A Place for Us by Harriet Evans
Published: 15th January 2015
Publisher: Headline Review
Pages: 448
Available in paperback and on Kindle
Blurb
From international bestselling author Harriet Evans, an engrossing new novel about a woman who, on the eve of her eightieth birthday, decides to reveal a secret that may destroy her perfect family.
The day Martha Winter decided to tear apart her family began like any other day.
When Martha, a wife and mother of three, sits down one late summer’s morning to write out the invitations to her eightieth birthday celebration, she knows that what she is planning to reveal at the party could ruin the idyllic life she and her husband David have spent over fifty years building…
But she has to let her family know what she and David have sacrificed. She can’t live a lie any more.
The invitation goes out far and wide, calling her three children and their families back home to Winterfold, their rambling house in the heart of the English countryside. They are Bill, the doctor; Florence, the eccentric academic; and Daisy, the child who never fit in. As the story unfolds, each character reveals the secrets, joys, and tragedies they are wrestling with through the confines of the family. What will happen when Martha finally tells the truth?
The day Martha Winter decided to tear apart her family began like any other day.
When Martha, a wife and mother of three, sits down one late summer’s morning to write out the invitations to her eightieth birthday celebration, she knows that what she is planning to reveal at the party could ruin the idyllic life she and her husband David have spent over fifty years building…
But she has to let her family know what she and David have sacrificed. She can’t live a lie any more.
The invitation goes out far and wide, calling her three children and their families back home to Winterfold, their rambling house in the heart of the English countryside. They are Bill, the doctor; Florence, the eccentric academic; and Daisy, the child who never fit in. As the story unfolds, each character reveals the secrets, joys, and tragedies they are wrestling with through the confines of the family. What will happen when Martha finally tells the truth?
Review
Harriet Evans seems to be one of those authors that I’ve
heard about but never managed to actually read, so when given the chance to
read her latest novel I decided to give her ago. A Place for Us has previously
been released in e-book form in four parts over four consecutive months. I’m
glad I was able to read this all is one go as parts one and two definitely left
me wanting to see what would happen next.
A Place for Us is centred on Martha and David Winter and
their extended family who are spread across the globe. Martha is about to turn
eighty and decides it’s time to tell her family some truths, so she summons her
family home for a party to celebrate and get everything out in the open. Their
three children Bill, Daisy and Florence and their two grandchildren Cat and
Lucy make their way home for the party wondering what is going to happen when
they arrive home.
Bill their eldest son has stayed close to the family home
Winterfold and is the village GP. He’s struggling to make second wife Karen
happy. He daughter from his first marriage is struggling in her job in the
fashion section of a newspaper, she longs to be a proper writer. Daisy the
eldest girl and is away doing charity work in India. Her daughter Cat, who was
raised at Winterfold by Martha and David is currently struggling with life in
Paris and is hiding a big secret from her family. Florence is Martha and David’s
youngest daughter and she is highly academic and working as a University
lecturer in Italy. We are also introduced to Joe Thorne who is working as a
chef in the local pub and has his own connections to some members of the
family.
A Place for Us is told through the eyes of many characters,
each having their own chapters, with so many characters I was initially a
little concerned as each chapter introduced us to yet another character.
However Harriet Evans has done a remarkable job of making each of these
characters have a distinctive voice making their individual stories easy for me
to follow. My favourite characters were
Joe and Cat, probably because they are a similar age to me and I could relate
to their feelings. I also felt the Cat probably had the most to deal with after
Martha’s revelation and it was interesting to see how she coped.
I really enjoyed parts one and two of this book, the
introduction of all the characters and their situations was well done and
helped build a picture of this family. I’d really love a home like Winterfold
myself, it seemed like such a comforting place to be. I loved the way it was
like a beacon to them all. They’re all off living their lives all apart but are
all drawn back to Winterfold when their lives become in crisis, as if its walls
provide them with a security blanket.
In the aftermath of Martha’s confession there is a lot of
devastation in the family as other secrets become known. The thing which I didn’t
really enjoy was all the flashbacks into David’s early life, they added a
little to the story but I felt annoyed by them because I wanted to find out how
to family were coping and the flashbacks detracted from that too much for me.
I felt A Place for Us started off really well but for me the
middle part was too padded out with flashbacks and I just lost the pace of the
book a little. I will definitely read
more from this author as I loved her characters. I’d rate this book 3/5 as I
liked it but it didn’t wow me.
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