Published By: Viking
Pages: 448
Released On: 12/06/2025
Every family’s story starts somewhere.
Alice and Tom’s begins here.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen collects her treasures – the keepsakes, figurines and mementoes that help her make sense of her fragile family. But the next day her heart is broken, and the final treasure, a gift from her father, is lost. Two years later, Alice answers a phone call from a stranger and runs away to New York, and tries to forget her last golden summer at the orchard on the banks of the Hudson.
Tom Raven can’t understand why he keeps losing so many of the things and people that really matter to him, but he knows for certain that something important is missing from his life. One day, he remembers a forgotten letter and makes a phone call, then leaves Sevenstones, the only place that feels like home, for a strange city…
*****
Thanks to Viking for the advanced proof of this title in return for an honest review.
Oh how I do love a new Harriet Evans book.
This was a hefty book and I was worried it would feel that as well reading it, but it flew by. I was immediately absorbed and I absolutely loved it and read it way into the night. In fact I read it in less than 24 hours because I was just so engrossed.
It does have long chapters though which is my big bug bear, but I managed to by pass that, the story being so good.
For someone who is allergic to apples, I did appreciate in a morbid way that they kept cropping up throughout this book.
It is a slow burn and yet doesn’t feel slow. It gives you everything you need and everything you want, but gives you time and doesn’t overwhelm you.
You’ve sort of got two stories going on: one in America with Alice, and the other in the UK with Tom. But they do overlap. Harriet’s done it very cleverly. She’s given us Alice’s story, we get to know her, what she wants, what she’s been through. And then we get to know Tom in the same way, so that when the stories start to mix, you know enough about them to get really invested.
I don’t know what she’s planning on putting in books two and three, as this is an epic in itself. And I’m quite said that I have to wait for the next installment. Having said that, if you just read this as a standalone, it would be just as fabulous I’m sure.
It’s a mixture of historical, family drama, with a bit of romance, thrills and spills, fear, and the hangover of WW2. It’s got everything you want.
I think this is my fourth book of hers and it is by far the best. It’s unbelievable storytelling, fantastically flawed but beautiful characters, such deep love and hope and joy amongst the sadness. It is so thorough, with such depth, as individual stories and the book as a whole, it’s such an impressive feat and I applaud her.
I read a lot of books – we’re talking 350+ a year – and so most books have to leave my head pretty quickly, otherwise I can’t focus on the next one, but this is one that I’ll definitely carry around for me for a long time.
Harriet’s story creation, the language she uses, it’s just so – and I feel there should be a more impressive word than this but sometimes the simplest is the best – it’s just so very, very good.
This is the work of an author who is so sure of herself, of her talent, is experienced. Someone who is at the peak of their creativeness and storytelling abilities.
Books By Your Bedside 