The Dream House
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From the million-copy Sunday Times bestseller comes a gripping and moving story about one woman's move to the house of her dreams. Everyone has a dream of their perfect house - in the heart of the countryside, or perhaps a stately residence in the middle of a wonderful city? For Kate Hutchinson, the move to Suffolk from the tiny, noisy London terrace she shares with her husband Simon and their two young children was almost enough to make her dreams come true. Space, peace, a measured, rural pace of life have a far greater pull for Kate than the constantly overflowing in-tray on her desk at work. Moving in with her mother-in-law must surely be only a temporary measure before the estate agent's details of the perfect house fall through the letterbox. But when Kate, out walking one evening, stumbles upon the house of her dreams, a beautiful place, full of memories, it is tantalizingly out of her reach. Its owner is the frail elderly Agnes, whose story - as it unravels - echoes so much of Kate's own. And Kate comes to realize how uncertain and unsettling even a life built on dreams can be - wherever you are, at whatever time you are living and whoever you are with. Praise for Rachel Hore's novels: ‘A tour de force. Rachel's Paris is rich, romantic, exotic and mysterious’ JUDY FINNIGAN ‘An elegiac tale of wartime love and secrets’ Telegraph ‘A richly emotional story, suspenseful and romantic, but unflinching in its portrayal of the dreadful reality and legacy of war’ Book of the Week, Sunday Mirror 'Pitched perfectly for a holiday read' Guardian 'Engrossing, pleasantly surprising and throughly readable' SANTA MONTEFIORE 'A beautifully written and magical novel about life, love and family' CATHY KELLY
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This was my first book by author Rachel Hore. The beauty of the cover art enticed me as it promised hidden delights within and it didn't disappoint.
This is Kate's story, as she and her husband Simon move out of city for family life in the country. Kate stumbles across and old house and forging a bond with it's elderly owner Agnes finds that they may be linked more than they could have every thought possible. And what of Agnes's family home, why does Kate feel she's been there before and why does it feel like home.
This book is beautifully written, it gives up it's story little by little. Building throughout to a nice, but perhaps transparent, conclusion. The author takes the tale of Kate for the main part and mixes it with flashbacks to the life of Agnes in her youth.
For me personally the flashbacks were evocative and a lovely part of the book and could have been used a little more. I could have read about Agnes all day and her family with their mix of relationships. The story instead stays mainly with Kate and the struggles she finds adapting to her new life and the ultimate devastation it bring.
This book was one I struggled to put down. I wanted to keep going and uncovering more of Agnes's story and finding out her secrets. This made it a hugely enjoyable and interesting read. Highly recommended and Hore is an author I will now look forward to reading more of. She reminds me a lot of Kate Morton and that is high praise indeed.
This is a new author for me and I was pleasantly surprised! This is a well written, sweet and thoroughly enjoyable Summer read!!