Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen is a wonderful novel about being brave, finding yourself and allowing yourself to live your life. The novel starts before WWII with Ellie Endicott being blindsided by her husband demanding a divorce. She acquiesces but only after she has extracted enough to live on.
Ellie decides that she wants to travel to maybe the French Riviera or some place warm with people and the ocean. One of the older ladies in her town joins her as does her housekeeper. They take the husband’s Bentley and start the journey.
What makes this book so remarkable is that for each of the characters, it is a new beginning and a new chance. I love how they adopt their choices for the future. I love how they work their way down through France and end up at this small town and eventually rent a villa. The story lines with each character, the freedom they find or make is the story.
For me, it was the courage they displayed and the understanding that they could only move forward that kept me reading. Their adventures were splendid, but they made them splendid. I adored the small town they found and the family they forged. Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen is a fabulous read with wonderful characters.
