This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR
This book follows two timelines. In the present, the sisters, Erica and Beth Calcott return to the house their harsh grandmother has left them in her Will. It's the place where they spent their childhood summers, where they secretly spent time with Dinny, a traveller, and their unpleasant cousin Henry. It's also a place where a tragedy happened that changed the course of their lives.
In 1902, we begin to follow Caroline's story. Caroline's parents are dead and she lives with her haughty aunt in New York high society. She falls in love and quickly marries Corin, a farmer who takes her to live miles from the nearest neighbour in a house where she is expected to cook and clean and mix with people she could never have imagined meeting before her marriage. They are in love, but life doesn't go quite according to Caroline's expectations.
In order for Erica and Beth to keep the house they've inherited, their grandmother has stipulated that both women have to make it their home and live there. Erica isn't frightened about the mystery behind Henry, but she is younger than Beth and can't remember everything that happened on that fateful day. Beth's whole life is marred by her past and she only goes to the house to sort out her grandmother's belongings because Erica has pressured her to do so.
Caroline is determined to make the best of her marriage, despite the cruel twists of fate that happen and Erica refused to be distracted from discovering exactly what happened to her cousin and find a way to enable her sister to come out of her shell and start living her life once again.
The prologue certainly enticed me and when I did discover what had happened to the baby and his place in the story I was pleasantly surprised. I did guess the twist in Erica and Beth’s story and couldn’t imagine how the author would explain it, but she did and did it well in my opinion. I especially enjoyed reading about Caroline’s life in America at the turn of the 20th century and her unexpected change in circumstances after her marriage to her adored husband, Corin. I loved this beautifully written book. I can’t believe I hadn’t read it earlier and look forward to Katherine Webb’s next book with anticipation.
9/10