Today is my turn on the blog tour for The House by the Lake and I am so happy to share my review with you all.
Book description:
The cobbled streets were dark as Isabelle hurried through the shadows, dodging in and out of doorways, constantly looking back. She worried the sound of her loudly thumping heart would give her away, as she peered around a corner. Suddenly, Isabelle was surrounded by Nazi soldiers, their black boots pounding on the pavement, barring her way…
1939, Berlin. Max Albrecht is the young and handsome heir to a beautiful house on a lake where he spent his happy childhood. As war approaches, his parents tell him he must join the Nazi party or the whole family will be killed. But when his beloved French fiancé Isabelle shows him the horrifying truth, Max faces an impossible choice: protect his family or save the girl he loves?
2010, San Francisco. Anna Young is content with her life, running a bustling deli and taking care of her adored grandfather Max, who raised her. Max has never spoken of his past until he hands over an old map, the plans to a grand house just north of Berlin. With a shaking finger, he points to it and says, “I left something behind under the floorboards. Please bring it home before I die.”
When Anna arrives at the crumbling manor in Germany, she discovers a hidden engagement ring in a velvet box. She is desperate to find the woman her grandfather hoped to marry, but the local villagers look away when she mentions Max’s name, and back in San Francisco he is now in hospital, too unwell to speak to her. What did Max do so many years ago? Is Anna ready for the terrible secret that her family’s past may hold?
From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an unforgettable novel, weaving together past and present. Gripping and heartbreaking, The House by the Lake uncovers the secrets and devastating choices that people were forced to make during history’s darkest time.
My Thoughts:
This book caught my interest immediately. As a lover of historical fiction, when I recieved the description to this book it sounded like a dream so I jumped at the chance to read it.
The storyline is so perfectly plotted, and right from the start it captivates the reader completely.
I loved the two timelines running alongside each other throughout the book… the one in which followed the story of Isabeel and Max in 1939, and highlights beautifully the troubling times they lived in, and also the daunting decisions that had to be made along the way. Then we fing ourselves in 2010 with Anna. She is happy with her life as it is, running a Deli and also taking care of her Grandfather Max. When Max hands Anna a map and asks him to retrieve something dear to him from Germany before he dies, Anna finds herself on a true journey of discovery.
The past, and all of the secrets it Carrie’s for this family all start to come to light when Anna arrives in Germany, but some secrets are hard to live with…
This book, to me, was simply perfection. The characters were alive in my mind, and I could picture the settings as though I was there myself… poignant, heartbreaking and totally consuming, I adored this book.
I would like to thank Ella Carey, Sarah Hardy, Bookouture and Netgalley for allowing me to read this beautiful book in return for my honest review.
Author Bio:
Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.
Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.
https://www.facebook.com/ellacareyauthor/
https://twitter.com/Ella_Carey
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://bit.ly/37bGU42Apple: https://apple.co/3npJA46Kobo: https://bit.ly/36C5meIGoogle: https://bit.ly/3lm0pLn
Victoria Wilks 