Friday 17 October 2014

A Place For Us Part 3 by Harriet Evans


Out now
Published by Headline
Purchase from Amazon here

The Blurb:

The THIRD of four exclusive part-serialisations of a A Place for Us by Harriet Evans and one step closer to the thrilling conclusion ...

The day Martha Winter decided to tear apart her family began like any other day.

So opens A Place for Us by Sunday Times bestselling author Harriet Evans, a book you'll dive into, featuring a family you'll fall in love with ... and never want to leave. If you devour Rosamund Pilcher and Maeve Binchy and have discovered Jojo Moyes, you'll be thrilled to add Harriet Evans to your collection of favourite authors.

The house has soft, purple wisteria twining around the door. You step inside.

The hall is cool after the hot summer's day. The welcome is kind, and always warm.

Yet something makes you suspect life here can't be as perfect as it seems.
After all, the brightest smile can hide the darkest secret.

But wouldn't you pay any price to have a glorious place like this?

Welcome to Winterfold.

Martha Winter's family is finally coming home.

My Review:

So, this is my third visit to Winterfold to catch up with Martha Winter and her family. A Place For Us by Harriet Evans has been serialised for ebook before its publication in print early next year. It follows Martha Winter and the various members of her family who have been gathered together to celebrate her 80th birthday at the family home.

In the first two parts we got to know the children and grandchildren, both their last and their present. The second part climaxed with Martha's birthday lunch at which husband David collapsed.

The third part explores more about their pasts, particularly David and Martha, and gives context to how the family has developed and why. Alot of it is set in the growing up years of David who is a character we haven't seen much of previously. I really warmed to his character as a loving man who wanted to make people happy.

Time has moved on some since the end of the second instalment and we get to see what has happened to some of the main characters since. Joe, who was employed to cater for the birthday continues to intrigue me. He is now clearly linked to the family because of different matters, but I am not sure what will happen with him. I also love the character Cat and would love to see how her story closes.

Of the three parts I have read so far I have been most gripped by the second. The first was very much introducing characters and their backgrounds, and the third seems to be similar in using the past to pull the family tree together for the reader. The second part was largely cast in the here and now, and so felt more engrossing. However, it feels to me as though the final part will be pulling us readers back in to see what happens next. Will they all find their happy endings and will Martha be able to reconcile her past?

I am not a massive fan of serialisations as once I am hooked on a book and it's characters I find it hard not to know the whole story. I have found it hard to remember what has happened at times with this story, especially as there are lots of characters and some complex storylines. I am intrigued to see what will happen to them all and will definitely be reading the fourth part ASAP. I also think that the printed copy of the entire book will be a great read.

Thank you to Headline who provided a copy of via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

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