Friday 26 January 2018

Cephalopod Coffeehouse: January 2018


Cephalopod Coffeehouse: 26 January 2018

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun. 


Hosted by  the Armchair Squid:



Here is my chosen book for the month of January 2018


Coming Home to Island House

By 

Erica James

448 pages

BLURB taken from Amazon

It's the summer of 1939, and after touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, the charismatic Jack Devereux.
But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called home and given seven days to find a way to bury their resentments and come together.
With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can the habits of a lifetime be changed in one week? And can Romily, a woman who thrives on adventure, cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her?
4*
This is just my type of book.
A family saga set in and English village just before the outbreak of World War II. 
Due to the death of Jack Devereux his widow, estranged children and niece are thrust together for a week before they can benefit from the terms of his will.
All the characters are now in a situation that takes them out of their comfort zones combined with the threat of war looming large bringing added anguish and conflict to all concerned. 
This is a well written book, all the characters have their own stories which we read about without any confusion, even the secondary characters have major roles to play in the storyline.  
I loved this book and engaged with all the characters (even the nasty ones).  Although it may seem a longer book at 448 pages it really didn't feel like it and seemed to take no time at all to read. 

If you like family sagas then I would fully recommend this book.    

6 comments:

  1. I love this sort of historical novel perspective where the reader knows a lot more about the dark cloud looming than the characters do. A quick 448-page read is a good sell, too.

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  2. While I don't read a lot of family sagas, they have been growing on me; plus, I love that this is also a historical fiction. Good choice.

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  3. I do love me some historical fiction! This sounds like a fun one. Thanks for sharing.
    Best, V :)

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  4. Sounds like perfect winter holiday reading. I'm a fan of historical novels, especially this time period.

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  5. Oh I'm a sucker for the cover! I love it! This sounds like right up my alley.

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  6. Sounds like an interesting story, Sally. I enjoy the dynamics of families that are thrown together this way. Have not read any historical fiction in a while!

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