Published By: No Exit Press
Pages: 352
Released On: 15/09/2026
January 2023. Cara’s great-aunt Audrey has died, and her husband Tony needs her presence at the funeral. It will be a stretch for Cara, whose every day is an emotional challenge, a challenge which is getting harder as her daughter’s tenth birthday approaches. But with her family beside her, she’s prepared to try…
June 2000. Ten-year-old Cara and her sister Charlotte are sent to live with their great aunt and uncle, part of a famous acting family, when their mother is hospitalised. The Wolfes see the world as a drama they are starring in, and while her sister seems instantly at home Cara feels very much the outsider. And for all the staginess of Chaplin House, there is real tragedy brewing…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and No Exit Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my first of her books but I’d heard so much praise for this that I did have quite high expectations. Unfortunately, whilst bits were good, it didn’t quite live up to those expectations.
I like dual timelines and in this we get the same characters in 2000 and 2023. I enjoyed both separately but I felt the tone was so different that I had trouble fitting them together, and even though they were the same people, for me they ended up being two separate – albeit interesting – stories.
The chapters are longer than my preference.
I know we’re not meant to judge books by their cover – but of course we do. We wouldn’t need a cover designing industry if not. But I felt the cover was completely at odds with the book. The cover screamed war book about evacuees to me, which this story is not.
It says it’s a psychological thriller and I see what they mean but I don’t completely agree. It is psychological yes and there is clearly something untoward going on, but it didn’t quite have that thriller element. It was like it was trying to, it was giving the things you expect in a thriller, but it didn’t quite grip it fully.
It does have difficult topics. I wasn’t affected by them but I could understand why a vulnerable reader might be. I won’t spoil what it is, but I think Hannah has got it right. It’s prevalent but not overwhelming.
I think I just wanted more to happen and earlier. Clues are left for the reader to follow, which I liked, but I felt they went on a little too long and I wanted that pay off to come earlier. I did have my theories as to what happened and in my opinion, you could see it coming a mile away, but it is well handled.
I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. It’s an interesting storyline, fascinating characters, quick to read. But for the most part I felt it was lacking some fire. With all the praise it was getting, I was expecting something to blow me away, but it wasn’t that. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good book, because it is, and it got better as it went along, but I wanted a bit more.
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