I adored Matt Coyne’s first novel, Frank & Red, and so was delighted to receive an ARC of his new book The Trouble With Sister Francis. Here’s the blurb:

“Sister Francis is an unlikely nun.
She’s sixty, sweary, drives like a lunatic and smokes like a stacked chimney . . . and she runs the Blessed Assumption Boys Club.
Richie, Bennett, Kenny and Stan are four best friends from the Whittle council estate with little to do but get up to no good. After a run-in with local bullies, they discover the crumbling, forgotten club and find themselves in the company of the most remarkable person they will ever meet.
Set against early 1980s Britain, THE TROUBLE WITH SISTER FRANCIS is a funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking story of unlikely heroes, quiet rebellions, fierce loyalty and unexpected hope.
And at the centre of it all lies a long-forgotten journal that might just change everything.”

The book is told from the point of view of Richie talking about his time as a young lad in the 1980s going to a local boys’ club at the local church. It’s on a run down estate – and has been restarted by the eponymous Sister Francis. Whilst helping set up the club, Richie finds a diary of a teenager called Reginald who had been evacuated to the area at the start of World War 2 – and also attended the boys’ club when it first started. You therefore get a dual timeline of activties of the club.

Richie and his friends and family are wonderfully described – as are Sister Francis and the priests at the Church. As with Frank & Red – the book also looks at intergenerational friendships and relationships in a beautiful way.

I have to say I did guess some of the twists – but in a feeling smug way – it didn’t ruin the story at all.

As with Mat Coyne’s previous book – this really was a lovely, funny, emotional read – a warm hug of a book that I would thoroughly recommend.

Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my ARC. It’s already out, so you can order it immediately if you like the sound of it. It would also make a perfect Christmas present for friends and family of any age.