Review: Lily's House

Title: Lily’s House
Author: Cassandra Parkin
Publisher: 15th October 2016 by Legend Press
Pages: 304 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: fiction, women's fiction
My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

When Jen goes to her grandmother's house for the last time, she's determined not to dwell on the past. As a child, Jen adored Lily and suspected she might be a witch, but the spell was broken long ago, and now her death means there won't be any reconciliation. Lily's gone, but the enchantments she wove and the secrets she kept still remain. In Lily's house, Jen and her daughter Marianne reluctantly confront the secrets of the past and present—and discover how dangerous we become when we're trying to protect the ones we love.

My Thoughts

Having enjoyed Parkin’s last book, ‘The Beach Hut’, I  was interested to see what her next tale would be like. This book has a little bit of everything – from relationships to domestic violence,  truth and falsehoods, mystery and resolution. I found it a most compelling tale, with relatable characters and a great plot with Parkin, piece by piece, slowly bringing it together to form a fitting conclusion.  

“I didn’t know I still had it in me to be this angry, but this place, this room, it’s faded glamour briefly reawakened by sunshine and the deep clean, has opened the wound again.”

The book begins, with Lily having passed away, leaving her house to her granddaughter, Jen. As the latter begins to sort through her grandmother's possessions, she finds herself puzzling and questioning events - both past and present - that will slowly unlock and reveal so much. This is not an easy thing for Jen to reconcile herself to. I enjoyed the somewhat ‘magical’ element of intuition and premonitions as events unfolded - it lended itself nicely to this tale. Domestic violence is a part of this story and that may be difficult for some, however, it is a crucial element of this plot and handled very well by Parkin.

“I’d like to tell Marianne this is the landscape of my innermost heart, and I could find my way to Lily’s house even if I was dying.”

At times the variance in writing is a little difficult to come to terms with but you become accustomed to it the further in you read. For example: the chapters alternate between past and present and the mobile phone conversations/texts. Slowly and very cleverly, Parkin has you questioning what you think you do and don’t know and the flashbacks and conversations become pertinent and revealing. However, you are never really sure what will come next. Also at times I found the feuding a bit silly, didn’t seem to fit naturally - misunderstandings yes, but tantrums, no.

Lily's House is as enchanting as it is quirky , with a deep rooted tale of unconditional love between a grandmother and granddaughter. To me, Lily  is the star of this book, endearing as she is determined - both in life and in death. Indeed, from beyond the grave she is the guiding light for her granddaughter and great-granddaughter in their time of need, as she foresaw so much and was intent on providing for them in so many ways.

“What a contrast with Lily, mysterious and magical, capable of conjuring wonders.”

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

Review: The Beach Hut by Cassandra Parkin

Title: The Beach Hut

Author: Cassandra Parkin

Publisher: 5 September 2015 by Legend Times Group

Pages: 336 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fiction, contemporary

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

It is autumn time and on a peaceful Cornish beach, Finn and his sister Ava defy planning regulations and achieve a childhood dream when they build themselves an illegal beach hut. This tiny haven will be their home until Ava departs at Midwinter for a round-the-world adventure. In the town, local publican Donald is determined to get rid of them. Still mourning the death of his wife, all he wants is a quiet place where he can forget the past and raise his daughter Alicia in safety. But Alicia is wrestling with demons of her own. As the sunshine fades and winter approaches, the beach hut stirs old memories for everyone. Their lives become entwined in surprising ways and the secrets of past and present are finally exposed.

My Thoughts

In a Cornish coastal town, two siblings have built an illegal beach hut, fulfilling their childhood dream. However, their bohemian lifestyle rocks some of the locals and intrigues others. Contrary to it's name, this is no light, refreshing beach read. Hidden secrets slowly unfold (a little too slowly for me at times), intermingled with flashback and fairytales makes this a rather complex read. All the threads slowly come together for dramatic twists by the end. This is a book all about relationships - of every variety - but mostly familial ones and learning to let go.  

"The time they'd wasted; the years they'd been robbed of. He thought he'd made his peace with all this years ago but now here it was again."

The story itself is very well written, yet a format of going back in time to the past and back to the present alternatively, for me, most definitely interrupted the flow. I have to confess to getting confused and in the end stopped clicking the contents page on my Kindle to check time spans. Each of the characters are fairly unique and multidimensional.  There is an extraordinarily strong bond between between brother an sister, Ava and Finn, but I also found this to be somewhat over the top and at times exceedingly eccentric. Individually, I found Ava and Finn fascinating, but put them together and it all becomes a bit of an eye roll for me. 

Finn's fairy tales (not the light, flippant variety, but rather the deep and meaningful kind) are interspersed among the chapters in this book and in some way relate to the characters of the story and what was going on or had happened in their life, as a way of explaining things. For me, the jury is still out on their inclusion.

Even with the ending of the story, you are left with mystery and melancholy and have to draw some conclusions yourself. Don't be mistaken, this is an emotional ride for the reader. However, for this reader, the journey branched out in too many places that I found it difficult to reconcile. However, it is well written, thoughtful and authentic, and for many, unforgettable.

"Together we're invincible," Finn said. Ava nodded. "Us two against the world."

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.