Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Publisher: Harper Muse
Length: (368) pages
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Synopsis
Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.
Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried
Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.
Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.
In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.
My Thoughts
While researching another family's history, Mat Hammond uncovers a letter stating that the great aunt of Caroline Payne, a college friend, was a traitor during World War II. Caroline has always believed that this aunt died in childhood, but when she confronts her father, he confirms that the information from Mat is correct and that Caroline has always known as she was the one who discovered the lie. The memory of that moment comes back, and against her father's wishes, Caroline heads to England, to the London house where her mother now lives and where her aunt's letters are stored. Realising that she will need help to piece it all together, Caroline asks Mat to come to England.
The 'Waite Sisters', Caroline and Margaret, are the twin daughters of an earl, growing up in the inter-war years. Margaret is rebellious and keen on adventure, while Caroline is the obedient one who prefers an ordered and quiet life. All that changes when Margaret becomes ill and Caroline is sent away to school in Europe. After finishing and despite her father's demands that she return home due to the unrest as the world heads towards war, Caroline remains, securing a position in the Parisian fashion house of Elsa Schiaparelli as well as a taste for independence and excitement. Her rare visits home always end in an argument with the earl as in his eyes the company she keeps and the life that she leads is a disgrace to the family.
The bond between the sisters, however, is never broken. They never stop corresponding, although there is a shift over time in the tone of their letters to one another. Gradually, through these letters and the diaries that Margaret keeps, Mat and Caroline, in the present, uncover the truth behind that damning letter that expunged great aunt Caroline's name from the family history.
I am not a fan of epistolary novels as the letters sometimes can be overly long and the relevant information hard to extract, but I enjoyed this one. In The London House, the letters and Margaret's diary entries are short, blend well with the contemporary plotline, and move the story along at a rapid pace.
Cleverly hidden in great aunt Caroline's letters and the paper trail left behind is the truth of her wartime activities. Margaret's diaries corroborate and help put into perspective the events mentioned but also reveal a secret never shared with her sister. The clues lead Mat and Caroline to an amazing story of love and courage. And the revelation of a selfless act that will bring reunification to a family torn apart by their past.
The London House is a great read, balancing a wartime scenario with a complex family drama that shows the damage secrets and lies from the past can do. Caroline Waite's story will make you angry and sad in equal measure, but the ending is both uplifting and satisfying.
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