The London House by Katherine Reay

 

Caroline Payne is at work when her old college friend, Mat Hammond, calls her and reveals that he knows a scandalous secret within her family tree that has been buried--and he is warning her that it is going to come to light through an article he wrote for the Atlantic. Caroline wants to protect her family from scandal and she also wants to find out the truth so she sets out to do just that.

As her adventure begins, Caroline decides to go to London for a few days to visit her mom, who is living in the ancestral home of her father, and look at old letters in the attic to see if she can find out the real story about her aunt, whom she is named after, and her grandmother, Margaret, who were twin sisters. This is just the beginning of a healing journey for Caroline's family in The London House by Katherine Reay.

I really enjoyed The London House. The characters had flaws, but they were so realistic and relatable that I truly liked them all. I felt for them all. I actually could relate to some of the family dysfunction as I have seen some similar things in my own family. The history through the shared letters and diary entries was quite interesting to me. I enjoyed reading along to see how Caroline and Mat solved the mysteries that they found within the letters. I thought the whole plot was rich and layered. I also enjoyed seeing the relationships within the book unfold as people opened their hearts and minds to the new possibilities in front of them. I am not sure my review can do this beautiful writing and story justice. I also couldn't read this book fast. I read it in bits and slowly absorbed all that the characters were learning and how they were growing both in their own selves and in relation to each other. I highly recommend The London House. This would be a great book for a book club discussion and there are discussion questions in the back.

I received a copy of this book from the author and the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.