The London House Published by Harper Muse by Katherine Reay
on November 2, 2021
Genres: Christian, European Literature, British Literature, Mystery, War, WW II, Historical
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
Format: ARC, eBook
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
ISBN: 0785290206
Rating:
Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.
Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.
Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.
Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.
In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.
Praise for The London House:
“Carefully researched, emotionally hewn, and written with a sure hand, The London House is a tantalizing tale of deeply held secrets, heartbreak, redemption, and the enduring way that family can both hurt and heal us. I enjoyed it thoroughly.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The Book of Lost Names
“An expertly researched and marvelously paced treatise on the many variants of courage and loyalty . . . Arresting historical fiction destined to thrill fans of Erica Roebuck and Pam Jenoff.” —Rachel McMillan author of The London Restoration and The Mozart Code
A stand-alone split-time novelPartially epistolary: the historical storyline is told through letters and journalsBook length: approximately 102,000 wordsIncludes discussion questions for book clubs
This book was such a delightful treat! I’ve been waiting to read a Katherine Reay book for such a long time now; but with the endless other books that I’ve committed to, it just didn’t seem likely.
I am beyond impressed with her writing. From the first page I knew that I’d found a gem.
When I read a book I’m looking for that story that is an immersive experience. I like to be able to feel like I’m in the book–as weird as that sounds. And that wasn’t a challenge at all with this one.
For Caroline Payne and her family, the truth is a tricky thing. Her great-aunt’s past is called into question when one of Caroline’s old school friends–and former crush–Mat, decides to write about her aunt, and her German lover during the time of WWII. But, not all is as it seems.
We get old letters and flashbacks into the life of Caroline’s great-aunt (also Caroline) and what she was actually dealing with during this period.
Besides getting those dramatic peeks, I would say that the effect that her sordid history have on the present Caroline and her family is the most heart-wrenching part of this story. To see the pain that her entire family has been in since WWII–all because of what they suspect happened–it’s just awful.
By the end of the story I was sad, hopeful, and encouraged by the lives of these characters and the promise of what the future would hold.
I can’t wait to read more from this author–I’m so glad that she already has so many other books published!
About Katherine Reay
Katherine Reay is the national bestselling and award-winning author of Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, The Brontë Plot, A Portrait of Emily Price, The Austen Escape, and The Printed Letter Bookshop. All Katherine’s novels are contemporary stories with a bit of classical flair. Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and is a wife, mother, former marketer, and avid chocolate consumer. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine now happily resides outside Chicago, IL.
