking to have a better quality of life. It is not clear that they are finding this. Their daughter is cranky and it seems that Leah’s husband may have some secrets.

Several others come to the first meeting including Monica, George and Alfie. Alfie stands out for being the youngest in the group.

The first book selection is Great Expectations as this was Grace’s choice and she can be forceful. What will this book and others mean to the book club members as they read and get to know one another…oh, and drink some wine too. (Bordeaux is in the title for location but possibly also for the wine.)

Those looking for a quick, escapist read will, I think enjoy this title.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

This book vascillated between engaging and annoyance. I found Leah to be exhausting. She is a 45 year old woman who spent most of the book with eyes filled with tears. When was she going to grow up and accept that life has challenges? I enjoyed the camaderie of the others with Grace, George, Monica and Alife and despite their loneliness found a family in each other. They truly helped each other when it came to Alfie's Mother and Leah's struggle with Nathan and Scarlett. I just can't recommend this book on Leah alone.

This is such a lovely heartwarming story that demonstrates how family can be made up of the most unlikely collection of individuals.. In Bordeaux, France expat Grace decides to start a book club for expats. The other members are Leah, Monica, George and Alfie. As the story progresses we find out why each of them has moved to France. Each book they read enables them to open up and really explore their own emotions. The connections, friendships and support that develops between the characters is beautifully written. I loved the descriptions of the locations in this and thought that each character had depth and became immersed in their individual stories and challenges wanting to know how things were going to turn out for them. Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC