Secrets and Lies
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What an excellent read! I thoroughly agree with all the previous reviewers about the merits of this book. If you love family sagas and enjoy finding out about hidden skeletons in closets, then this book will suit you. As a previous reviewer has already suggested, there is a secret at the heart of the book. I had an idea about halfway through about what this secret might be, but I was nonetheless sufficiently intrigued to carry on reading to the very end, to find out whether I was right (I was!).
Some parts of the story were really quite heart-rending and you do find yourself drawn into this story almost from the beginning.
The only fault I could find was that, as another reviewer said,not all the loose ends are satisfyingly tied up - the reader is left dangling over what happened to Efe's wife and child, but this is only a very minor criticism. I loved this book and would recommend it to others without reservation!!
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Absorbing,enjoyable read.
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I really enjoyed this book.
The characters were totally believable and the story was really engrossing.I couldn't put it down.It was great the way the story jumped from past to present and back again.It had me guessing all the way along.The only down side for me was the Efe character - I would have like the loose ends between him and his wife tied up more as I felt I was left dangling at the end as regards to whether his marriage survived. But all in all a great read!
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Buy this book!
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What a wonderful book this is! Great characters, believable dialogue and a weaving of storylines and times that gently ease us along to the conclusions the author draws. It is almost a mystery book, with clues and tempting glimpses into what happened in the past to affect the future. Buy this book and dedicate some time to just relaxing into another world. I am very impressed and will certainly be hoping for more adult works from this author. I loved it and you will too - I guarantee it!
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Compelling, thoughtful and warm
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This is a compelling, thoughtful and warm novel that makes for an eminently satisfying read. The action is set around the extended Walsh family which is gathering together to celebrate the 75th birthday of its matriarch, Leonora, at the family home, Willow Court, home also to the beautiful paintings of Leonora's artist father, Ethan Walsh. But all families have secrets, and the Walshes are no exception--and in the course of the visit, many hidden things will come to light, and darkness lifted from many hearts.
The characters are so real and well-drawn that you feel you absolutely know them; the style is limpid, engaging, flowing, the plot tightly-structured yet subtly revealed. Though there is much unhappiness revealed, this is a very life-affirming, and love-affirming book, full of hope and forgiveness and a great compassion. It makes you glow inside. And the description of art, of the paintings themselves, and the feeling in them, is so vivid that you are sure you can see them there in front of your eyes. A delight of a read. Highly recommended.
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Light up your life with 'Facing the LIght'
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Adele Geras is a well-established and respected author who writes to a consistently high standard. This first adult novel, an adroit and delightful book, confirms the quality of her writing. All the best books have an enigma at their heart and this book has not just one but two revelations for the reader to anticipate and puzzle over. Willow Court,the country house in which the main events occur, permeates the book and has a personality in its' own right rather as Manderley does in 'Rebecca'. Adele Geras skillfully entices the reader, encouraging one to swiftly devour the book after the opening chapter, by suggesting and developing growing tensions, irregularities and questions.
The carefully drawn characters take it turns to share centre stage and their perspectives are gradually shifted and changed as Geras moves the spotlight from one to another and constantly refocuses on their characters. This helps to heighten the tensions and the tight time scale of present day events is moved on by timely flashbacks.
This is a book for a wide audience - those who love family sagas will have the pleasure of adding a new author to their reading list; readers who eagerly await new books from Adele Geras; those who read her outstanding novel for young adults, "Troy" and primarily those who like an absorbing, well written novel.
This is a cracking read. Buy it!
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