Review: The House Between Tides

Title: The House Between Tides

Author: Sarah Maine

Publisher: 2 August 2016 by Atria Books

Pages: 400 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: womens fiction, historical fiction, mystery

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Fans of Kate Morton will love this atmospheric and immersive debut novel of a woman who returns to her ancestral home in Scotland and discovers a century-old secret buried in the basement.

Following the deaths of her last living relatives, Hetty Deveraux leaves her strained marriage behind in London and returns to her ancestral home, a crumbling estate in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, with the intention of renovating and reselling it as a hotel, much to the dismay of the locals. As she dives headfirst into the repairs, she discovers human remains beneath a rotting floorboard in the basement, with few physical clues to identify the body. Who was this person? And why the makeshift grave?

Hungry for answers, Hetty sets out to unravel the estate’s secret—and those of its former inhabitants, including Beatrice Blake, a woman who moved there a century ago with her husband Theo, a famous painter who seemed to be more interested in Cameron, a young local man, than his own wife.

Following whispered rumors and a handful of leads, Hetty soon discovers that no one knows exactly what happened to Beatrice, only that her actions have reverberated throughout history, affecting Hetty’s present in startling ways.

My Thoughts

This sounded like the kind of story I adore -  alternating tales between different time periods: 2010, when Hetty inherits the house, and at the turn of  last century, when artist Theo Blake lived there with his wife, Beatrice. Blake was portrayed as the tormented one:

"Blake was himself a tragic figure. From a meteoric rise which seemed set to place him amongst the greats of British art, he had fallen hard ... somewhere in that broken life, another life had ended. But when? And why?"

Overall it was good, but I did have reservations. At times I really struggled with the book being so very slow in places. I found myself yawning through passages that went for too long - too many walks along those wild, windy beaches. However, I was glad I persevered. I also struggled with the author revealing a clue and then going back to explain. Good tension was built but I didn't like the retrospective explanation:

"Something happened, and whatever it was, it was catastrophic and it stopped him in his tracks."

The mysterious outcome was also fairly predictable, so there were no real big surprises by the end. Still, as a debut, Maine should feel encouraged. Putting her in the same ball park as Kate Morton was rather daunting, but I can see how she may develop over time as this ended up being a promising first book. 

So whilst I would not describe this as a riveting read, it did contain enough intrigue to see me over the line. I enjoyed some secondary aspects to the tale such as, creating preservation areas versus promoting development; and, local livelihoods versus the life of the privileged.  The real winner was perhaps the location itself - wonderful descriptions of the Hebrides. A great sense of atmosphere and beauty was portrayed. Add to that vivid descriptions of Muirlan House itself, and it was captivating. 

"It was his refuge .... a place of wild beauty,... with endless stretches of bone-white sand, vast skies, and the sea - an ever-changing palette."

Despite struggling through some sections, I ultimately enjoyed the journey this book took me on. The dual timelines slowly unravel to a satisfying conclusion with the author using the landscape and wild weather to her advantage.

"a precious place, wild and unspoiled, a sanctuary for more than just the birds."

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release