This author is new to me and this is her debut novel. It was excellent!!
STORY SUMMARY
Serephine and Danny are twins. Or are they?? They were born in the middle of summer in the English countryside at the family estate known as "Summerbourne". It is on the Norfolk coast. Later that day, their mother jumped from the cliffs next to the house, killing herself. The Au Pair, Laura Silveira, who had been their big brother Edwin's au pair for the past year, fled from the home never to be heard from again. The whole village gossiped about dark cloaks, changelings and the standoffish couple, Ruth and Dominic, who hired Laura and made her a part of their family.
Serephine is now about 25 years old and is grieving the death of her father, Dominic who had a horrible accident at the estate. While she goes through all of his papers and belongings, she discovers a family photo. But it brings to her mind all sorts of dangerous questions. Why? Because Ruth is only holding ONE baby that day. Dominic, and Edwin are also in the photo. Where is the other baby?? And which twin is Ruth holding??
What really happened that day??
MY THOUGHTS
This book was well written and is fast-paced with a lot of mystery to it. Normally a book like this would only take me about 3 days to read but it's been a busy week and I've had very hectic evenings and not a lot of time to read lately.
I like that each chapter is either Serephine's voice or Laura's voice. When it's Laura, it is the past.....1991/1992. When it's Serephine, it is the present. (2017)we
We learn that there was actually a third baby!! Whose is it?? Which ones are the actual twins and how can it be possible all 3 were born the same day??
These questions get answered very slowly but the story itself is fast-paced. There's a lot of background/1991 stuff to get through. But it's super engaging.
I guessed part of the plot's secret but not all of it.
The character development is excellent and there's a sort of surprise twist to this story. I don't want to reveal too much..........in case you decide to read it.
The main themes are family love/betrayal/forgiveness/relationships within the family unit; we learn that family is more than genetics. This also touches on adultery, abortion, suicide, secrets, folklore, murder, death of a child, single parenthood, widowhood.
The underlying theme is family and that difficult situations can be overcome when we're willing to work with one another.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
1 comment:
Thanks for the review. This sounds like a good one. I'm off to see if our library has it. :-)
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