A review by afoolsingenuity
The House of Secrets by Sarra Manning
4.0
4 stars
This book was one I was eagerly anticipating as I had adored Sarra Manning's last book, After The Last Dance, and this one seemed to follow similar style of being set in the present and the past telling two storylines in tandem with characters linked in the strangest way. I do think that I loved After the Last Dance more. I connected with the characters better and the book destroyed me but this one was brilliantly written and impacted in a different way.
I loved the present day story of Zoe and Win moving into a rundown project house which was a true fixer upper. Their discovery of a suitcase and a diary owned by Libby was brilliant and seeing the two go through the heartbreaks that they had was amazing. I mean, they broke me, I almost cried at some moments of their relationship. I adored Win and how he wasn't perfect but he was so utterly in love with Zoe and he was so scared of losing control of his life and losing her. He was not the perfect man but he was the one I would have wanted to.
As for Libby and her story, she was fun and enigmatic and I adored her. She loved so easily and even when she was at her lowest she had more personality than many of the men she loved. I felt for her throughout her ordeals and I wished she had had a better go of things in London because most of the men in her life were beasts, even Freddy. She deserved more than she got.
I hate to reveal spoilers so this will be hidden. The part of both the stories which I really loved was the fact both Zoe and Libby had suffered miscarriages. Both had lost a child they had never even gotten a chance to know and the way it was written about, was utterly brilliant. I think that is why I adored this book as much as I did. Miscarriages and discussions of the difficulties of both getting pregnant and being pregnant are rarely discussed. Pregnancy is only ever allowed to be a joyous fantastic thing but sometimes things go wrong. There were statistics quoted in the books that mean there will people you know who have suffered and may never have spoken about it because it is taboo. I really loved how it was written about. People were sympathetic to their plight but didn't understand and it was the kind of thing to 'move on' from. No one recognised the connection felt to that unborn child and I loved how it was acceptable to grieve what could have been. That was what stood out me.
As a whole, I adored this book. Once it got going I was hooked and every time real life got in the way of reading it I was upset. It may not have put me through the emotional ringer like After the Last Dance but it did hit me hard and it will stay with me for a while yet.
This book was one I was eagerly anticipating as I had adored Sarra Manning's last book, After The Last Dance, and this one seemed to follow similar style of being set in the present and the past telling two storylines in tandem with characters linked in the strangest way. I do think that I loved After the Last Dance more. I connected with the characters better and the book destroyed me but this one was brilliantly written and impacted in a different way.
I loved the present day story of Zoe and Win moving into a rundown project house which was a true fixer upper. Their discovery of a suitcase and a diary owned by Libby was brilliant and seeing the two go through the heartbreaks that they had was amazing. I mean, they broke me, I almost cried at some moments of their relationship. I adored Win and how he wasn't perfect but he was so utterly in love with Zoe and he was so scared of losing control of his life and losing her. He was not the perfect man but he was the one I would have wanted to.
As for Libby and her story, she was fun and enigmatic and I adored her. She loved so easily and even when she was at her lowest she had more personality than many of the men she loved. I felt for her throughout her ordeals and I wished she had had a better go of things in London because most of the men in her life were beasts, even Freddy. She deserved more than she got.
Spoiler
I hate to reveal spoilers so this will be hidden. The part of both the stories which I really loved was the fact both Zoe and Libby had suffered miscarriages. Both had lost a child they had never even gotten a chance to know and the way it was written about, was utterly brilliant. I think that is why I adored this book as much as I did. Miscarriages and discussions of the difficulties of both getting pregnant and being pregnant are rarely discussed. Pregnancy is only ever allowed to be a joyous fantastic thing but sometimes things go wrong. There were statistics quoted in the books that mean there will people you know who have suffered and may never have spoken about it because it is taboo. I really loved how it was written about. People were sympathetic to their plight but didn't understand and it was the kind of thing to 'move on' from. No one recognised the connection felt to that unborn child and I loved how it was acceptable to grieve what could have been. That was what stood out me.
As a whole, I adored this book. Once it got going I was hooked and every time real life got in the way of reading it I was upset. It may not have put me through the emotional ringer like After the Last Dance but it did hit me hard and it will stay with me for a while yet.