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nicki_in_nz's review
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
As for big secrets, yeah, I would not say they were big. People were just stupid. Everything had to be perfect, to look perfect, and if something was the slightest off, not good. They came from that era so it was understandable.
The book starts with Nicky and Sarah about to get married. She runs away and we go back in time.
Alice who grew up privileged, but not privileged enough for some so she strive for perfection.
Ralph her husband grew up in Spain. His story is the one of his mother and her new husband and the secrets there.
Then we have Patricia and Peter. Patricia does not really have a secret, and neither does Peter. But Peter grew up in the slums and wanted to make something for himself. He also knows Alice from the war. Ok so that secret was not really something she should feel bad about.
Their life before the war, and during the war, and after it. Lives were shaped. But I must say, Sarah's choice had nothing to do with those secrets. I'd rather have it as an aftermath of all of that. She still had a secret and I will say nothing more than I totally understood why she ran.
I liked what we later learned about Spain, now there was a book. I also liked the social clashes. Rich and poor. Newly rich. They all looked down on someone else.
An interesting book.
The book starts with Nicky and Sarah about to get married. She runs away and we go back in time.
Alice who grew up privileged, but not privileged enough for some so she strive for perfection.
Ralph her husband grew up in Spain. His story is the one of his mother and her new husband and the secrets there.
Then we have Patricia and Peter. Patricia does not really have a secret, and neither does Peter. But Peter grew up in the slums and wanted to make something for himself. He also knows Alice from the war. Ok so that secret was not really something she should feel bad about.
Their life before the war, and during the war, and after it. Lives were shaped. But I must say, Sarah's choice had nothing to do with those secrets. I'd rather have it as an aftermath of all of that. She still had a secret and I will say nothing more than I totally understood why she ran.
I liked what we later learned about Spain, now there was a book. I also liked the social clashes. Rich and poor. Newly rich. They all looked down on someone else.
An interesting book.
thebooktrail88's review
4.0
Four winds booktrail
I loved the fact that one house and two families stories could weave their way out and cover so many time periods and locations. The novel is quite complex as it jumps around quite a bit and can be a bit slow in the beginning because of all the change but maybe this was because I was reading on a kindle and don’t normally read dual timelines due to this very problem.
What the novel was to me was an epic read of so many secrets coming to light when a marriage was about to take place. It’s a big story with many many threads which come together slowly but surely. I think you should take your time with this novel as it does reward you for gaining the information to see the overall picture. I’s all about keeping secrets, hiding secrets and then being forced to let them out in the open when that really is the only place left for them to go.
I particularly enjoyed the sections set in Valencia as these to be were the most evocative, symbolic and enjoyable but the sections set in Manchester and the ‘slums’ were poignant. In fact this is quite the jigsaw of a novel as you really do need every piece to make sense of it all and that only happens at the end.
I loved the fact that one house and two families stories could weave their way out and cover so many time periods and locations. The novel is quite complex as it jumps around quite a bit and can be a bit slow in the beginning because of all the change but maybe this was because I was reading on a kindle and don’t normally read dual timelines due to this very problem.
What the novel was to me was an epic read of so many secrets coming to light when a marriage was about to take place. It’s a big story with many many threads which come together slowly but surely. I think you should take your time with this novel as it does reward you for gaining the information to see the overall picture. I’s all about keeping secrets, hiding secrets and then being forced to let them out in the open when that really is the only place left for them to go.
I particularly enjoyed the sections set in Valencia as these to be were the most evocative, symbolic and enjoyable but the sections set in Manchester and the ‘slums’ were poignant. In fact this is quite the jigsaw of a novel as you really do need every piece to make sense of it all and that only happens at the end.
jessthebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars.
This is historical fiction, set in England spanning from the 2nd World War to the 80s. In the 80s, Sarah and Nicky are getting ready for their wedding, when Sarah disappears without a word to anyone, calling the wedding off.
It turns out that Sarah and Nicky's families knew each other when they were younger. The past starts to come to the forefront, as each family must deal with their past secrets and histories.
I see that this is recommended for fans of Kate Morton. There are of course similarities, but no one really does this type of story better than Kate Morton. The bones of a good story were here, and I did enjoy reading this book. It is just that the stories were cobbled together a bit randomly, with no real cohesion. The big emotional moments at the end did fall rather flat, as everything was much too quickly resolved. If the author had perhaps spent more time on plotting her connections between the characters, and a few more pages on the ending, it would have been a great book, as she is a good writer.
This is historical fiction, set in England spanning from the 2nd World War to the 80s. In the 80s, Sarah and Nicky are getting ready for their wedding, when Sarah disappears without a word to anyone, calling the wedding off.
It turns out that Sarah and Nicky's families knew each other when they were younger. The past starts to come to the forefront, as each family must deal with their past secrets and histories.
I see that this is recommended for fans of Kate Morton. There are of course similarities, but no one really does this type of story better than Kate Morton. The bones of a good story were here, and I did enjoy reading this book. It is just that the stories were cobbled together a bit randomly, with no real cohesion. The big emotional moments at the end did fall rather flat, as everything was much too quickly resolved. If the author had perhaps spent more time on plotting her connections between the characters, and a few more pages on the ending, it would have been a great book, as she is a good writer.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Four winds booktrail
I loved the fact that one house and two families stories could weave their way out and cover so many time periods and locations. The novel is quite complex as it jumps around quite a bit and can be a bit slow in the beginning because of all the change but maybe this was because I was reading on a kindle and don’t normally read dual timelines due to this very problem.
What the novel was to me was an epic read of so many secrets coming to light when a marriage was about to take place. It’s a big story with many many threads which come together slowly but surely. I think you should take your time with this novel as it does reward you for gaining the information to see the overall picture. I’s all about keeping secrets, hiding secrets and then being forced to let them out in the open when that really is the only place left for them to go.
I particularly enjoyed the sections set in Valencia as these to be were the most evocative, symbolic and enjoyable but the sections set in Manchester and the ‘slums’ were poignant. In fact this is quite the jigsaw of a novel as you really do need every piece to make sense of it all and that only happens at the end.
I loved the fact that one house and two families stories could weave their way out and cover so many time periods and locations. The novel is quite complex as it jumps around quite a bit and can be a bit slow in the beginning because of all the change but maybe this was because I was reading on a kindle and don’t normally read dual timelines due to this very problem.
What the novel was to me was an epic read of so many secrets coming to light when a marriage was about to take place. It’s a big story with many many threads which come together slowly but surely. I think you should take your time with this novel as it does reward you for gaining the information to see the overall picture. I’s all about keeping secrets, hiding secrets and then being forced to let them out in the open when that really is the only place left for them to go.
I particularly enjoyed the sections set in Valencia as these to be were the most evocative, symbolic and enjoyable but the sections set in Manchester and the ‘slums’ were poignant. In fact this is quite the jigsaw of a novel as you really do need every piece to make sense of it all and that only happens at the end.
alba_marie's review against another edition
4.0
{4.5 stars}
This is my second Elisabeth Gifford book. The first, Secrets of Sea House is one of my favourite books of last year. Delving into the myth of the selkies and traveling back in time to the horrible Highland Clearances of Scotland, this book was amazing. So naturally, I wanted to see what else Gifford had written.
Return to Fourwinds, also a story based on secrets, is more of a love story to all things English. Leaving mythology aside, the book focusses on the history of the 20th century, in particular, WWII, Franco's rule, and the years of rebuilding that followed - and how these events effected those who lived through them. It is a family saga, following the lives of new money wealthy Alice, English immigrant in Spain Ralph, the working class evacuee Peter, the smart and determined Patricia, and their eventual children, the carefree Nicky and the quiet and introverted Sarah.
The book explores the types of secrets that are kept and how, and how the types of secrets might change over the years. The book starts off with a wedding - a doomed wedding, as it turns out, when the brides walks away from the alter days before the guests are meant to arrive - before heading into the past to follow these two families from the 30s all the way to the 80s. We see Ralph's life in Valencia as Franco rises to power, we see Peter's life as a boy from the slums evacuated to the countryside, living in the house of the wealthy factory owners the Hanburys. We see the bright Alice navigating love and an Oxford education. We see Sarah grow up in the post-war years in the shadow of the clergy, and Nicky grow up the sports star who secretly loves poetry. Everyone has a secret of some kind, hidden out of shame or fear, or to save face, to keep a certain reputation, or simply because that's how things are done. The wedding brings the cast together once more, and we see the secrets start to unravel.
The book is beautifully written, and some of the history brought up - particularly Mr Gardiner's role in 1940s Madrid - that I hadn't known about. Written simultaneously as Sea House, there's still no comparison for me - I loved the backdrop of the Scottish islands, the young couple relocating there in the 80s and the secrets they uncover, not to mention the semi-mystical aspect of the selkie myth. Fourwinds was well written and evocative but it was missing that quasi-magical element present in her other novel. Regardless, I am definitely a fan of Gifford's beautiful prose and will be reading her other works soon!
TW: sexual assault off screen, horrors of WWII
This is my second Elisabeth Gifford book. The first, Secrets of Sea House is one of my favourite books of last year. Delving into the myth of the selkies and traveling back in time to the horrible Highland Clearances of Scotland, this book was amazing. So naturally, I wanted to see what else Gifford had written.
Return to Fourwinds, also a story based on secrets, is more of a love story to all things English. Leaving mythology aside, the book focusses on the history of the 20th century, in particular, WWII, Franco's rule, and the years of rebuilding that followed - and how these events effected those who lived through them. It is a family saga, following the lives of new money wealthy Alice, English immigrant in Spain Ralph, the working class evacuee Peter, the smart and determined Patricia, and their eventual children, the carefree Nicky and the quiet and introverted Sarah.
The book explores the types of secrets that are kept and how, and how the types of secrets might change over the years. The book starts off with a wedding - a doomed wedding, as it turns out, when the brides walks away from the alter days before the guests are meant to arrive - before heading into the past to follow these two families from the 30s all the way to the 80s. We see Ralph's life in Valencia as Franco rises to power, we see Peter's life as a boy from the slums evacuated to the countryside, living in the house of the wealthy factory owners the Hanburys. We see the bright Alice navigating love and an Oxford education. We see Sarah grow up in the post-war years in the shadow of the clergy, and Nicky grow up the sports star who secretly loves poetry. Everyone has a secret of some kind, hidden out of shame or fear, or to save face, to keep a certain reputation, or simply because that's how things are done. The wedding brings the cast together once more, and we see the secrets start to unravel.
The book is beautifully written, and some of the history brought up - particularly Mr Gardiner's role in 1940s Madrid - that I hadn't known about. Written simultaneously as Sea House, there's still no comparison for me - I loved the backdrop of the Scottish islands, the young couple relocating there in the 80s and the secrets they uncover, not to mention the semi-mystical aspect of the selkie myth. Fourwinds was well written and evocative but it was missing that quasi-magical element present in her other novel. Regardless, I am definitely a fan of Gifford's beautiful prose and will be reading her other works soon!
TW: sexual assault off screen, horrors of WWII
hooksforeverything's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ashak's review
4.0
I received this book as a goodreads giveaway. A fascinating atmospheric tales filled with secrets long forgotten and layered with themes.
For a detailed review click or paste the link:
http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/return-to-fourwinds-elisabeth-gifford.html
For a detailed review click or paste the link:
http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/return-to-fourwinds-elisabeth-gifford.html
lelly's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
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