Tag: 20BooksofSummer

#BookReview The House of Birds by Morgan McCarthy

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TheHouseofBirdsAbout the Book

Oliver has spent years trying to convince himself that he’s suited to a life of money making in the city, and that he doesn’t miss a childhood spent in pursuit of mystery, when he cycled around the cobbled lanes of Oxford, exploring its most intriguing corners.

When his girlfriend Kate inherits a derelict house – and a fierce family feud – she’s determined to strip it, sell it and move on. For Oliver though, the house has an allure, and amongst the shelves of discarded, leather bound and gilded volumes, he discovers one that conceals a hidden diary from the 1920s.

So begins a quest: to discover the identity of the author, Sophia Louis. It is a portrait of war and marriage, isolation and longing and a story that will shape the future of the abandoned house – and of Oliver – forever.

Format: Paperback (464 pages)  Publisher: Tinder Press
Publication date: 1st June 2017 Genre: Dual Time

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My Review

It will come as no secret to regular followers of this blog that I sometimes find dual-time novels problematic, often finding myself more drawn to the past timeline than the present. However, in The House of Birds, the author manages to pull off the feat of making the two timelines both equally interesting and, indeed, interdependent.

The book moves between the present day story of Oliver, who finds himself rather adrift having quit a job he never really liked but not sure exactly what he wants to do next, and that of Sophia Louis whose life is documented in a journal Oliver discovers when clearing out the old house inherited by his girlfriend, Kate, who is off in New York pursuing a promotion opportunity. What starts as a project to fill a gap between jobs becomes something more as Oliver begins to feel a connection with the house, an obligation to save it even.  Unravelling the mystery of just who Sophia Louis was and what became of her provides Oliver with something to focus on, to draw him out of his apathetic state.

I liked the way Sophia’s story is revealed in instalments, in a way that is akin to a puzzle. Indeed, at one point, Oliver becomes irritated that her journal ends suddenly and, seemingly, unfinished. ‘Oliver was baffled and outraged. He felt keenly that Sophia – so aware of her reader had treated him unfairly.’ I also loved Sophia’s witty, teasing style of writing, often addressing her reader directly. But just who is Sophia’s intended reader? And why did she feel the need to hide the journal?

The story Sophia tells is one of disappointment, sadness, forbidden love, thwarted ambition, and the cruel and longlasting legacy of war, in this case the First World War. The latter is embodied in a character who is a tragic figure – ‘the grim king of a grim land’ – imprisoned in self-imposed silence and seeing the world as full of danger, of ‘black and smoking chaos’.

But how much of the story Sophia tells is true? Could her journal be fiction rather than fact? Indeed, Oliver ponders, ‘What if Sophia were a character in someone else’s novel?’ (I bet the author had a little chuckle to herself when she wrote that.)

As Oliver follows the trail Sophia has left, puzzling it out alongside the reader, it causes him to reflect on his own life. As he observes, ‘It’s ironic really. [Sophia] knew exactly what she wanted, but she couldn’t have any of it. I’ve had the opportunity to do whatever I want to do, and it seems like in almost thirty years I’ve only just managed to work out what that might be’. Oliver undergoes a kind of epiphany as he realises it’s not too late to pursue his childhood ambition, a path he was dissuaded from taking by his parents. In a way, he comes to feel he owes it to Sophia.

There is some beautiful descriptive writing, full of clever metaphors, such as this passage in which Oliver, as a young boy, first glimpses the rather neglected ‘House of Birds’ and its overgrown garden.

‘The darkly varnished ivy was tussling with the white bindweed over ownership of a sagging fence, while not far away, a honeysuckle, unchallenged, had claimed a garden table and swallowed a small tree. The lawn was an army massing under high spears, its regiments filing into the cracks between the paving stones to do battle with the dandelions. Above them the wisteria maintained a lordly rule over the house itself, loaded with it spectacular purple flowers, hundreds of fluttering confetti showers clamouring for the friskings of the bees.’

The House of Birds is the first novel I’ve read by Morgan McCarthy and, although she has written three previous novels, none of them appear to have been as positively received by readers as this one, and she has written nothing since. That’s a shame because I really enjoyed The House of Birds. I found the story enthralling, romantic without being sentimental and with some really clever touches. In fact, I imagined Sophia laughing to herself at an inspired one that occurs towards the end of the book.

In three words: Tender, intriguing, assured

Try something similar: The House at Helygen by Victoria Hawthorne

Morgan McCarthyAbout the Author

Morgan McCarthy lives in Berkshire, and has been writing since primary school. She is the author of four novels: The Other Half of Me, The Outline of Love, Strange Girls and Ordinary Women, and The House of Birds. (Bio/photo: Publisher author page)

Connect with Morgan
Website |  Goodreads

#BookReview Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

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IslandofSecretsAbout the Book

‘The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .’

All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother’s secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in.

Angie’s estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms – it’s time to unburden herself, and tell the story she’ll otherwise take to her grave.

It’s the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it’s the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations.

Format: Paperback (496 pages)    Publisher: Zaffre
Publication date: 18th May 2017 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

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My Review

Today is the 79th anniversary of the real life events that inspired the author to write Island of Secrets – an atrocity that took place during the German occupation of the island of Crete in WW2. For me, this was the most powerful part of the book. The story is revealed gradually by Maria to her granddaughter, Angelika. At one point Angelika is told to ‘be patient and everything will become clear’ and the reader needs that patience too which is a pity because the experiences Maria reveals are moving and compelling. They include some harrowing scenes which at times make difficult reading, even more so once you realise they are based on fact.

Prompted by her forthcoming wedding to her boyfriend Nick, Angelika has travelled to Crete to try to discover why her mother Poppy left the island so suddenly many years ago and why she has been estranged from her family ever since. It’s a period of her life Poppy has been reluctant to talk about, yet Angelika seems determined to delve into the past in a high-minded belief that she is doing her mother a favour and trying to ‘ease her pain’.  In fact, her efforts have just the opposite effect and it’s only later that Angelika concedes that perhaps her search for answers is a means of distracting herself from her own worries about her personal life.

The reasons for Poppy’s flight from Crete, when eventually revealed, are rather melodramatic in nature and only vaguely connected to the wartime storyline. I confess at this point in the book I got rather confused with all the different members of Angelika’s Cretan family and could have done with a family tree, although the way the storyline develops means I understand why the author would not have wanted to include this.

The modern day storyline involving Angelika’s concerns about her relationship with Nick held less interest for me; her wedding preparation woes seemed lightweight compared to the wartime story. I found Angelika rather immature for a woman of thirty-seven and there were details that I found unrealistic, such as the fact that Angelika has apparently never needed to see her birth certificate for any reason, for instance to obtain a passport. Her sudden interest in her family history and her expectation that people she’d never met or had any communication with would want to come to her wedding was not very credible.

There were lots of things about Island of Secrets that I enjoyed, especially the wartime story that was clearly the product of extensive research and felt really authentic. However, overall it did feel as if there were three different stories fighting for my attention.

Island of Secrets is one of the books on my list for the 20 Books of Summer 2022 reading challenge, and yes, I do know summer is officially over.

In three words: Powerful, authentic, dramatic

Try something similar: At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman

Patricia WilsonAbout the Author

Patricia Wilson was born in Liverpool, has lived on Crete and is now settled on Rhodes. She was first inspired to write when she unearthed a rusted machine gun in her garden – one used in the events that unfolded during World War II on the island of Crete. The now elderly women involved in those events told Patricia their story, and her celebrated debut Island of Secrets was the result. (Photo: Twitter profile)

Connect with Patricia
Goodreads | Twitter