The book had all the things that a love story needs to make it readable...and I did somewhat enjoy it. I just wasn't "over the moon" about it. There were stories from the past and stories from the present all woven together with history and mystery mixed in. While there were some very interesting story lines, I had a difficult time really getting into the book, or the characters. I just could not warm up to Beatrice for much of the book due to her "obsessions" of Rafe and the storyline about the child was a bit unbelievable. There were times I just thought to myself, "really?". Anyway, it's a good read, just not a great read and while Rachel Hore's books usually start with a bang, they do tend to drag a bit. If you are romance/history/mystery fan, you will probably like this more than I did. ( )

I really liked it. I guessed the ending since the prologue, but the road to get there was full of surprises. ( )

The pace of this novel was exactly right for me to read it over several evenings. There are different time frames - starting in the 1930s, interspersed with the present day - and this could have been confusing; an elderly lady is telling her life story, but every so often we return to 2011 as she becomes tired. The story is supposedly told over several days, but it’s not in the first person; instead it works well as lengthy flashbacks, looking into the past, helping the listener - and readers of the book - to understand what life was like in the war years, and - gradually - what comprises a long-held secret.

Long before the secret was revealed, I had guessed what it would be, but that didn’t matter at all. The story moved forward apace, and there were some quite exciting scenes as characters become involved in secret work during the war, putting lives into grave danger. I have to say, I couldn’t quite reconcile a young mother actually choosing to do this, given her circumstances - and although some of it was horrific, I knew that she was going to come through alive, since she was still around in 2011 to tell her story.

I liked some of the characters very much, and was pleased at the resolution of the book, although sad about some incidents and frustrated at the lack of communication which had caused the mystery to become so big. But this kind of mild frustration with characters is indicative of excellent writing, making them feel very real to me.

All in all, I thought this a very readable and thought-provoking book.

Recommended to anyone who likes saga style novels. ( )

Photographer Lucy Cardwell has recently lost her troubled father, Tom. While sifting through his papers, she finds he'd been researching an uncle she never knew he'd had. Intrigued, she visits her father's childhood home, the once beautiful Carlyon Manor. She meets an old woman named Beatrice who has an extraordinary story to tell ...Growing up in the 1930s, Beatrice plays with the children of Carlyon Manor - especially pretty, blonde Angelina Wincanton, Lucy's grandmother. Then, one summer at the age of fifteen, she falls in love with a young visitor to the town: Rafe Ashton, whom she rescues from a storm-tossed sea. But the dark clouds of war are gathering, and Beatrice, Rafe, and the Wincantons will all be swept up in the cataclysm of events that follow.

My Thoughts:

Again another tale of rambling old houses, family secrets and Cornwall. Which I have to admit is normally my thing. This book however let me down.

The story started out ok, with everything that I would have expected. Then I found I was plodding along then can to slow crawl, then I just wanted to stop. I did flick through the last third of the book just to find out the secret which I guessed anyway. I was getting quite bored with the book and I felt I was watching a film with cardboard acting.

This book was too nice. There was no swearing, which ins’nt a bad thing. At times I felt I was reading a ‘Famous Five’ book ( no insult intended to the FF ), and everybody was going to be home for tea.

Not sure if I would recommend this book as I feel that there are a lot better dual time period/ rambling house books out there. I have read another book by this author and looking back on my reviews I felt the same about that one too, so I may give Ms Hore a miss in the future. ( )

A nice little tale involving friendship, love and betrayal spanning the years of the second World War and beyond, told from the viewpoint of the main character in her twilight years. I enjoyed how the characters grew and even though it was mostly obvious what had happened, the book still drew me in enough to want to know the exact details of how the characters lives had turned out they way they did. I also learned some interesting facts about the role of women during the war, which I wasn't aware of before! ( )