4 Stars from me
This book features the same property but in two different eras, 1942 with nurse Ellen, and 2013 with Philip and Meredith who move into the house full of hopes, and dreams of renovation. I found myself utterly invested in both storylines although the modern day just pipped it for me if I had to choose.
I loved the idea of May Day House, it sounds absolutely delightful and wholly believed in the depth of history from the 1942 storyline for how could that much energy and emotion not leave its mark? I found the psychological work being carried out a very interesting little sub story too.
In the modern timeline I found the ‘river folk’ interesting and thought Meredith incredibly brave to stay in the house on her own. For all of it’s stature and beauty it came across as being very isolated and a little melancholy.
The author pulls the threads of both times very well and successfully creates two separate worlds within the one impressive space – resulting in a story that is part war, part love, part psychological, and potentially part ghost…
Overall, a gripping read that I am sure will be loved by readers of many genres and I am grateful to the author, Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books for letting me be a part of this blog tour.
Blurb: A secluded house. A lost notebook. A wartime secret.
1942: Young Irish nurse Ellen arrives at May Day House, tasked with helping the men there rehabilitate. But there’s something strange about the house, surrounded by water, on its own island in the Thames. And then there are the men: traumatised by their experiences of war, and subject to troubling methods in a desperate race to get them back to duty. As Ellen gets drawn into the world of May Day House, she starts to realise this will be no place to hide away from her own troubles…
2013: Philip and Meredith are the proud new owners of May Day House. Following a string of tragedies, the couple have moved to the area in search of a new start. But all is not what it seems in the riverside community. As their plans for the rundown house meet resistance from the neighbours, Meredith finds herself slowly unravelling: she hears voices on the water, sees figures where there can be no one there. When she finds an old notebook from the war, she seeks solace in the stories about the former patients of the island.
But will shadows from the past threaten her future happiness – and even her life?
Read and Rated 