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.