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I love Adele Parks, her books often make me cry. You should try The State We Are In. It was such a good book. I haven’t heard of this one, but then I haven’t read all her books. One to add to the Christmas list. Investigation into the disappearance of lonely Palm Springs socialite, Clifford Lambert. 4. Princes and Paupers Could the place be haunted or is Caro losing her mind? This story was slow building and atmospheric, a perfect read for Halloween. When her stepmother unexpectedly dies, Caro comes "home'' to the farmhouse she grew up in. Flooded with bad memories and strange blank spaces in her recollections, Caro hates the house but longs for a chance to have a fresh start. She's both excited and scared when her sister tells her that she's going to turn the house and the rest of the inheritance over to her. Stephanie says she wants nothing to do with any of it. The minute Caro moves in strange things start to happen and Caro wonders if she's losing her mind. Memories start to return. Family secrets are exposed. What happened in that house? And who was to blame? This book made me laugh, caught at my heart and then broke it. The story is clearly building to something but I didn't know what - I won't spoil it but this is definitely not one for public transport * A Case for Books *
It wasn't enough for me to add a star to a story that sounds like a mishmash of other books I've read before. I have always been an Adele Parks fan. She's influenced my own writing, my character, themes. So when I bought her latest offering, I expected her usual brand of sharp, but light hearted women's fiction. It was immediately obvious that this was something very different. But, of course, this is a tale of two halves. And what a flip this book performs. I love coming to books without a preconception of what they are and this is the reason why. I didn't see it coming! At all. When Tom transforms, when Annabelle turns up and the horror of it unfolds, it is utterly mesmerising. Well observed, original and wonderfully crafted, this is my favourite Adele Parks book to date * Sun *The notion of Caro returning to her childhood home in Derbyshire after her stepmother dies unexpectedly is also a great hook, especially as Caro starts to uncover memories of why she didn't practically enjoy growing up there. Fifteen years ago, someone else took Alison’s baby from the hospital. And now Alison is facing the unthinkable. Alison comes from humble beginnings and is in a relationship with the successful writer, Jeff with whom she's raised Katherine, who is well-behaved, successful at school and sports and beautiful. At one point, all that is put under perile.
Synopsis: It's every mother's worst nightmare to find that the precious child she's raised for fifteen years isn't her own.A hollow creaky house, a haunting melody from the pear drum, a hurl from the bannister, and a hallucinating main character make this book a vortex of swirling visions. Here realities are dreams, and dreams are illusions. Two sisters that have lost touch are reconnected after their stepmother dies unexpectedly. Neither of the girls has seen Elizabeth in years, and neither seems to be heart-broken over her death. Steph—the oldest sister—moved out of the house at 16 and landed in the States, while Caro stayed in the UK, living near London to pursue a career as an illustrator.
I read this novel with no knowledge of either the book or the author but what a great surprise. Loved the book and I found it completely absorbing. This psychological thriller was given to me to read with the condition that I don't review until Halloween, so I will post a full review then. This quote right here gives me the chills and really sets the tone of the story of the pear drum, a musical instrument that was often times the nightmare of Caro’s dreams. The story of the pear drum really holds such a significant impact on Caro and as the story progresses the meaning behind the pear dream becomes very clear and very frightening. The story of it is based on an old folktale about two little girls who are promised a reward if they behave badly, but with any story like this there are consequences. Caro’s story along with the two little girls from this particular folklore converge and I can see parallels between the two. It was such an interesting and eerie concept that was added to this story. While it did meander a bit slowly it was worth it once you get to the last 25%. I will say that I was very impressed with the final conclusion of this book and its somewhat ambiguous ending which made me bump this from 3.5 to all 4 stars! I didn't have any idea what to expect with this roller coaster of a book. Covering a very sensitive issue of babies swapped at birth, albeit accidentally. How on earth do you cope with the information that your 15 year old daughter is not yours biologically and that your biological daughter has been brought up by someone else for the last 15 years? The way that the author creates tension around the house was very effective and I was curious to see how it would all play out.Really what can I say, Adele Parks is one of the masters and although I did think the book was a tad overlong it was nevertheless a good read and recommended to Parks fans or new Parks readers alike. A well deserved 4 stars from me.
A lonely man and a much younger woman meet, but greed, worry and secrets leaves one dead. 8. Shades of Jade
During her career Adele has lived in Italy, Botswana and London. Now she lives happily in Surrey, UK with her husband, son and cat. During her time in the house, mysterious events occur and she comes face to face with a dark past as her mind begins to unravel the secrets hidden within. As the two families began to "merge", Allison began confiding in Tom most of her worries etc. Then suddenly, Katherine disappeared. All of a sudden. The characters are vibrant and easy for the reader to get to know and fool the reader as well ( well they did me ) A noise draws her up to the attic where she finds Elizabeth’s “Pear Drum”. Why does the musical instrument terrify her? Why is there so much of her childhood that she cannot remember? And can it really be coincidental that the book of fairytales she is illustrating contains the same story of a Pear Drum that her stepmother used to scare her with when she was misbehaving?
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