Stevie‘s review of A Place for Us by Harriet Evans
Contemporary Women’s Fiction published by Gallery Books 02 Jun 15
I do love a good meaty family saga, especially one in which all kinds of secrets slowly emerge and in which, while people don’t always get on with each other, they’re all bound together by a sense of belonging and their place in the world. In this story, Harriet Evans goes one step better still and gives the house, where much of the action takes place, along with its surroundings, a very distinct character of its own. I also enjoyed the impression I got very early on that more than one mystery is about to unravel as the family return home from their various ‘other lives’ and assemble for a grand birthday party.
Martha and David were children of London’s East End who grew up before and during WWII and went on to live a life the families they left behind could never have dreamed of experiencing. David, a successful artist, is best known for his regular strip in a national newspaper, telling the story of a girl and her dog – based on his and Martha’s daughter Daisy and the pet they took with them when they first moved to the big house known as Winterfold. However, David’s real passion was always for drawing the devastation left around his original home, and as Martha’s eightieth birthday approaches that work is finally being recognised with an exhibition in London.
While finalising the details of the show, David visits the birth mother of Daisy’s sister, Florence – whose adoption is a secret – while Martha is worrying how to tell all their children and grandchildren about another secret she and David have been keeping for several years. As the family – except Daisy – return home, we see into each of their lives in turn. None has been as successful as they’d like people to think and all are at turning points in their lives, as are various others who become involved with the family, the birthday party, or both. The lives of the people around them reflect on and influence the lives of the family members in ever more complex ways, but in the end most changes turn out to be for the better, and everyone is able to move on to the next phases of their lives.
I guessed one of the big secrets early on, although not the circumstances leading up to it. Other big reveals come as a surprise to me, though, and lots of minor details had me wondering right up to the epilogue. In this case, the epilogue works well for me, which is a rarity indeed, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise for others by expressing why it is so good.
All in all, a lovely read by an author whose work I’d like to get to know better.
Grade: A
Summary:
When Martha, a wife and mother of three, sits down one late summer’s morning to write out the invitations to her eightieth birthday celebration, she knows that what she is planning to reveal at the party could ruin the idyllic life she and her husband David have spent over fifty years building…
But she has to let her family know what she and David have sacrificed. She can’t live a lie any more.
The invitation goes out far and wide, calling her three children and their families back home to Winterfold, their rambling house in the heart of the English countryside. They are Bill, the doctor; Florence, the eccentric academic; and Daisy, the child who never fit in. As the story unfolds, each character reveals the secrets, joys, and tragedies they are wrestling with through the confines of the family. What will happen when Martha finally tells the truth?
Read an excerpt.
