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kimber_reads 's review for:
The London House
by Katherine Reay
The London House is a historical fiction novel with themes about learning from the past to have a happier and more successful future.
Caroline’s family has suffered loss and hardship for multiple generations with each generation feeling even more trapped in grief than the last. The lies that were meant to protect have only caused more hurt and feelings of betrayal. Caroline’s world is turned upside down when she learns that there is more to her family history than she was told, and she decides to finally discover the long lost truth.
The London House has two main stories, the story of Caroline Payne in present day and the story of Caroline’s great aunt and namesake, Caroline Waite (Caro). The story is told from Caroline’s perspective as she reads the letters and diaries her grandmother and great aunt left behind. I personally didn’t really care for this particular way of telling a story. It’s definitely unique, but I prefer more of a 3rd person narrative.
I enjoyed the themes of learning from the past and moving forward with the intent of not repeating those mistakes. I love family history and finding connections with our ancestors and this story definitely had that. I enjoyed the bit of mystery, and felt like I needed to finish to find out what really happened to Caro. But I struggled with the writing style, I didn’t connect with the characters, and there were several main plot points that I just didn’t enjoy.
Caroline and all her family members were so critical of each other and just angry and bitter. I get that this story is about growing and healing, but I didn’t like how no one seemed to have healthy relationships. Even when reading Caro’s letters, I didn’t like how she was constantly at odds with her family. I understand having falling outs and conflicts, but I felt like there were more conflicts and arguments than happy moments and I prefer to read about happy loving characters.
The timing of the story was also something that bothered me. The Caroline spends about a week studying about 20 years of Caro’s life. Although the research probably could’ve been done that quickly if you didn’t do anything else, I felt like the healing that happened between Caroline and her parents and her friend Mat during that week seemed way fast considering they have 20+ years of grief, conflict, and bitterness to overcome.
I think I would’ve liked this story better if it had just been a narrative of Caro and her story. And I would’ve liked to see more romantic elements both in Caro’s story in 1940 and Caroline’s story in 2020.
Overall, it was a good story, but it’s not for me.
If you like WWII historical fiction, two plot lines that parallel each other, and characters who are influenced to change by studying the past, you may enjoy the London House.
Caroline’s family has suffered loss and hardship for multiple generations with each generation feeling even more trapped in grief than the last. The lies that were meant to protect have only caused more hurt and feelings of betrayal. Caroline’s world is turned upside down when she learns that there is more to her family history than she was told, and she decides to finally discover the long lost truth.
The London House has two main stories, the story of Caroline Payne in present day and the story of Caroline’s great aunt and namesake, Caroline Waite (Caro). The story is told from Caroline’s perspective as she reads the letters and diaries her grandmother and great aunt left behind. I personally didn’t really care for this particular way of telling a story. It’s definitely unique, but I prefer more of a 3rd person narrative.
I enjoyed the themes of learning from the past and moving forward with the intent of not repeating those mistakes. I love family history and finding connections with our ancestors and this story definitely had that. I enjoyed the bit of mystery, and felt like I needed to finish to find out what really happened to Caro. But I struggled with the writing style, I didn’t connect with the characters, and there were several main plot points that I just didn’t enjoy.
Caroline and all her family members were so critical of each other and just angry and bitter. I get that this story is about growing and healing, but I didn’t like how no one seemed to have healthy relationships. Even when reading Caro’s letters, I didn’t like how she was constantly at odds with her family. I understand having falling outs and conflicts, but I felt like there were more conflicts and arguments than happy moments and I prefer to read about happy loving characters.
The timing of the story was also something that bothered me. The Caroline spends about a week studying about 20 years of Caro’s life. Although the research probably could’ve been done that quickly if you didn’t do anything else, I felt like the healing that happened between Caroline and her parents and her friend Mat during that week seemed way fast considering they have 20+ years of grief, conflict, and bitterness to overcome.
I think I would’ve liked this story better if it had just been a narrative of Caro and her story. And I would’ve liked to see more romantic elements both in Caro’s story in 1940 and Caroline’s story in 2020.
Overall, it was a good story, but it’s not for me.
If you like WWII historical fiction, two plot lines that parallel each other, and characters who are influenced to change by studying the past, you may enjoy the London House.