Highly recommended – beautifully written with an immersive setting that captivates until the last page, and a believable and satisfying romance.
What happens
In 1911, we meet Kate, the housekeeper at the wonderfully-named Coldwell Hall, Derbyshire, and Jem, a mysterious newcomer who arrives unannounced to work at the Hall. Amid an ensemble of ‘downstairs’ domestics and occasional appearances from the gentry upstairs, Kate and Jem’s secrets gradually unfold, revealing the central mystery—what happened to Jem’s brother?
Dual timelines
Unlike many dual timeline novels, this one spans only seven years, with the main story set in 1911, and a secondary timeline in 1916. Both timelines feature the same characters, which will appeal to readers who end up favouring one timeline over the other. The second timeline appears only sporadically, but when it does, it deepens and enriches the story.
Romance
Iona Grey is a master at writing romance and has, indeed, written a number of romances under the pen name India Grey. Those Harlequin romances were among my favourites. And, while this isn’t a Harlequin, it still contains a very well-written romance. Anyone looking for a subtle, emotional romance with a (spoiler) happy ending should pick up this book. This isn’t a quick-fix romance. Grey takes her time, making the slow-burn progression feel all the more real and satisfying.
The Best Bits
- The setting feels like a character itself, shifting in mood to reflect unspoken emotions and underlying intrigue. For example, the heat — ‘After the weeks of unbroken sunshine leading up to it, coronation day began with lowering clouds and a strange heaviness in the air, which was as warm and thick as porridge.’ It adds to the underlying sense of menace. And as for appropriately named Coldwell Hall — the ‘great big stone monument to wealth and power’ — it’s well on the decline. ‘Time and the elements had blackened the buff stone, and the windows were grimy, many of them shuttered. Paint flaked from frames and weeds sprouted from guttering.’ A fitting gothic-style backdrop to the nefarious goings-on there.
- Grey’s writing is beautifully descriptive, effortlessly drawing you into her world. An example taken at random, ‘…the trees that sheltered the walled gardens were smudges of rust in the pearly morning, their autumn colours glowing like hot coals through ashes. The grass was silvered with dew; and as she watched, a male pheasant—richly plumed in copper and bronze—broke cover from the woods and flew low, landing clumsily in a tumble of feathers on the slope in front of the house.’
- The romance. I’m a sucker for romance and Grey delivers it with an emotional, slow burn which rewards the reader in the end.
Diana’s Thoughts
I very much enjoyed The Housekeeper’s Secret. It includes all the things I love—an old house with secrets, people with a mysterious past, a slow-burn romance, beautiful descriptive writing and an unhurried narrative which allows you to become fully absorbed into that world. If those elements don’t appeal to you, this may not be your kind of book—but for me, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read!
Official Blurb
Duty, desire, and deception reside under one roof.
Standing in the remote windswept moors of Northern England, Coldwell Hall is the perfect place to hide. For the past five years, Kate Furniss has maintained her professional mask so carefully that she almost believes she is the character she has created: Coldwell’s respectable housekeeper.
It is the summer of 1911 that brings new faces above and below the stairs of Coldwell Hall―including the handsome and mysterious new footman, Jem Arden. Just as the house’s shuttered rooms open, so does Kate’s guarded heart to a love affair that is as intense as it is forbidden. But Kate can feel her control slipping as Jem harbors secrets of his own.
Told in alternating timelines from the last sun-drenched summer of the Edwardian Age to the mud-filled trenches of WWI, The Housekeeper's Secret opens its door to a world of romance, the truths we hold onto, and the past we must let go.
***
You can find out where to buy the book on the publisher’s link here:
https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-housekeepers-secret-9781250272621/
Here's a link to Grey's website. It's worth checking out because the pics are as lovely as her prose, but it's not up-to-date and has no information about this book.
Publisher : St. Martin’s Press (August 13, 2024)
Hardcover : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1250272629