My rating: 3 of 5 stars
SWEDISH REVIEW
En mor och en dotter har skiljts åt. På Nanreath Hall flätas deras öden samman.
Sjuksköterskan Anna Trenowyth var bara sex år när hennes biologiska mor gick bort, och minnena av lady Katherine Trenowyth har bleknat. När hon mitt under andra världskriget blir stationerad på militärsjukhuset på Nanreath Hall, det gods där hennes mamma växte upp, ser hon sin chans att komma närmare den familj hon aldrig haft någon relation till.
Snart finner hon sig indragen i släkten Trenowyths snåriga lojaliteter, hemligheter och tragedier. När svaren hon sökt efter så länge äntligen kommer i ljuset är de långt mer omskakande än hon kunnat föreställa sig. En historia om kärlek, svek och familjehemligheter mitt under brinnande världskrig.
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Jag tror inte att jag någonsin kommer att tröttna på att läsa böcker med två tidsperioder. Det är ett koncept som jag verkligen, verkligen älskar att läsa. I Dimmornas hus får vi följa den unga Anna Trenowyth som för första gången besöker Nanreath hall där hennes mor Lady Katherine växte upp. Anna har bara ett vagt minne av sin mor då hon dog när Anna var sex år gammal. Nu får hon chansen att lära känna sin släkt och få reda på vem hennes pappa var.
Parallellt med Annas handling får vi också följa Katherine som under 1910-talet drömmer om att bli konstnär och förlorar sitt hjärta till en ung konstnärsassistent. Katherine kommer att få betala ett dyrt pris för sin starka vilja att vara självständig.
Dimmornas hur är en intressant bok, jag fann dock att Annas berättelse fängslande mig mer än Katherines gjorde. Men så var Annas sökande efter svar och hennes egna erfarenheter av andra världskriget så mycket mer intressant än att följa Katherine som naivt inte såg sanningen förrän det var för sent. Boken är bra, och om man gillar att läsa historiska mysterie böcker i stil med Kate Morton så passar denna alldeles utmärkt.
Tack HarperCollins Nordic för recensionsexemplaret!
Cornwall, 1913. In the luxury of pre-WWI England, Lady Katherine Trenowyth is expected to do nothing more than make a smart marriage and have a respectable life. When Simon Halliday, a bohemian painter, enters her world, Katherine begins to question the future that was so carefully laid out for her. Her choices begin to lead her away from the stability of her home and family toward a wild existence of life, art, and love. But as everything begins to fall apart, Katherine finds herself destitute and alone.
As Anna is drawn into her newfound family’s lives and their tangled loyalties, she discovers herself at the center of old heartbreaks and unbearable tragedies, leaving her to decide if the secrets of the past are too dangerous to unearth…and if the family she’s discovered is one she can keep.
ENGLISH REVIEW
Cornwall, 1940. Back in England after the harrowing evacuation at Dunkirk, WWII Red Cross nurse Anna Trenowyth is shocked to learn her adoptive parents Graham and Prue Handley have been killed in an air raid. She desperately needs their advice as she’s been assigned to the military hospital that has set up camp inside her biological mother’s childhood home—Nanreath Hall. Anna was just six years old when her mother, Lady Katherine Trenowyth, died. All she has left are vague memories that tease her with clues she can’t unravel. Anna’s assignment to Nanreath Hall could be the chance for her to finally become acquainted with the family she’s never known—and to unbury the truth and secrets surrounding her past.
Cornwall, 1913. In the luxury of pre-WWI England, Lady Katherine Trenowyth is expected to do nothing more than make a smart marriage and have a respectable life. When Simon Halliday, a bohemian painter, enters her world, Katherine begins to question the future that was so carefully laid out for her. Her choices begin to lead her away from the stability of her home and family toward a wild existence of life, art, and love. But as everything begins to fall apart, Katherine finds herself destitute and alone.
As Anna is drawn into her newfound family’s lives and their tangled loyalties, she discovers herself at the center of old heartbreaks and unbearable tragedies, leaving her to decide if the secrets of the past are too dangerous to unearth…and if the family she’s discovered is one she can keep.
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One should not choose a book because of its cover, but what can I say; The cover for Secrets of Nanreath Hall together with its captivating description made me quite eager to read this book!
I do not think I'll ever be tired of reading books with dual storylines. It's a concept that I really, really love to read. In Secrets of Nanreath Hall do we get to follow young Anna Trenowyth who for the first time visits Nanreath Hall where her mother, Lady Katherine, grew up. Anna only has a vague memory of her mother because Katherine died when Anna was six years old. Now she gets the chance to get to know her family and find out the identity of her dad.
Parallel with Anna's story do we also follow Katherine who in the 1910s dreams of becoming an artist and who lost her heart to a young artist assistant. Katherine will have to pay a high price for her will to be independent.
Secrets of Nanreath Hall is an interesting book, but I found Anna's story intrigued me more than Katherine's did. Anna's search for answers and her own experience of World War II was so much more interesting than reading about Katherine who naively did not see the truth until it was too late. The book is good, and if you like to read historical mystery books in the style of Kate Morton is this one for you!
Thanks HarperCollins Nordic for the review copy!
This book has been on my TBR for some time. Perhaps I should push it up the queue.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this review.