The Girl at the Window

Another great book by Rowan Coleman. I love it when the strands come together like this.

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Book description

A house full of history is bound to have secrets...

Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It's also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from...

Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning home with her young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead.

While Trudy tries to do her best for her son, she must also attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother. And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present...

My review 

This is definitely one for you if you love a ghost story. It’s got a historical thread and a present day one, and in between, one concerning Emily Bronte. I enjoy the author’s style and the tension built throughout the book as we realised what had happened in the past and how it impacted on Ponden Hall in the present. There were occasions when I tried to read faster to find out what was happening – always a sign of a good page-turner. I found I cared about the characters which also makes it a good read for me. I don’t believe in ghosts but I do love a ghost story and this is definitely up there with the good ones.

About the author

Rowan Coleman’s first novel Growing Up Twice was a WHS Fresh Talent Winner. Since then, Rowan has written fifteen novels, including The Memory Book which was a Sunday Times bestseller. It was selected for the Richard and Judy Bookclub and awarded Love Reading Novel of the Year, as voted for by readers.

Her latest novel, The Summer of Impossible Things, is a Zoe Ball TV Book Club selection.

Rowan lives with her husband and their five children in a very full house in Hertfordshire, juggling writing novels with raising her family. She really wishes someone would invent time travel.

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Just a thought

An unread book does nobody any good. Stories happen in the mind of a reader, not among symbols printed on a page ― Brandon Mull

Rowan Coleman

This is the second book of Rowan's that I've read. I like her style!

The Memory Book

Amazon.com link

My review -

Claire, like her late father, is suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease and her counsellor has suggested writing a memory book, something to nail her memories down while she still has them. Her mother, who nursed her father through the disease, comes to stay, to help. Caitlin, her grown up daughter from an earlier relationship, is due to go back for her final year at university and her three year-old daughter from her recent marriage doesn’t understand why Mum can’t read her stories. Greg, her husband, feels her withdrawing from him as her memories fade.

This book could have been a total misery-fest but I found it truly hopeful and occasionally very funny. Rowan Coleman writes an easy book to read which generally means it’s taken a lot of work to write. Her characters are flawed but genuine and I loved this story of a family who have had so much thrown at them. Do read it. It’s got a hopeful wonder at its heart.

Rowan Coleman

My first Rowan Coleman book - I can see it won't be my last!

The Summer of Impossible Things

Amazon.com link

My review - 

After her mother’s death by suicide, Luna and her sister Pia journey from their British home to Brooklyn, their mother’s old home. She has left them a message about something which happened there in 1977 and badly impacted her life and future happiness. Strange things that happened in Luna’s childhood lead her to feel she is returning in time and to wonder if she can possibly alter her mother’s life.

This is a very well evoked time-slip story and brilliantly re-creates the year 1977, which I recall clearly. Luna has the opportunity to interfere in the timeline and save her mother from the disaster which befell her. It becomes obvious that if she is able to do this, she may damage or destroy her own future. The arguments for and against are well argued and the story is absolutely compelling. A real unputdowner!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.