"The London House", by Katherine Reay

In a few words

A scandalous secret kept buried since WW11 is uncovered when Caroline Payne receives a call from Matt Hammond, an old college friend and historian. He discovered that Caroline’s great-aunt betrayed not only her family but also her country by running away with her German lover. Was she a traitor and a Nazi collaborator or is the truth more complex. Together they fly to Caroline’s ancestral home in London where they will spend hours reading diaries, letters and correspondence that will eventually reveal the true secret.....

My thoughts

The timeline jumps from Britain’s World War11, the glamorous 1930’s Paris and the present day. Several narrative threads compete for pace and each is a complicated story in its own. We have Caroline, her great-aunt, her grandmother, her father with all their struggles. The plot is a search for answers and has it moves along it becomes increasingly complex with many unknowns. Each letter brings more questions, is there some truth buries in the past? Eventually, this fast-paced foray into the past cleverly reveals a story of spies, love and heartbreak and what happened one fateful evening in 1941 that shaped future generations. Katherine Reay paints a vivid picture that slowly pulls you in, desperate to know what would happen next. This book is both engrossing and frustrating. The style is deferent, the connections to the past is through old letters and diary entries which in some ways is an interesting concept although with a documentation not in chronicle order of dates and moving back and forth in time and with different views I found reading this book to be quite challenging. Having said this, no doubt this family saga is eloquently said and is written with finesse.

On a side note

I enjoyed seeing that “The London House” dabbled somewhat into the iconic fashion produced by avant-garde Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Houses of Haute Couture around the world continue to this day to look at Paris for stylistic inspiration.

I closed this book with mixed feelings not totally enjoying it then again not hating it either. Up to you to read and see for yourself.

I received this book from Harper Muse and Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review: this is the way I see it.