The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

The story is set in Edwardian England and focuses on the crumbling mansion of Stern and its inhabitants. The house was owned by Horace Torrington, but since his death his widow, Charlotte and their children, Clovis, Emerald and Imogen occupy the house. Charlotte has re-married Edward Swift whom Emerald and Clovis detest. As the story opens, Edward Swift is leaving for Manchester in the hope of securing a loan to save the family estate. After his departure, the family try to forget their financial problems and busy themselves with getting the house ready for their guests. It is Emerald’s twentieth birthday and they are planning a small party to celebrate. Emerald has invited her best friend, Patience who arrives accompanied by her brother Ernest. Charlotte, a woman of charms, would like to see an alliance between Emerald and John Buchanan, a local wealthy farmer so invites him along to the celebrations. As the party gets underway, the undertone of emotional tension increases. Before the group can sit down to the birthday feast they are interrupted by a mysterious group of strangers who turn out to be victims of a local train accident. Among them is the enigmatic Charlie Traversham-Beechers - another stranger, but not to Charlotte. In fact, he knows the secret of Charlotte’s past. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but I felt that there were too many voices trying to be heard and I would have preferred staying with one narrator. I liked the language and thought it reflected the Edwardian period. I was a little disappointed by the ending.

The Lie by Helen Dunmore

The Lie is set in Cornwall and is told from the point of view of Daniel Branwell, a young man who has just returned from the Great War. Physically Daniel seems fine, but he is emotionally damaged from the horrors of war and, in particular, he feels guilty at not being able to save his childhood friend and comrade, Frederick. Daniel has come back to his hometown as this reminds him of growing up with Frederick and his sister Felicia. However, he is reluctant to meet people from his past. He helps Mary Pascoe, an elderly semi-recluse, on her small holding, in return for food and shelter. When Mary dies, Daniel takes over her cottage. He wants to hide himself away, but it also keen to reconnect with Frederick’s sister, Felicia. Felicia is a war widow and single mother. As their friendship resumes, they talk about their memories of Frederick and, in doing so, Daniel begins to come to terms with the past. I felt I knew Daniel from the opening pages. I liked the way the sentences mimicked his tortured soul and erratic mind as he tries to make sense of everyday life after the horrors of war. The story stayed with me long after I had finished reading it.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2012, The Garden of Evening Mists is set in Malaysia and takes place during three different time periods – the late 1980s, the early 1950s and World War II.  The narrator is Yun Ling Teoh, a newly retired Supreme Court Judge.  The story starts in the 1980s with her return to Yugiri, in the Cameron Highlands.  In Yugiri, Yun Ling decides to write her life story before she dies.  As she looks back we learn that she was the lone survivor of a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp.  That, as a young woman in the 1950s, staying with friends in the Cameron Highlands, she visited Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, to ask the owner, Aritomo, to design a garden in memory of her sister who died in the camp.  Aritomo is an exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Aritomo refuses and instead offers her an apprenticeship.  Despite her hatred for the Japanese, she accepts.   As the months pass, Yun Ling grows to love the art of gardening and finds herself intimately drawn to Aritomo.  The mystery as to how Yun Ling survived the camp, when everyone else died, intensifies as the story unfolds.  I got a real sense of place from the evocative descriptions.  It was interesting to read about this period of Malayan history and how it shaped its political future.  I liked the contrast of the calmness of the garden and the violent political landscape. I found the ending a little unsatisfactory.   

The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall

The story is set in the Lake District during the heat-wave of 1976.  Spencer Little, a Cambridge mathematician, keen to escape the confines of university life and an indiscretion, decides to cycle to the Lake District where no one knows him.  He arrives exhausted and calls on the first farm he passes.  The owners, brothers Hartley and Thomas Dodds are in need of a labourer and take him on in exchange for his board and lodgings.    Spencer needs to work on his thesis over the summer so he plans to help out on the farm in the day and study in the evenings.  The remoteness of the farm is perfect.  Spencer is a shy, private person and has always felt awkward in social situations.  He wins the trust of Alice, Hartley's ten year old daughter and they form an unlikely friendship.  Slowly as summer unfolds and Spencer becomes more entwined with the farming community he feels a sense of belonging, but the mystery of his past still hangs over him.  As the heat-wave comes to an abrupt end, tragedy strikes at the farm and with it comes the realisation that Spencer will always be an outsider.  I enjoyed the rural farming references and the evocative descriptions of the landscape. 

The Light Between Oceans

The story starts in 1926 when a boat is washed up on the shore of Janus, a small island off the coast of Western Australia.  Tom Sherbourne is the lighthouse keeper on the island.  He and his wife, Isabel, are the island’s only occupants.  The boat holds a dead man and a crying baby.   Isabel has just lost her third baby.  Her motherly instincts kick in as she nurses the baby.  She persuades Tom to delay telling the authorities reasoning that the mother must have drowned and the baby will end up in an orphanage.

The story then goes back eight years with Tom home from the war, trying desperately to forget what he witnessed on the battlefields of France.  He seeks peace and tranquillity and is looking forward to his posting on Janus.  Before taking up his post he spends some time in Partageuse, the town on the mainland from which the boat to Janus sails.  Here he meets a local girl, Isabel and they fall in love, get married and move to Janus.     

We are then back in 1926 with the baby, whom Isabel has named Lucy.  With mixed feelings, Tom heeds his wife's advice and doesn't report the boat or the baby to the authorities.  As Lucy casts her spell on him he tries to forget how they found her.  Two years later they go back to the mainland to get Lucy christened and, while there they learn the truth about Lucy.  Tom is wracked with guilt as he decides what to do. 

It is told from multiple viewpoints and I would have preferred it if it had just been told from Tom and Isabel’s point of view.  I enjoyed the story.    

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

This has been on my ‘to read’ list for ages so I was looking forward to reading it after hearing so much about it.  The setting for the novel is 17^th century Amsterdam, which I found interesting.  The story is told from the point of view of Nella, a young woman from the countryside and newly married to Johannes Brandt, a successful merchant.  It is a marriage of convenience.  On arriving at her new home Nella is apprehensive about married life and how to run such an important household.  Her unease is increased when she meets Marin, Johannes remote and severe sister.  Marin used to be mistress of the household, but offers little guidance to Nella.  Each night Nella waits for her husband’s arrival in the matrimonial bed, but he never appears.  It is clear from fairly early on that Nella is living in a house of secrets.  As a late wedding present Johannes buys her a miniature replica of their home.  At first Nella views his choice of gift as childish, but then she orders some miniature pieces to go in the house and becomes obsessed with her new hobby.  She is impressed by the craftsmanship of the pieces and becomes fascinated when she learns they are made by a woman.  But when pieces start arriving that Nella hasn't ordered and that seem to forecast the future she becomes frightened.  I liked the way that Nella’s character developed.  I found the Miniaturist the least interesting part and felt that this sub-plot could have been removed without affecting the rest of the story.  There are some beautiful descriptions and I enjoyed Jessie's writing style. 

The Lie by C L Taylor

A psychological thriller based on toxic friendship.  The story alternates between the present day and five years ago, but the timeline switching is easy to follow.  It is told from Jane’s point of view as she tries to erase her past and, in particular a life changing event that happened five years ago when she and a group of friends went on holiday to a commune in Nepal.  Their holiday of a lifetime quickly turned into a nightmare.  Since then, Jane has assumed a new identity and made a new life for herself in rural Wales working at an animal sanctuary.  She has recently embarked on a new relationship and life is looking good until she receives a letter with one sentence saying “I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes,” and it looks as if her past is about to catch up with her.   I was hooked from the first page.  The ending I found a bit predictable and the plot a little unbelievable at times.   C L Taylor has a real gift for creating unreliable characters.  An entertaining, easy to read page turner.