I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Take one terrible family secret, add a pinch of tension spanning generations, finish with an immensely valuable family heirloom and... voilà! You now have a truly satisfying read. This is what I found in The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q. I was initially intrigued by the title and the absolutely gorgeous cover (honestly, it's so pretty it is worth picking up this book for the cover alone!), but I was soon captivated by the story and the colourful characters. True, the beginning I found quite slow, and I did have a little trouble following the narration, as it is divided between the three female protagonists (Dorothea, Rika and Inky), and the action in the three different decades. But as I got further into the story, I was completely sucked in and found myself wondering what the big, terrible secret was. And I'm quite pleased to say that, even though I had called a part of it early on and had been right, the author still managed to surprise me with the way she developed it (I know this sounds very cryptic, but it's incredibly hard trying to avoid any spoiler at this point!). I also liked getting snippets of Guyanese history and culture throughout the book, which I thought added an interesting layer to the story.

As I already mentioned, I wasn't too keen on the split narration initially, but it actually ended up being quite a strong point in the book for me as I progressed in the reading. Seeing the events unfold through the eyes of one or the other of the wonderful women in this book made me connect with them on a much deeper level, and actually avoided the terrible 'big-plot-revelation-through-an-incredibly-long-character-speech' pitfall. The character development was also truly well done. I didn't care much for any of the characters in the beginning, since they pretty much all seemed very annoying and/or incredibly bossy. But as the story progressed and I started figuring out all the things that had happened to them, I understood why the characters acted the way they did, and my judgment on them substantially improved. I still didn't care very much for Inky, as I found her just a little too self-centred for my liking, but that's just me being very judgmental about book characters.

Overall, this was a very entertaining read, at times sweet, at times sad. If you like family mysteries mixed with romance and tragedy, I really suggest you check this out. ( )

Thirty years of family secrets. Three generations of women. One family heirloom that could change everything.

This was a great book, telling the stories of Dorothea, her daughter Rika and Rika's daughter Inky. Beginning in present day London, Rika and Inky's lives are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of Rika's wheelchair bound mother from Guyana. Rika has not seen her mother for thirty years since she ran away from home in Guyana, and Inky has never met her grandmother, or known why her mother ran away.

The arrival of Dorothea inevitably stirs up lot of emotions and the friction is heightened with the discovery that the heirloom she has brought with her is literally worth a small fortune.

The story is brilliantly told by means of flashbacks of both Dorothea's and Rika's lives so we are finally party to why Rika ran away. I loved the fact that it was set in Guyana and not Britain because it gave the story an additional cultural and historical interest that helped set it apart from the typical troubled mother/daughter tales. The characters are all well drawn and very believable and it is very easy to get drawn in to the plot.

The story is essentially one about love, relationships, dealing with loss and learning to forgive. It is very touching, tragic and full of surprises with an ending that I had not anticipated.

If you want a read that is entertaining, romantic, tragic and thought provoking then I thoroughly recommend this book.

I recieved an ARC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. ( )

This is a nice read but I wasn't quite as enamoured with it as other reviewers. It tells the story of Dorothea, a woman living in British Guiana in the 1930s, her daughter, Rika, in the 1960s, and Rika's daughter, Inky, in the 2000s. Some of the issues tackled are well done but I did find the storytelling a little superficial and also a little disjointed. I felt maybe it could have done with being a bit shorter for me (I did read an advance review copy so some of this may have been dealt with by publication).

The female characters are interesting and strong and I liked how the story unfolded. We know something momentous happened between Dorothea and Rika and they didn't see each other for a long time but we are left guessing about this until the end. I particularly liked the growing friendships between the three characters and their male friends.

I think this is a pleasant and undemanding book but lacked a certain something for me. ( )