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Die Schwestern Von Larkswood (2014)

by Valerie Mendes(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Weltbild

review 1: Larkswood House. The very name suggests birdsong, peace and elegance. It is home to the Hamilton children - Edward, Cynthia and Harriet - who enjoy the freedom and excitement of privilege. But in the glorious summer of 1896, with absent parents and a departed governess, disaster strikes the family, leaving it cruelly divided. More than forty years later, on the eve of the Second World War, Louisa Hamilton, newly presented at court but struck down with glandular fever, is sent to Larkswood to recuperate. There, for the first time, she meets her grandfather, Edward, home after decades in India. But as Louisa begins to fall under the spell of Larkswood, she realises it holds the key to the mystery that shattered her family two generations before. Will she find the courage to ... moreunravel the dark secrets of the past? And can Larkswood ever become home to happiness again?The reader is taken to the pre war world of privilege, opulence and grandeur.I thought this was a really good read,there was a bit of a twist. I really enjoy books set in this era and it would be enjoyed by others who felt the same.
review 2: I've been hesitating about putting this review up, as I received the book for free through the First Reads scheme, and I wasn't sure how fair it might be to put up a rather luke-warm review. But I decided in the end that it's in the spirit of First Reads to be totally honest. So here's my review.The synopsis of this book was really intriguing: dark secrets, families torn apart, a historical reach spanning generations. What’s not to like? The introductory chapter didn’t disappoint, either, setting up the mystery nicely. The story begins with Louisa Hamilton and her coming out, along with her older sister. Louisa is then set for a season in London, which she really isn’t looking forward to. However, she becomes ill and is sent to Larkswood House, the family home to which her grandfather, whom she has never met, has only just recently returned. As she recovers, Louisa begins to love Larkswood, her grandfather Edward and, more unfortunately, the hot gardener. She also discovers what appears to be a family secret and endeavours to investigate. Some 40 years ago, when Edward was a teenager living with his two beloved sisters and with absentee parents, disaster strikes the family, tearing it apart. The two stories are told in parallel to each other; we don’t learn what the terrible secret is until near the end, but I found it easy to guess. That said, there were plenty of other twists along the way that I didn’t see coming. As a thriller this all works very well and I read the book in just a couple of days – the mystery is such that you really want to find out what happened. One of the things that often seems to suffer with thrillers, though, is characterisation, and this is the case here. The characters are all rather cliched and one dimensional. Edward is never more than the gruff, bluff grandpa. Louisa’s sister is the beautiful, shallow one interested only parties and securing a good marriage. Louisa herself is plain and bookish, intended no doubt to appeal to a rather bookish audience, or at least one that sees itself as such. Parallels between the two sets of sisters are clear but never examined. I didn’t buy Edward’s acceptance – and tacit approval and encouragement – of Louisa’s relationship with the gardener. Their differences in station would have been enough for him to put his foot down and his own past would mean he would want to keep them apart. I can’t say much more without giving away the secret, but I found the ending unsatisfying. It was wrapped too easily for my liking. less

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