Amy Snow

This book was recommended to me by my mum, I hadn't been aware of its connection to the Richard and Judy book club but the story sounded intriguing.

The story follows orphan Amy Snow who was found on the grounds of a large estate when just a baby, abandoned in the snow she was found by the daughter of the estate owners Lord and Lady Vennaway. Persuaded by their headstrong daughter Aurelia the child was kept and raised in the kitchens of the house until old enough to work.

Fundamentally the story is about the friendship between Amy and Aurelia but when the book opens we find that some years later Aurelia has died at a young age and Amy who has remained her close companion is to be thrown out of the house with a modest sum from her old friend but nothing of great value and nowhere to go.

Amy soon discovers her friend has left her secret letters that contain a treasure hunt from beyond the grave. She is told Aurelia has a secret she needs to share but must lead her on the hunt before sharing it. The book then moves back and forward between the treasure hunt and time after Aurelia and the years the friends spent together under the cruelty of Aurelia's parents towards Amy.

At this point the story was progressing really well, it was exciting and engaging and action was unfolding quickly and my attention was piqued. The switching timeline was good because I really enjoyed the glimpses into their differing childhoods. I had really high hopes for this book. However from just after the half way point I began to feel a little frustrated. Suddenly the focus seemed to shift away from Aurelia and Amy and began to be a strange love triangle story between Amy and 2 potential suitors. I struggled with this because I didn't warm to either of the men Amy became entangled with. For someone who was supposedly quite timid and inferior in her behaviour I found it difficult to suddenly believe her so readily able to form 2 engagements.

Also by this point in the story her letters from Aurelia kept urging not to trust anyone in regards to the treasure hunt and so I kept suspecting the two love interests of being plants trying to derail her and so think this made me suspicious of them and so I expected a betrayal to come which ultimately didn't, especially when Amy kept utterly disregarding what she'd been told and blabbing about what she was doing anyway.

I wanted a dramatic end and this also didn't happen, when she'd eventually moved her attention away from the men in her life and got back to the treasure hunt it was too late for any surprises. If already guessed the big secret and therefore felt the ending a little anti-climatic.

It was a good idea for a book but it wasn't very well executed. The lead character was weak and at times I found her tedious to read about, cue lots of skimming the pages. it was a shame the most interesting character was talking mostly from beyond the grave. If have liked more chapters from Aurelia telling about her secret from her perspective and although we might not have had the big secret but it might have been a better read.

All in all I was a bit disappointed by this one.