Review: The Secrets of Summer House

Title: The Secrets of Summer House

Author: Rachel Burton

Publisher: 21st April 2022 by Head of Zeus

Pages: 416 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: women’s fiction, contemporary

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

1976. Rushing out of the University Library, undergraduate Alice Kenzie bumps straight into PhD student Tristan Somers. There begins a whirlwind romance, and Alice falls pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl. Then Tristan is killed in a car accident. Unable to cope, Alice takes her baby to Summer House, Tristan's family home in Suffolk, leaves her there and disappears.

2018. Olivia Somers has always been told that her mother died in the same accident as her father. But when she finds a bundle of old letters in Summer House, everything she ever believed about her mother is called into question. Can she find her – and even more importantly, forgive her?

My Thoughts

The Secrets of Summer House by Rachel is a dual time narrative alternating between the late 70’s and present day. It’s a book about family secrets and the journey to uncover them.

‘They need to talk about the future - their fragile uncertain future - but to get there they both need to unravel the past.’

Olivia was raised by her grandparents as both her parents died in an accident. But after her grandmother’s death, she finds some pictures that don’t relate with the story her grandmother had told her - thus the ensuing mystery unfolds. Sadly, I did not really engage much in the mystery side of this tale. The aspect that appealed most to me was Cambridge of the 1970s. Rachel presents a vivid picture of life there at that time. 

This is a big book that I feel needed better editing as it just became too repetitive going over the same emotions and angst of the two leading characters from both timelines. I wish character development had been deeper and more was written of the summer house as a character in itself. I do enjoy Rachel’s books but this one did not quite work for me.

Overall this is a book about forgiveness, family and friendship. Other themes included parental expectations, grief, postnatal depression and second chances. What would you do if you suddenly found out your life had not been grounded in what you had been told?

‘I always thought I was doing the right thing. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. I’ve never known if chasing the past is something we should do or not.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.