Hester and Harriet

The gentle humour and relaxed pace make this an enjoyable read. - Daily Mail



Sisters Hester and Harriet are reluctantly driving to visit relatives when they come across a young woman hiding with her baby in a bus shelter. Seeing the perfect excuse for returning to their own warm hearth, the pair insist on bringing Daria and Milo home with them.



But with the arrival of a sinister stranger looking for a girl with a baby, followed quickly by their cousins' churlish fifteen-year-old son, Ben, who also appears to be seeking sanctuary, Hester and Harriet's carefully crafted peace and quiet quickly begins to fall apart. And, perhaps, that's exactly what they need...



Hilary Spiers has had a varied career - including law, speech therapy, teaching, youth work and the NHS. She has also been involved with the theatre as an actor, director and playwright, and her dramatic work has been performed in a number of theatres including Hampstead Theatre and Riverside Studios. Hilary has won several national short story competitions and had work broadcast on the radio. Hester and Harriet is her first novel.



The gentle humour and relaxed pace make this an enjoyable read.



A delightfully British story... An engaging read.



Europe's refugee crisis, the criminal underground, adolescent mental health and the challenges of ageing are all part of this package, wrapped up in warm, off-beat humour and a twisting, turning plot that make this a winning read... Harriet and Hester are unforgettable characters and what appears at first to be yet another cosy village read, complete with brambles and apple pie, turns out to be so much more.



A lighthearted read...with hilarious results.



Spiers succeeds in her aim of "giving a voice to ordinary women in sometimes extraordinary circumstances".



Hold on to your teacups - you're about to fall head over heels for Hester and Harriet.



[Hester and Harriet] may well be my favourite characters of the year.



Meet Hester and Harriet: two hilarious widowed sisters.



Hester and Harriet is one of those books that is just so fun to read. The characters are absolutely amazing.



An enjoyable read.



Spiers has created a lovely holiday or weekend read here with smart, funny and quirky main characters who go on a journey of discovering things they didn't even realise were missing from their lives. This is an easy, entertaining read perfect for long summer days or that rainy Saturday afternoon.