A Cottage in the Country

By: Katie Fforde

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Bloomsbury presents A Cottage in the Country by Katie Fforde, read by Imogen Church

'An escapist, romantic story of love, friendship and gorgeous houses... Warm, wise and wonderful' Lucy Diamond

She’s found her dream home but can she make her dreams a reality?

Hattie finds other people their dream homes for a living.

Surely she, of all people, has the connections and the knowledge to find her own forever home? Instead, she baffles those closest to her by choosing to pack up and move every few months from one housesitting job to the next.

Of course, that’s because she knows where she wants to live. It’s a beautiful house owned by a lovely old woman who’d simply love for Hattie to have it.

But nothing is ever that simple.

There’s Clive who refuses to listen to his great-aunt’s wishes about her house. There’s Luke, Hattie’s oldest friend, who just wants to see her happy. And there’s Hattie herself. It might take a difficult client, an awkward teenager and a couple of dogs to help her see what really makes a house a home.

'Leaves you smiling long after the final page' Cathy Bramley

'A happy, warm, joyous place to be. I feel like I've made a whole new group of friends' Jo Thomas

©2025 Katie Fforde (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

A warm, uplifting and wonderfully feel-good escape, the kind of romance that feels like settling down for a cosy chat with a good friend and leaves you smiling long after the final page (Cathy Bramley)

t's like a great big hug. A happy, warm, joyous place to be. I feel like I've made a whole new group of friends. It was like a walk in a country cottage garden, full of beautiful scent, happy moments you'll remember for a long time to come (Jo Thomas)

An escapist, romantic story of love, friendship and gorgeous houses... Warm, wise and wonderful (Lucy Diamond)

A sweet, gorgeous, cosy read, in the very best sense. There is no joy like being a willing captive in Katie’s wonderful worlds (Milly Johnson)

Without a doubt Katie is the queen of feel-good fiction. I adored this uplifting tale of friendship and love. It was perfect (Liz Fenwick)

A Cottage in the Country is an absolute delight. With Katie’s trademark warmth, wit and perception, and a cast of loveable characters, it will leave you yearning for your own cottage in the country. Charming! (Veronica Henry)

Cute story but...

The book started out well and I was listening along, ignoring the fact that I'm not a fan of this narrator (why does she sound tentative and scared ALL THE TIME?) until I got to the part where the main character is locked out of the home she is renting and sharing with an elderly friend. Her response to this was so pathetic. Kind of "oh well, stiff upper lip, blah blah blah and I'll move on." Nah, call the cops and get on it. Then near the end, another character is gifted a puppy by her fiancee and she asks if the puppy she is holding is "a boy or a girl" and then apologizes because she knows it's not politically correct to say that. What? My eyes rolled so hard they almost fell out of my head. The potential was there for this to be a cute fluff book but that oficially finished it off. Now that I'm done with the book, I'm going to go read something by Katie Hopkins to remind me the entire nation hasnt lost it's mind.