Tag: historical fiction

The Glass House by Eve Chase #BookReview

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The Glass HouseAbout the Book

Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found.

The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They’re grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house’s dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour – and the law – don’t seem to apply.

But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass. Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece…

Format: eARC (400 pages)                Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publication date: 14th May 2020   Genre: Mystery

Find The Glass House  on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

I’ve enjoyed both the books by Eve Chase I’ve read previously – Black Rabbit Hall and The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde (US title, The Wildling Sisters). The author sticks to the same successful formula in The Glass House (US title, The Daughters of Foxcote Manor): multiple points of view and timelines, a story involving family secrets and an atmospheric location. In this case, the latter is the slightly rundown Foxcote Manor situated deep in the dense Forest of Dean.

The book opens in 1971 with the arrival at Foxcote Manor of the Harrington family – Jeannie, her daughter Hera and son Teddy along with nanny, Rita (known in the family as ‘Big Rita’). Jeannie’s husband, Walter, is notable by his absence on business and it transpires this is no summer vacation but an enforced relocation from their London home in the wake of traumatic events. And it becomes apparent that Rita has found herself in a rather dysfunctional family and in a house whose location she finds unsettling. She experiences “an eerie watched feeling, especially at night when the house is lit up and the darkness rubs against the windows”.

The author is certainly fond of metaphors and similes, some of which work better than others. However, the depiction of family dynamics is deftly handled, such as the way in which the arrival of the baby affects Teddy, no longer the centre of attention as the youngest in the family. And there are moments of insight such as the observation on married life as “an editing process…a discerning closing down of other options…like choosing a capsule wardrobe – navy, black and cream – over fleeting extravagance, throwaway fast fashion”.

Moving to the present day, the reader is introduced to Sylvie, recently separated from her husband and dealing with domestic problems of her own, including her ailing mother and her troubled teenage daughter, Annie. For support she has only her sister, Caroline, but she lives abroad. The connection between the two storylines gradually unfolds, revealing intriguing echoes of the past and secrets waiting to be discovered.

But what about the mystery of the dead body found in the forest, I hear you ask? Who is it, how did they die and who was responsible? You’ll discover the answer to the first two fairly quickly after the event but I’d be surprised if you work out the solution to the third.

As always in this kind of story, a degree of suspension of disbelief is required in relation to some of the coincidences that occur. I have to say as well that the sections set in the past didn’t scream 1970s to me, apart that is for the cheese and piccalilli sandwiches! Having said that, The Glass House is a well-crafted mystery about family secrets and the lasting, unforseen consequences of past actions. It will definitely appeal to fans of Eve Chase’s previous books and readers of the books of Kate Morton.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Michael Joseph via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, intense, mystery

Try something similar: The House by the Loch by Kirsty Wark

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8934674About the Author

Growing up, Eve Chase only ever wanted to be a writer. After studying English literature at university, she worked as a magazine journalist, and particularly loved interviewing colourful characters and nosing around grand private homes. Her fascination with houses – the domestic worlds we inhabit, the family secrets caught within them – steeps the pages of her immersive page-turning fiction. She lives in Oxford with her husband and three children and a very hairy golden retriever, Harry. (Photo credit: Goodreads author page/Bio credit: Publisher author page)

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#TopTenTuesday Reasons I Love…Historical Crime Mysteries

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Top Ten Tuesday newTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Reasons Why I Love [insert your favorite book title, genre, author, etc. here]. As regular followers of my blog will know, I love historical fiction and have a particular fondness for historical crime mysteries. Below you can find some of the reasons.

  1. Obvious really, but you get all the elements of crime fiction – a crime (or crimes), an investigation, suspects, clues, a final reveal and maybe a few twists along the way – but with the addition of a historical setting.
  2. The story is usually set against the background of actual historical events even if it departs on occasions from what really happened (or the order in which it happened) for the sake of the plot.
  3. You can learn the same fascinating facts about how people lived that you would from reading a history book but with a gripping plot.
  4. You are transported to a different period in time – the sights, sounds and usually smells!
  5. It will commonly have a mix of real and fictional characters.  For example, no historical mystery set in Elizabethan times seems to be complete without an appearance by either a member of the Cecil family or Sir Francis Walsingham!
  6. You are likely to come across some great, often unconventional (for the times), crime busting partnerships.  For example, Nicholas Shelby and Bianca Merton in S. W. Perry’s Jackdaw Mysteries series.
  7. The author is forced to use their imagination to depict crime investigation and detection without the benefit of modern scientific techniques. No CSI-style DNA testing!
  8. A different time period also brings other limitations that can enhance the plot: slower communication, more primitive means of transport, social constraints.
  9. Although it’s great to experience the streets of Medieval or Elizabethan London, a historical crime mystery can also transport you to other geographical locations. Barcelona, Marrakech, New York anyone?
  10. Finally, it’s surprising how much contemporary resonance there can be in a historical mystery.  For example, pestilence in a capital city with entertainment places closed down.  No, not now – Elizabethan London. Fake news used to spread misinformation? No, not now – pre-WW2 Germany.

I’m going to finish by sharing some of my favourite historical crime series. I’ve included only those where I’ve read more than one book in the series and listed only those titles I’ve read and reviewed. There may be (almost certainly are) other books in the series not shown that are still in my TBR pile or wishlist. Links from the titles will take you to my review.

20200517_103155The Tom Wilde series by Rory Clements (published by Zaffre)
Corpus Nucleus Nemesis  Hitler’s Secret

none-so-blindThe Teifi Valley Coroner series by Alis Hawkins (published by The Dome Press)
None So Blind

The Justice Flanagan series by Paddy Hirsch (published by Corvus)
The Devil’s Half Mile Hudson’s Kill

20200517_103215The Gower Street Detective and Betty Church series by M. R. C. Kasasian (published by Head of Zeus)
Dark Dawn Over Steep House Betty Church & The Suffolk Vampire

The Nighthawk series by Jim Kelly (published by Allison & Busby)
The Great Darkness The Mathematical Bridge

The Gregor Reinhardt series by Luke McCallin (published by No Exit Press)
The Pale House The Ashes of Berlin

20200229_141812-1The Jackdaw Mysteries series by S W Perry (published by Corvus)
The Angel’s Mark The Serpent’s Mark The Saracen’s Mark

20200517_103350The Cornish Mysteries series by Katherine Stansfield (published by Allison & Busby)
The Magpie Tree The Mermaid’s Call

The Ingo Finch series by Jeff Dawson (published by Canelo)
No Ordinary Killing The Cold North Sea

Of course, there are plenty of other historical crime series I could recommend including those by C J Sansom, S J Parris, Philip Kerr and David Ashton. OK, I’ll stop now before I have you spending all your money…