The Crossroads by Pamela Cook

Hachette Australia, November 2016

(Review copy provided by publisher)

Pamela Cook writes rural women’s fiction with romantic sub-plots. The Crossroads is her fourth published novel, and the third book that I’ve read. I’m an avid reader of the rural romance genre and every time I pick up a Pamela Cook novel I expect her stories to fall into that genre- but they don’t. I actually really like that the romance elements of the story aren’t at the forefront of the story. What Cook does so well is create strong, engaging women protagonists that face emotional challenges when their ordinary lives are uplifted by a catalyst that sets the premise for the story.

In The Crossroads, the narrative is told from the POV (point of view) of three women who are connected by their shared history. Rosie O’Shea struggles to maintain the rundown outback pub she inherited from her…