A privileged stop on the Blog Tour for this beautiful novel.
When secrets from the past won't stay hidden.
Synopsis
When Rona and Craig buy a large Victorian house up from Edinburgh's Newhaven district – once teeming with fishing boats – they plan to renovate and set it up as a luxury care home. But something is not quite right: disturbing sounds can be heard when the sea mists swirl; their unpredictable neighbour makes it clear that the house was not always a happy family home. And their ‘characterful' historic pile has a gloomy cellar harbouring relics from days gone by.
Back in the 1890s, superstitious fishwives blame young Jessie for the deaths of their menfolk in a terrible storm, and she's forced into the Newhaven Poorhouse. In those less enlightened times, life was often severe, cruel even, and Jessie is entirely at the mercy of a tyrant matron. But one inmate is not all she seems. Jessie begins to pick at the truth, uncovering the secrets and lies that pervade the poorhouse – and which will have profound and dangerous consequences in the future.
My Review
Ok, hands up! i am first to admit that i'am not into historical fiction but when i was invited to take part in this blog tour i was surprised as the blurb drew me in quickly with the mystery at its core, and i found myself really looking forward to the books arrival, now after thoroughly enjoying this read i am so very glad i went out of my usual genre! this book was fantastic!
Set across two timelines, it tells the story of the same house. In the 1898 Wardie house was a poorhouse and Jessie has been sent there after losing her father and brother at sea. In the 1981 Craig and Rona have bought Wardie house and are turning it into a care home for the elderly.
the short chapters make this novel flow quickly and easily between the two timelines where we learn the heartbreaking way children were treated in the 1890's and the history of the house itself from the new care home residents.
This is a mystery with many twists and turns, thoroughly enjoyable with beautiful characters that capture you and draw you in to read just a bit more!
Purchase Links
The Author
As well as writing three very popular and well-reviewed historical mysteries published in the UK and overseas, Sue Lawrence is one of the UK’s leading cookery writers, with eighteen published cookbooks. Having trained as a journalist in Dundee, she won BBC’s MasterChef in 1991 and became a food writer, regularly contributing to Scotland on Sunday, as well as being the Sunday Times' food writer for six years. Born in Dundee and raised in Edinburgh, she now lives near Newhaven, Edinburgh – the setting for her latest novel. She has won two Guild of Food Writers Awards and a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award, and now focuses on researching and writing historical fiction.
Social Media Links
@booksandemma
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