Reviews

Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor

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rodica_b's review against another edition

3.0

It was supposed to be an easy, I-am-too-busy-and-tired-for-serious-books kind of a read. And it is easy. And annoying. I am glad I used prime reading and did not spend my hard earned money on it. I was annoyed, but spending extra money on this book would have annoyed me even more.

Coincidentally, I read a similar book this year - The lost vintage. There are enough overlapping themes for me to make this connection - dual timelines, letters/diary entries intertwined, World War II and the Jews, tons of family secrets. And I remember being annoyed by The Lost Vintage, but it was a different kind of annoyance. Better annoyance.

Why this book felt so flat to me? I am still preoccupied by this question. Mind you, I was not half as preoccupied by the book itself while reading it.

First, I found the writing clunky. I like to get lost in my books. For that, the words have to flow, to keep you in the story. There are many little repetitions and cumbersome phrasing here to prevent any flowing for me. Too many unnecessary details, such as the capacity of the dumping container and, at the same time, not enough details to allow you to fully feel the atmosphere of the place. Which is supposed to be very beautiful,

Second, there are too many characters. And they’re in the book to serve the plot. I could not tell you what makes Helen different from Grandmother, let’s say, besides their age and relationship to Megan. There is a family tree at the beginning of the book, but who has time to keep going back to that? Give me some memorable characters, damn it.

Third, the little inconsistencies.
- Young girl at the beginning of 19th century, especially girl with not too much formal education would not write the kind of letters the author included in the book.
- They would also not wash eggs. It’s actually not something routinely done in Europe - washed eggs require refrigeration.
- They would be familiar with the market towns, especially if in the business of selling wine. I find it very hard to believe that Diane did not go back to Le Havre for so long.
- Claire left tapes explaining old secrets, but didn’t say anything about a basement full of alcohol?
- Megan can’t wait to research something, but also waits till late in the evening to get on her computer? The book is set in 2018, she has smartphone, why not use it?
- Also, Megan gave birth at 36 weeks. we are also being told she is organized and tends to deal with stuff, not shy away from responsibility. But, she has no hospital bag, anything at all prepared?! 36 weeks is almost full term, women usually have some stuff ready to go already, just in case.
- Helen tells Megan so never had to buy presents for girls. Even if, by absurd, Helen had no nieces or younger cousins, she was a mother. Children do get invited to plenty of birthday parties throughout the years. She never bought one gift?

Fourth, there are hints and storylines started but never completed/explained. Samuel mentions sinking a u-boat in 1939? (I may have misunderstood, I should probably go back and reread that journal entry. Only I don’t want to.) Natasha saying Diane looks like a witch in that old photograph with Claire? She never was a witch, just dressed simply and lived on a farm, so why give such a hint in the first place, if you decided not to pursue this avenue? Also, was Samuel properly told who was his mother?

Fifth, the love story. This one is strongly related to my second point. I didn’t feel the characters, I didn’t feel Megan being very sad for what happened to/with Scott. I didn’t see any convincing feelings between Megan and Rick, besides lust. And I

Bottom line. It’s not a bad bad book, just a very average one. I didn’t find it particularly entertaining, but it was a quick read.

indianajane's review against another edition

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1.0

Clunky writing. Too many bland undifferentiated characters. 15% of the way in it still hadn't caught my interest and I didn't care what was going on. DNF.

catladylover94's review against another edition

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5.0

really good, loved the story, loved the history, i love doing family history and this was wonderful to see and hear the stories. wish their were more stories like this'

k_foster's review against another edition

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5.0

Megan Buchanan is a young woman who is starting a new job in a town where her family roots run deep while pregnant with her deceased fiancé’s baby. She did not grow up in this town, but her love of history and her desire to preserve it make her the perfect person to restore Winter Cottage… and Spring House. While working on restoring Spring House, family secrets come to light, secrets so old that there are few left alive to tell the tale. Megan works tirelessly to fix the house, uncover the secrets it holds, and prepare herself for her biggest change yet, becoming a mother. But she has some secrets herself, secrets that she may find herself pushed into revealing. Can she learn to let others in, to not force herself into maintaining the solitary life that she is most familiar with? She has people who care for her and want to support her if only she can embrace it.

I loved this book. I honestly am not sure what I was expecting when I read it but I am so glad I did. I loved that there were two stories going on simultaneously. That you got the story of the past alongside the story of the present. I loved that the present was looking for that story, and they found it! I really appreciated that there were no loose ends left in the book but I feel like I need to read it all over again to discover what I missed, what the author hinted at but I was too overwhelmed with wanting to know what happens next that I missed it this time.

This book was heartwarming, like melt your heart and hit you with the feels, and I found myself tear up and get emotional as I read it. While it had romantic aspects to it, I would not describe it as a romance book. It was about discovering truths about the past and learning to truths about yourself. I had characters that I adored, like her friend Lucy and Megan herself, and characters I wanted to throttle, like her would be Mother-in-Law Helen. I loved that Megan’s character had so much depth to her and when push came to shove, had a spine of steel and did not back down (Did I mention her would be Mother-in-Law… yeah that lady pissed me off).

Mary Ellen Taylor’s “Spring Hose” is a must read. I loved it so much and I can’t wait to read it again. Have you read it, or anything else from her? What are your thoughts?

Overall Rating – 5/5
Plot Line – 5/5
Character Development – 5/5
World Building – 5/5
Would Read Again – 5/5
Relatable – 5/5

#contemporaryfiction #contemporarywomensfiction #historymeetsfiction #chesapeakebay #historicalfiction #meryellentaylor

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miapboyer's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm starting to see that most, if not all, books by this author, at least the ones I've read, are slow and flat. They leave me feeling 'meh' at the end. Not much, if any, excitement. If there are romances, they're bland.

This book should be in a series with Winter Cottage, as they go hand in hand with each other. I guess they're not because you don't need to read either to underatand the other.

The family line in this book was hard to keep up with, just like with Winter Cottage. There was a family tree at the beginning to help out. But it was only about the Bucchanan and Jessup families, not all the other more main characters, so it wasn't SUPER helpful.

With that said, the most excitement I felt from this book was the drama between Megan & Helen (her almost mother in law/grandmother of her baby). If my mother in law/ baby's grandmother acted the way Helen did, I would have lost my shit LONG ago on her! Acting the way she did in the hospital, she had some nerve! Trying to pressure Megan into naming the baby what SHE wanted instead of what Megan wanted, giving her shit about having trouble nursing her newborn and insisting on getting a nurse instead of letting Megan figuring out how to do it on her own when that's what she clearly stated she wanted... Lord Jesus, I would have thrown her out of the hospital, quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Later, when Megan finally told Helen that Scott had cheated on her before the wedding, and that's why she called it off, I cheered! It was about time she put Helene in her place!

Finding out in the end that Grandmother Jessup was Adele, the daughter of Diane, was a nice twist.

sscovino's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5. Not terrible but poorly edited. It was hard to figure out how all the characters were related and I don’t know why we were supposed to care about the ending. Plus what happened with her parents? Her mom tracked her during her pregnancy but they never made an appearance once the baby was born?