An ordinary house on an ordinary street, built in 1936 and never lived in. Its rooms might be empty, but this house is full of secrets.
When Zoe and Win, raw and reeling from a recent tragedy, move into their new home it's meant to be a fresh start and a way to mend the holes in their relationship.
But pushed to the back of a cupboard is a suitcase that's been gathering dust for eighty years. Inside is a wedding dress, letters and a diary all belonging to a woman called Libby. And there's something else in the suitcase, something that echoes Zoe's own pain.
Zoe follows Libby's trail from Paris to Spain on the brink of Civil War to secret trysts in London, and as Libby finds the courage to live and love again, Zoe begins to let go of her own grief.
But when Libby's story takes a darker turn, Zoe becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering what really happened all those years ago. Because if Libby managed to get her happy ever after then maybe Zoe and Win can too . . .
Many thanks to Little Brown UK via NetGalley for my copy of The House of Secrets to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
For 2019 I have set myself a little challenge of trying to review at least one older book each month from my never ending TBR shelf on NetGalley. Hopefully in this way I'll reduce some of the books that have languishing on that shelf for some time as I'm sure there are some gems waiting there to be read. For January I have chosen The House of Secrets by Sarra Manning.
The House of Secrets is only the second book I have read by Sarra Manning and again similar to the first book I read by this author I found this book to initially be a mixed bag for me. The first half I found slow going and it needed all of my attention to keep up with the various intricacies of the plot. This book requires a lot of thinking and to take the time to absorb what was going on with each character. Time was needed to get to know them and to see how the situations they found themselves in and the life altering experiences affected how they were moving on in the present in Zoe's case and for Libby how she was dealing with the fallout of events in 1936.
Admittedly, I put the book down for a day or two and upon returning to it I approached it with a fresh frame of mind and a new perspective which helped me enormously. I found the second half far stronger than the first and I raced through the chapters eager to see how things would eventually unfold and how the past would connect to the present. So essentially I did enjoy this book after taking some time to really get into it, and in fact it was an excellent exploration of two women separated by many years but connected through the shared experience of grief and loss and how we overcome such personal tragedy, anguish and hardship without it tearing us and our relationships apart and affecting how we live the rest of our lives.
The House of Secrets follows two women who at first appear to have nothing in common and whom in fact never get to meet each other given they are separated by many years. Instead the connection is established through a diary found languishing in an old suitcase. Its only by chance as Zoe and her husband Win move into an abandoned house that needs thousands of pounds poured into its renovation that Zoe discovers an old suitcase shoved to the back of a shelf in her new bedroom. Who left it there? What is inside it? Why is that the only object in a home that was bought in 1936 and never once lived in? Over the years the house despite being newly built in 1936 has given into the ravages of time but the couple feel they can bring it back to its former glory but as they begin the process their relationship is tested to the max. Added to this they are grieving a recent loss which is tearing them apart, more so Zoe as Win refuses to talk about it or even really acknowledge it.
From the start I could see that Zoe was clinging to a knife edge. Her emotions were all over the place and she needed to express how she was feeling without receiving scorn or judgement from Win. But she wasn't allowed to do this, to be given the freedom to express her sadness at this loss which could have take their lives in an entire new direction. Win became a closed book obsessed with house renovations and plans and as the couple realise the challenge of restoring the house was even greater than they imagined, an already fragile relationship of which they have been a part of for over thirteen years is in danger of crumbling just like the walls of the house that need attention.
Zoe needed support, a shoulder to cry on to be be able to feel some joy when it arose but also to howl and shed the pain she was experiencing. She wasn't getting that from Win so upon discovering the suitcase and exploring the contents she takes this as a sign. I suppose she was clinging to any little form of contentment and acceptance that she could gain wherever possible. She finds connections between herself and the author of the diary she discovers amongst some other things in the case. As she read through Libby's diary I thought Zoe established connections because she wanted to see them. She wanted to think that someone else had been through the same thing and she believed through learning more about Libby that it would help her with starting the tentative healing process she so desperately needed. If she couldn't start this process her relationship would be lost forever. Herself and Win were drowning in a grief that Win refused to discuss where as Zoe was the polar opposite and she knew she needed to understand it better in order to take baby steps into the future.
As the story moves forward she sees many similarities between herself and Libby and even though Libby's story is just as heartbreaking as Zoe's, Zoe does find comfort and solace at what she is reading. Soon Zoe becomes determined to discover just who Libby was and why did her suitcase end up in the house? It becomes almost an obsession or a quest and she won’t rest until she has the answers. As Zoe begins her research in earnest strange coincidences make themselves known as if the cycle is repeating itself but will the outcome be one Zoe wishes for? As she embarks upon this journey will it be to the detriment of her relationship with Win or will grief and the pressures of restoring the house just be too much for their relationship to be able to weather the tumultuous storm they are in?
I found myself more drawn to Libby and what she was experiencing as the story alternated between Libby and Zoe. She was a strong woman who was not going to be brought down by grief or loss but at the same time she was a woman desperate for love and to be loved. It was all she craved. Yes she was independent, she had to be given her husband Freddy remained in Paris to continue his writing as a reporter for a newspaper, but still she felt she had been abandoned by him given the significant events that befell them in Paris. I instantly disliked Freddy for the rash way he treated Libby and how he remained disconnected and absent for the majority of the novel. It was like she had been dismissed and left to carry on and shoulder the burden by herself. He was selfish but by the end he redeemed himself and my opinion of him changed showing we really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.
As for Libby she returns to London and is forced to stay in the boarding house run by Freddy's mother Millicent. Libby treats the place as somewhere to rest her weary bones. She could have stayed there day in day out and moped around harbouring her loss but she didn't. Although she never forgot her experiences that led to such pain and sadness she knew she needed to move on realising that Freddy although she loved him was not the man for her. I loved Libby as a character, she was feisty and a go getter. She was led by her heart whereas common sense and intuition should have come into play when she got herself involved in certain situations. Meeting Hugo Watkins being one of them.
At first I gave scant regard to the circumstances of their meeting presuming it would have little forbearance on the rest of Libby's strand of the story and that within a chapter or two Hugo would be forgotten about. Instead for Libby, Hugo became an obsession and the source of her love replacing Freddy. Hugo gave Libby what Freddy could not and she became consumed with passion. I felt she really rushed into things but again this goes back to the fact I think she was a person who could not be alone. Yes she had her independence but behind it all she needed an anchor and a crutch and she searched for it where ever possible. I didn't know what to make of Hugo and given his own personal situation and his reasons for meeting Libby I began to question his actual intentions and whether they were real at all. Libby has grit and determination but she found herself in deeper than she ever thought possible and as her circumstances change several times over the reader does hope she can find the happiness and fulfilment she so desperately seeks but that seems to evade her no matter how hard she struggles to reach it.
Sarra Manning has masterfully weaved a connection between Libby and Zoe as both women attempt to claw their way back from the depths of despair. A wide range of emotions and lots of vulnerability, suffering and heartache are explored throughout the book and once I reached the half way point I really did feel as if I was transported right into the lives of Libby and Zoe although perhaps I identified and felt more for Libby. There was just something about her that spoke to me and I came to admire and have a deep respect for her. That's not to take away from Zoe at all especially as both women were going through the same thing I think I just found that Libby handled herself in a much better manner. So although my relationship with and understanding of The House of Secrets got off to a rocky start, my opinion did change over time and I can say now I would certainly recommend this book. I'm just annoyed with myself that I left it so long to read this book.
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