Published By: Penguin Michael Joseph
Pages: 400
Released On: 28/04/2022
Lauren, Kat and Flora are half-sisters who share a famous artist father – and a terrible secret.
Over the years they’ve lived wildly different lives, but their father has unexpectedly summoned them to Rock Point, the cliff house where they once sat for his most celebrated painting, Girls and the Birdcage.
Rock Point is a beautiful, windswept place, thick with secrets and electrically charged with the catastrophic events of a summer twenty years before, the day of the total solar eclipse. It’s the first time they’ve dared return.
When the sisters arrive, it is clear someone is determined not to let the past lie. Someone who is watching their every move. Who remembers the girls in the painting, and what they did.
*****
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
It’s odd, I have a couple of Eve’s previous books, but even though I’ve seen nothing but good reviews, I’ve never actually read them, so this was my first proper foray into the world of Eve Chase. And it started with a gorgeous front cover.
I did find the jumping between points-of-view and time periods a bit confusing at times. Once you’ve finished it, it is blindingly obvious why this writing style was chosen, but if you’re like me, it will take a little bit of time to wrap your head around who is talking, and where and when they are, but do persevere with it.
Eve has an exquisite concept of character and place and time. There is a subtlety to Eve’s writing; the words are like a gentle brushstroke – but they bring up such powerful memories and emotions.
Each character – particularly the three half-sisters – are so well rounded and completely their own person. There are identifiable qualities, both good and bad, that seem frighteningly familiar to me.
Whilst the story is wrapped up nicely, to me, there is a certain ambiguity at times which allows the reader to get involved and come up with some answers themselves.
It’s a heavy-going book that, at times, really messes with your mind, but at the end, you’ll find you have more than a little tear in your eye.
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