Genre: Romance, historical fiction, contemporary fiction

Stars: 4

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

 

The Blurb:

Sometimes a glimpse into the past can help make sense of the future …
Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House – a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire – and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there’s something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it.

Whilst exploring the grounds she stumbles across an old diary and, within its pages, she meets Allie – an Australian nurse working in France during the First World War.

Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters. In the lonely nights that follow, Allie’s diary becomes Lexi’s companion, comforting her in moments of darkness and pain. And as Lexi reads, the nurse’s scandalous connection to the house is revealed …

 

My Review:

One novel, two beautiful, intertwined stories of how love can overcome the barriers life puts in front of us. This is nostalgic and heart-wrenching and heart-warming all rolled into one.

Lexi falls in love with Hollingsworth House in Yorkshire, yet her obsession destroys her marriage and drives away her husband, Dylan, all the way south to London. As Lexi picks up the pieces of her life, she finds the diary of Allie, a nurse whose love story is both linked to the house and a saviour to Lexi during dark times.

This was a beautifully written novel, with an emotional thread that tugged at my heart-strings while I read. The dual timeline and voices were interwoven seamlessly by the author to create a wonderfully romantic plot tinged with some sadness. The protagonists, Allie and Lexi, were well-drawn, strong women whose lives did not follow the path they had hoped for and yet rallied against what others would perceive as unfairness of life. Recommended.

*I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.