Goodreads Review ~ Sometimes It Happens

by Pauline Barclay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Feeling definitely off par, I curled up with my dog and reached for a pick-me-up - and what a fabulous antidote to post Christmas blues coupled with a nasty cold Sometimes It Happens was. Right from outset, I felt as if I was there, sipping champagne on my sun-drenched terrace at the exclusive Villas Bronitas, or lingering over my coffee whilst people-watching at the café in the Old Square. Pauline Barclay has a way of transporting you right to the location.

At first I wasn't sure about Doreen's propensity to giggle, but soon realised that this was who she was, a bubbly, big-hearted woman, a la a young Barbara Windsor, determined to laugh whatever the weather, but whose giggle sometimes masked an inner nervousness. Also a square peg in a round hole, it seemed, catapulted from her poor East-ender existence to the luxurious resort in Spain, along with her daughter, Trisha, who was obviously never starved of her mother's love. This is a true rags-to-riches story, the underlying message being that we are all the same beneath the veneer and that money can't necessarily buy happiness. Pauline brings us an eclectic mix of characters, some larger than life, but all with human traits and foibles we recognise. The Hoskins are typically full of airs and graces, Shelia Hoskins in particular, looking snootily down her offended nose at someone who clearly doesn't `belong'. Jack, for all his chauvinistic boorishness, I couldn't help cheering on the in the end. Gay barristers Simon and Chicky are quite delightful and probably the most functional couple - loved the beach scene - and the redoubtable Frau Hecks brought a tear to my eye. Patrick was perfect. In my minds eye, a cockney Don Draper from Mad Men, quiet, authoritative and definitely fanciable. In short, Sometimes It Happens ticked all my boxes.


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