1911
Cat Morley is sent to the country to work as a maid in Vicar Canning’s house. Cat is independent, free-spirited, former suffragette is having a difficult time to adjust to her life in the village. She is a shadow of her own self, haunted by the guilt of letting her best friend Tess down. Only when she meets and falls in love with George, she gets her will to live back. Cat and George have great plans for their future and independent life.
However, the arrival of a mysterious guest turns everything in Canning house upside down.
Robin Durrant is a spiritualist trying to prove to the world that fairies are more than just stories, they exist and finding them seem more than real to him now. Robin and Albert Canning are willing to do whatever it takes to prove their beliefs even if it’s lying, faking the evidence and even murdering.
2011
Lia is a freelance journalist trying to find a job that would distract her from her heartbreak. So, when a body of an unknown WWI soldier is found in Belgium, she jumps on the opportunity to reveal soldier’s identity. His only belongings are two letters written by Esther Canning, writing about terrible events that happened in her house. Lia is determinate to find out the truth about the secret was kept for a hundred years.
This novel gave me the vibe of classic English literature that I love so much. The quiet and steady village life is disturbed by a mystery and a crime. The book hooked me from page one and five hundred pages flew by as is there was only fifty. And I definitely want more! I loved the characters. Cat Morley is a perfection. Such a strong, independent, free, outspoken, honest, genuine, and true to her beliefs even if she was constantly judged by others. To her contrast were the Cannings, who live the supposed “right” live and know how everybody must act. They play the role of perfect and saint but in fact, they’re just fake and wicked like everybody else.
The author did a great job not only in writing an interesting and captivating plot but also in setting a wonderful mood and atmosphere of one of the most interesting eras. The time when women were uniting, the suffragettes were fighting for their rights, people defending those who weren’t luckily born in noble families and more.
I’m going to read more of Katherine Webb’s novels, seriously can’t get enough of that wonderful world she creates.
Rating: 5/5
