The Secret Of Eveline House: A Tale Of Tangled Secrets And A Search For… (udgave 2020)

This was a book that I received from the publisher (Poolbeg Press) in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. It is quite gothic in nature. The story is about a family living in a small Irish village in the early 1950's. They had purchased an old estate house and had it renovated and moved in. The mother Violet and her husband Henry Ward and this 8-year-old daughter Sylvia. Violet and Henry were both born in Ireland, but had moved to London where they met and married. Violet was an acclaimed playwright and Henry was a goldsmith and jeweller. They both wanted to return to their homeland, so bought Eveline House. All looked to be going well, but Violet found that she was not accepted in this community. The village people were all Catholic, and at that time the Catholic religion wielded a lot of power. The village women did not like the play that Violet had written which was about a forbidden love between a Catholic priest and a woman. Things get really out of hand and the women get more and more vicious. It starts to affect their daughter Sylvia who retreats into herself. A violet incident occurs and Violet disappears from her house. The rest of the family leaves under a cloud and the house is locked up tor 70 years. A young dress designer buys the house when it comes up for sale, and that is when the long-buried story is finally forced out. This book is atmospheric and the story is alive with intrigue, religious zealots and mystery. It's all a delicious blend that makes the story come alive. I can highly recommend this book to those who enjoy about secrets, intrigue and very realistic characters. ( )

This is a murder mystery about the life of an Irish playwright who returns to Ireland from London in the 1940’s and is then persecuted by judgemental people in the small town she lives in. It is well thought out and has distinct parts set in the 1940’s and 1950, and the present day. My main quibble is that it is very much spoilt by a lack of proof reading and checking. There are sentences with words misspelled and missing, and which sometimes make no sense at all. This has now become a serious issue with many books these days self-published or not proof read or edited properly. I loved the sense of immediacy in the writing whichever era it was set in, however this immediacy also led to some sections not being thought through properly. I think it is great that Irish writers look back at the old Ireland and revisit the trauma and pain of those times, but the author here needs to remember that not everyone who reads this will fully understand and some fuller explanations seemed to be necessary to me. Overall it’s a good story with strong characters and a great sense of place, but it felt to me like an early draft that needs more polishing. ( )

The Secret of Eveline House had been sitting on my shelf, so by the time I picked it up, I had forgotten what it was about; I knew it was a historical fiction novel set mostly in Ireland with some sort of mystery--so I was fairly certain it was going to be a book I enjoyed.

And I did.

The novel begins in a small Irish town in 1949 where progressive playwright Violet has moved into the Eveline House with her ambitious husband, Henry, and their extremely shy daughter, Sylvia. The deeply religious town isn’t particularly welcoming, though, and Violet struggles with fitting in while giving up what was her exciting life in London. Sylvia also struggles with their new surroundings and soon the once strong marriage between Violet and Henry begins to strain. Add on a few mysterious incidents...and life in the Eveline House is never the same.

Later, the novel shifts to present day (2019) and the story of Emily O’Connor looking for a new start for herself and her budding design business. She believes she’s found the solution when she finds the Eveline House...she does not know its history, though, and when she hears rumors about its past, she soon finds herself on a search for a better understanding of the place she is making her home.

The writing is engaging and the characters are well-developed. There’s a lot of build-up, though, and the final solution is a bit anticlimactic, so I definitely debated on how to rate this one. It was one I didn’t want to put down, though, and I read it in just a few sessions, so it’s an intriguing read.

*I was given a version of this book for free in exchange for an honest book review. ( )

Playwright Violet, her husband Henry, and their young daughter Sylvia move from London to Eveline House in Ireland. Violet's plays, which seem to criticize the church, are banned in Ireland. The townswomen are less than kind to Violet, and trying to oust her, send threatening letters to her daughter. Henry, born in Ireland, refuses to move. One day, Violet disappears, and Henry is the sole suspect. Seventy years later, wedding gown designer Emily buys Eveline House. The house is exactly how it was left in 1950, full of personal possessions, family photographs, and even the clothes of the former occupants. Determined to find out what happened, Emily begins looking into it's history.

This book was extremely slow moving. The author switched points of view, but often went over the same information or scene. Neither timeline was particularly compelling or page turning. Overall, a bust. ( )

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LibraryThing in return for an honest review.

Part one of this story follows Violet Ward, her husband Henry, and young daughter Sylvia in 1949. Violet and Henry met as Irish expatriates in London. Henry always dreamed of returning to Ireland while Violet was loving the freedom she found as a play write in London. But after the birth of their daughter Sylvia she agrees to move to Eveline House in County Wicklow, Ireland. But the people in this small town do not warm to Violet and her young daughter. Her plays are banned in Ireland and the townspeople are convinced Violet is going to corrupt their youth. When Sylvia receives an anonymous letter calling her "the daughter of the devil", Violet wants to return to London against Henry's wishes. Then one day the family disappears never to be heard from again.

Fast forward to 2019 and Eveline House is up for auction. When Emily O’Connor sees the ad for Eveline House she knows it the perfect place to live and expand her bridal dress design business. Something about Eveline House calls to Emily and after purchasing it secrets long buried come to the surface. Could Emily be the key to figuring out what happened to the Ward family all those years ago?

The Secret of Eveline House is an intriguing mystery full of twists and turns. I did not see the ending coming! It started out slow but once the mysterious anonymous letter was introduced it sucked me in and I could not put it down! There were some unanswered questions that I wished the author solved but I really enjoyed this story. ( )