Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Sitting by the window with views of the shining sea, a white-haired woman seals an envelope with trembling hands and thinks of her grandchildren – two sisters who haven’t spoken for years. Will her final message bring them back together?
Ever since her sister Caitlin left the village of Heaven’s Cove, Isla has cared for their beloved grandmother Jessie in her cosy red-brick cottage by the sea. Now, heartbroken after Jessie’s death, Isla hopes to bond again with her sister. Until Caitlin insists she wants to sell the cottage they spent their childhood in.
But their grandmother, who always had a twinkle in her eye, had other plans. At her will reading the sisters are handed an envelope containing a cryptic riddle in Jessie’s handwriting. Certain their grandmother, who loved puzzles and crosswords, wanted them to solve it together, Isla begs Caitlin for more time.
Then Isla meets tall, brooding Ben in the village, come from America seeking answers about his own family history. One of his ancestors was close to a relative of Jessie’s… did Jessie mean for them to meet?
As Ben and Isla walk together on the wild Devon beaches, they discover a heartbreaking generations-old story of a woman who chose her family over true love. But Isla and Caitlin are no closer to solving their grandmother’s riddle: and when Caitlin finally shares a shocking secret about her life back in London, selling their grandmother’s home seems the only way forward.
Without their grandmother to guide them, will the sisters ever rediscover the meaning of family? Or will Isla be forced to leave Ben, and Heaven’s Cove behind forever?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea is the sixth book in Liz Eeles’ Heaven’s Cove series and despite being fairly well into the series this book can be read entirely as a standalone, perhaps even more so than some of the others. There are a few characters from previous books that make a reappearance but they are very brief and wouldn’t detract from your understanding or enjoyment of the story at all. This new story follows sisters Isla and Caitlin who are very much at odds with each other when we first encounter them. In fact none of the main characters including Maisie, Caitlin’s stepdaughter, are especially happy and for various reasons.Their beloved grandmother Jessie has just passed away and after a 15 year absence from Heaven’s Cove Caitlin has returned to hear the reading of the will and she hopes to get Rose Cottage sold so she can quickly return to London with Maisie.
But Jessie has other plans for the two sisters who have been more or less estranged for so long. Jessie wanted nothing more than for her two grandchildren to come back together but her efforts whilst she was alive had failed. The girls are given a letter with a riddle which they must solve which they believe will bring them good fortune. Jessie loved nothing more than a good riddle or crossword and her clever ways may bring about for the girls what has failed to happen so far. But the way things are between the pair and the problems they are individually dealing with may once again just prove too much for the pair.
Once again, I adored the setting of Heaven’s Cove which is a small coastal village in Devon. The descriptions are real and vivid and there is a sharp contrast between the sea and the moors which surround the village. This contrast can also be seen in the girls moods and attitudes towards each other and the situation they find themselves in.
Chapters alternate between Isla, Caitlin and Maisie and it was brilliant to get each person’s perspective about the story in its entirety. It never became confusing or felt like there was a lot of chopping and changing. Instead everything had a lovely, natural flow to it and the story moved along at just the right pace. Isla loves the village but always at the back of her mind is that ambition to leave and travel the world but caring for Jessie for several years put paid to those goals. Not that she regretted looking after Jessie one bit. After all she did take in the girls when their mother died. But there is an air of resentment surrounding Isla that Caitlin upped and left and never came back or rarely made the effort to make contact and you can’t blame Isla for feeling this way.
Isla feels safe and that things are familiar and comforting in Heaven’s Cove and when someone gets very stuck into a routine, it’s difficult to break away from it. The thoughts of leaving fill her with panic and she has also been in a relationship with Paul for quite some time and is not willing to give up on it. Although it is clear from the get go that the pair really shouldn’t be together but Isla can’t see this at all. Even Maisie who is grumpy, surly and feels that no one loves her can see that Paul is certainly not the man for Isla. Paul was an awful character and the way he treated Isla was despicable. His entire demeanour was just so off and the way he spoke to Isla, I really wanted her to wake up and confront him. He was so obnoxious that I really wanted to race through the parts where he featured as the words he spoke and his manner were just deplorable.
Paul was bossy, controlling, jealous and very restrictive in the way he treated and spoke to Isla. He puts several dents in Isla’s confidence and I knew she would be so much better off without him and would be able to spread her wings if she could break free from him. But she is grieving the loss of someone who meant so much to her and she is in a vulnerable place that she hasn’t garnered the strength to do this. She is also worried that Caitlin wants to get rid of Rose Cottage as soon as possible but thankfully Jessie has mentioned in her will that Isla can stay there as long as she needs to and only then can it be sold. Yet still I felt Caitlin was always there putting pressure on Isla even if she didn’t actually come out and say those words. Isla sets about solving the riddle and in attempting this it may just bring the girls back together or will the stubbornness of Caitlin and the personal issues she is going through just prove too much for reconciliation and happiness to be found?
Caitlin carries a lot of guilt and huge burdens on her shoulders. Guilt that she left Heaven’s Cove abruptly and left Isla and a certain someone else behind which means they are now separated by a chasm of difference and resentment. Now that she is back old memories that she has attempted to quash are rushing to the surface and threatening to overwhelm her. She would give anything to get the house sold and get back to London but really she can’t keep running forever and at some stage she will have to stop and confront her demons. Her marriage to Stuart is on rocky grounds and the reasons for this do become apparent and only put Caitlin in a more difficult position. The repercussions of this have an effect on Maisie, who herself is struggling big time with the reasons behind her suspension from school. She is a typical teenager moody and irritable and she too shoulders a burden she would much rather not have to deal with. But Heaven’s Cove is a special place where people come together and are a strong community who are always there for each other in good times and bad and an unexpected source slowly starts to help Maisie emerge from the dark cloud that has enshrouded her and perhaps the village will work it’s magic on her and she will realise that she is loved and valued.
I loved the mystery element of the story when Isla and Caitlin attempted to solve Jessie’s riddle. It didn’t dominate the story instead it actually allowed the other strands of the plot to come forth and in a way swirl around each other until a satisfying conclusion was reached. I also loved the character of the American man, Ben. He was a great inclusion and a good fit with the riddle part of the story but he also allowed for someone’s eyes to be opened as he was straight talking and a no nonsense kind of man. All in all, The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea was a delightful read that I enjoyed from start to finish. Liz Eeles is now very comfortable writing in this setting and the characters are given time to develop and share their stories. I definitely think there is room for several more books in the series and hope Liz is already hard at work on the next one. I would definitely recommend this book but once you’ve read it so yourself a favour and complement your reading by going back and reading the previous books.
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