New Beginnings for the Brownlees. – The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog

October 6, 2026

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Book Review for “Fletchers End” by D.E. Stevenson.

Summary: “Shortly before Bel’s marriage to Ellis, her friend, Louise Armstrong, goes house hunting for the Brownlees and discovers a charming but neglected old stone cottage in the Cotswolds. Bel adores the house, called Fletchers End. Equally enthusiastic, Ellis buys the place from the absentee-owner, Lieutenant Commander Lestrange, and, after a picture-book wedding, the happy couple move in. As she embarks on her new life as a devoted wife, Bel loyally guides Louise through her own romantic tribulations. She also enjoys sharing with Ellis the excitement and satisfaction of decorating their first real home, as well as unravelling the mysteries of the old stone cottage. But with the unexpected arrival of Lieutenant Commander Lestrange, the peace of Fletchers End is suddenly threatened…”

Age: Adult; Genres: Literary, Fiction; Settings: Era/s: Vintage Contemporary (1950s-1960s); Location/s: England – the Cotswold’s region; Other Categories: Novel, Romance, Coming of Age, Women, Relationships, Classics, Series (Bel Lamington #2 of 2).

After Dean Street Press virtually saved my reading life with “Bel Lamington,” I just couldn’t wait to read the second book in this duology, which starts almost immediately after the previous one ended. A good deal of the beginning of this book is about Bel’s wedding to Ellis Brownlee. Admittedly, there’s a line in there that had me sheading a tear, which meant I had to give it high marks. From there the story goes on to their purchasing what we would call a real “fixer upper” of a cottage, but not before we learn a touch about the cottage itself. Strangely enough, this was described almost like a house in search of a buyer, and not a buyer in search of a house! In fact, there was so much to like about this place that I’m glad it fell into the right hands. Or did it?

Okay, no spoilers, but there is some drama about them buying the place, and no small number of bumps and stumbles along the way to renovating it to their taste and needs. As a lover of DIY and renovation TV shows, this spoke to me, and Stevenson really knew how to describe what was going on, so I could almost see it happening. That said, there’s one puzzling aspect of the home that Bel and Louise notice when they first visit it, the mystery about which doesn’t seem to get fully resolved, but that’s hardly important, since most everything else does get resolve, as you’d expect (so no, this isn’t a spoiler).

In fact, I should say that in addition to the whole drama about the cottage, there’s far more here that is romance than in the previous book. Yes, I know, I’m not a lover of the romance genre, but to be honest, this isn’t a romance novel, despite the romance in this book. I say this because there’s enough going on outside the matters of the heart to make sure we aren’t subjected to a tsunami of angst. Of course, it starts with Bel’s wedding, but even her married life isn’t totally settled, at least not to begin with. Bel actually goes back to work with Ellis after they’re married because the business needed her organizational knowledge and her ability to work efficiently and effectively. Obviously, the whole buying of the cottage and then the renovation project takes a while to finish, and Stevenson goes into a nice amount of detail to help paint that whole picture. So, for Stevenson to include some male attention to Bel’s best friend Louise along the way, just adds to the fullness of it all.

In fact, there’s a whole lot going on in this story, and it really does make one feel like Stevenson took a very wide view of these characters, and insured that they’d have both ups and downs, not only in matters of the heart, but also in practical matters. The only thing that Stevenson didn’t include was any indication that the Brownlees were starting a family. That’s why I wonder if Stevenson might have thought to make this into a trilogy, but I don’t think it would have had the same effect as these two stories had. What else can I say? If you’re looking for some light reading with truly loveable characters, who experience realistic ups and downs of life during the mid-20^th century, these are books for you! I’m very warmly recommending both of these books, and giving this one the full 5/5 stars!

Dean Street Press re-released “Fletchers End” by D.E. Stevenson on July 1, 2026, but it was originally released in 1961. This book is available (via the following affiliate links) from Amazon, Blackwell’s (prices include international shipping), TGJones (formerly WHSmith), Waterstones, Kobo (US, Canada, Australia), Booksamillion, iTunes (iBooks and audiobooks), new or used from Alibris, or Awesome Books (not an affiliate link), as well as from Bookshop.org and UK.Bookshop (to support independent bookshops). I would like to thank the publishers for sending me an ARC of this novel.