49143148._SY475_From Goodreads : “There’s always time to help out a stranger…isn’t there?

Supermarket delivery driver Charlie enjoys his new job because he doesn’t have to spend too long with people, who, he’s found, are nothing but trouble. But when he’s assigned the Hope Row street, he realises there are a lot of lonely people out there – and for some, he’s their only interaction.

The supermarket boss tells Charlie he’s a driver, not a social worker – but Charlie can’t abandon the Hope Row residents and he sets about trying to draw them out of their shells and back into the world. But will his helping hand make everything worse?“

Available from: Hive – Amazon – Waterstones

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My Review

I loved Bonnie and Stan the author’s previous book, and hoped I’d enjoy this book just as much. Well this was such a fabulous read, I knew right from the first few words that I was going to enjoy it.

I loved Charlie as soon as I met him and loved going out on deliveries with him to meet some of the residents of Hope Street. He enjoys meeting Vik, grieving for his late wife Nika,  Greg a disabled travel blogger and Ruth an alcoholic electrician. He’s been told he’s only got four minutes to deliver their shopping, but as he gets to know them, he wants to spend more time getting to know them and helping them.

This was a beautifully written story about  different people living solitary lives in the same street. About how one delivery driver tries to help them make sense of their lives by being a link between them. Although it sounds like it could be a tough read, it’s not at all and made me laugh at times, as well as well up. It’s a book full of hope, smiles and almost a few tears. A really lovely read that makes Anna Stuart a new favourite author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and cannot recommend it enough for lovers of contemporary fiction.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Trapeze for my digital copy.