Great read!
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I got really engrossed in this book. Although I haven't yet read the first two books about Swallowcliffe Hall, it's a great read on its own.
While visiting her Granny at the Hall in 1939, Izzie meets a boy who has escaped from persecution in Germany. She falls in love, but her mother warns her that its not a good idea with someone from a different background. Izzie discovers that her mother has a secret reason for giving the advice.
The story is good in helping you imagine what it would have been like to live just before World War II. There are loads of interesting everyday details plus an exciting plot showing how fear and prejudice can bring out the worst in people. Sometimes Izzie feels helpless against powerful adults, but doesn't give up and turns out to have more influence than she thinks. In fact, I'd call her a true heroine!
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Satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy
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This, the third book in the Swallowcliffe Hall trilogy, is set in the time immediately before World War 2, and perfectly captures the atmosphere of general apprehension and suspicion. It centres on the granddaughter of the heroine of the first book in the trilogy, "House of Secrets", and alongside an exciting new storyline reintroduces characters from the first two books and solves some old mysteries. Altogether it is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, so if you haven't read the first two books, I urge you to do so before you start on this one. Together they give readers an excellent understanding of life "downstairs" from 1889 to 1939, before life changed forever in big country houses like Swallowcliffe Hall. I can thoroughly recommend all three books.
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The best book I have read for a long time
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The Shelter from the Storm is the perfect finish to the Swallowcliffe Hall trilogy. It is about Polly's granddaughter, Isobel, who is staying at Swallowcliffe Hall just as the Second World War is beginning to break out. Isobel befriends a Jewish boy who has fled from Nazi Germany but he is still in trouble. The Hall is in awful condition and when a terrible event happens people fall ill and the manor house may never recover. Jennie Walters not only grips the reader but also teaches them of life in the 1930's. This historical novel is full of excitment and adventure and I couldn't put it down, I would reccomend it to anyone.
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