I enjoyed this book, even though it is quite long. (637 pages!). The author is new to me although I have seen other books by her on the town library shelves. This one kept me interested, moved along at a good pace to the point where sometimes I was reading late into the night to find out what was going to happen next, and yet at the same time, there were just too many sappy moments and too much predictability. Overall, this story is excellent, if somewhat contrived. There was a little bit of "psychological thriller" to this book as well which is what kept me going!
STORY SUMMARY
The story begins in 1985 but flashes back for many chapters to the 1940s/1950s/1960s. Every few chapters, it goes back to 1985.
The book opens up on Christmas Eve. Greta has returned to Marchmont Hall, the big country estate in the hills of rural Monmouthshire, Wales. It was about 30 years ago that Greta walked out of Marchmont to escape to London with her baby girl, Cheska. Cheska's daughter Ava and her husband Simon now own Marchmont. Ava's great-uncle David Marchmont, and Greta's long time friend has brought Greta back for Christmas. And it is here, in 1985, that Greta begins to remember and put back the pieces of the last 20 years. Her memory was wiped out after a horrible traffic accident 20 years ago in London. Because of this, she has no memory of her twins, or what happened after she married Owen Marchmont, the much older gentlemen and owner of Marchmont.
Backstory: Owen, who was in love with Laura Jean (a.k.a. LJ), is bitter over the fact that she married Owen's younger brother and had a son (David) with him. Owen has never really liked David. Owen marries Greta and vows to take care of the twins as they were his own. David's father is gone now but LJ continues to live in one of the cottages on the Marchmont estate. LJ and David are very close. It is David who is the backbone of this "family saga" and it is David who bears the burdens of Greta and Cheska. David has always put others before himself.
As Greta, in 1985, walks in the woods, she stumbles upon a little grave and on the headstone is the name of a little boy who died when he was just 3 years old, in 1949. With David's help, Greta begins to rediscover her long lost memories and begins to learn the story of her daughter Cheska. Cheska has been the victim of circumstances beyond her control and she is definitely not the angel she always appeared to be.
What happened that long ago night, when Cheska was just 3 years old??
What happened after Greta and Cheska moved to London and Owen died?
Why did Greta push Cheska into being a child star?
And how does Ava's accident in London connect with the accident that Greta had 20 years earlier??
Who really owns Marchmont Hall??
MY THOUGHTS
This book was very colorful regarding its characters. I fell in love with David right away as well as with Ava and Simon. Cheska is a darling character until she turns about 13....and then all hell breaks loose and the characters are a mess. I went from loving Greta to really disliking her to loving her again. I went from loving Cheska and rallying around her to wanting her to just go away.
This book is all over the place emotionally and touches on some themes that can be overwhelming. The theme of family is huge of course and the underlying theme of mental illness makes you sit up and take notice. I definitely had a love-hate relationship with the character of Cheska. Other themes in the book are abandonment, single motherhood, friendship and forgiveness, and what happens when fantasy gets mixed up with reality. Also, the whole child actor thing was brought out in the story...the pressures of being famous and what that can do to a person' psyche.
Overall, the story itself was very good and fast-paced. I definitely didn't get bored reading this long story. The author did a brilliant job in going from the present to the past by pretending that the two characters Greta and David were just chatting and that David was telling Greta about her past to help her memory. The author would then switch the storyline to the past so you got the rest of the back story as though the characters were just continuing their conversation. It was quite well done!
The ending is disappointing as it is just too predictable and sappy for my interests. I probably won't read any of her other books.
The author did a great job describing Marchmont Hall and the various places of London and Los Angeles but again, it was a bit contrived.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature subject matter).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.
1 comment:
Sounds like an interesting premise and like there is quite a bit to the story.
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