Scan barcode
what_heather_loves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"'It won't end well. Tragedy for you and your family.' She ran her palms over the glass model she had made.
'And how do you know that it will end badly?'
'Oh Simeon, we both do. It's all in The Gold Field. It won't take much: a spark of ambition here, a flicker of wrath there. The sins rack up until the whole house burns. It's the dust in the air; it makes the blood foul.'"
Two books in one (and a book within a book), these are cleverly interconnected stories. The first novel is set on the island of Ray, Essex in 1881 and the second in Los Angeles, California in 1939. Both involve a house (one Victorian and one early twentieth century) called Turnglass House (each with an hourglass weather vane) and the blighted Tooke family. There's a creepy mystery to solve in both, each with a male protagonist (not a family member), questing to solve the mystery.
This is the first tête-bêche ("a book split into two parts printed back-to-back and head-to-foot") I've read and also the first book by this author. The hardback, signed edition I have is beautiful and includes a matching bookmark. The isolated and bleak house in Victorian England setting of the first novel drew me in quickly as I tried to work out what was really going on. As a standalone story it engaged me, but once I began the second story and parellels became apparent is where the ingenious complexity of the book really stood out. The contrast with the glamorous glass house in late 1930s LA, set against the backdrop of the impending World War II, was pleasing. Little is as it seems in each story, but ultimately, themes of controlling patriarchs, wilful women and a pervasive sense of menace, bind the two tales. Thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing, I can see the Stuart Turton, Janice Hallett and Anthony Horowitz comparisons.
'And how do you know that it will end badly?'
'Oh Simeon, we both do. It's all in The Gold Field. It won't take much: a spark of ambition here, a flicker of wrath there. The sins rack up until the whole house burns. It's the dust in the air; it makes the blood foul.'"
Two books in one (and a book within a book), these are cleverly interconnected stories. The first novel is set on the island of Ray, Essex in 1881 and the second in Los Angeles, California in 1939. Both involve a house (one Victorian and one early twentieth century) called Turnglass House (each with an hourglass weather vane) and the blighted Tooke family. There's a creepy mystery to solve in both, each with a male protagonist (not a family member), questing to solve the mystery.
This is the first tête-bêche ("a book split into two parts printed back-to-back and head-to-foot") I've read and also the first book by this author. The hardback, signed edition I have is beautiful and includes a matching bookmark. The isolated and bleak house in Victorian England setting of the first novel drew me in quickly as I tried to work out what was really going on. As a standalone story it engaged me, but once I began the second story and parellels became apparent is where the ingenious complexity of the book really stood out. The contrast with the glamorous glass house in late 1930s LA, set against the backdrop of the impending World War II, was pleasing. Little is as it seems in each story, but ultimately, themes of controlling patriarchs, wilful women and a pervasive sense of menace, bind the two tales. Thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing, I can see the Stuart Turton, Janice Hallett and Anthony Horowitz comparisons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Confinement
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Child death and Violence
More...