From amazon.co.uk - Willow Court is a magnificent house that preserves the art treasures of the famous Ethan Walsh, the dead patriarch of a fractured family. The mansion is the mysterious centre for this fabulous tale of love and hate, grief and passion, too many lies and, eventually, a blistering truth. The house draws the family back into its dark web where they will be forced to confront their hidden pasts. The occasion is the 75th birthday party of Ethan's daughter, the formidable Leonora. 'Don't give houseroom to shadows. Keep problems in their place.' This is Leonora's philosophy and the key to the concealment that hovers below the surface of all their lives. Leonora has been taught from childhood to keep up a pretence and ignore the dark truth that shadows her life and she passes this legacy to her descendants, with tragic consequences. Her relationships with her family and their multi-faceted interactions with each other unfold and emotional splinters are revealed as each chapter peels back layers of riveting family history. Her daughter Rilla believes that she is 'allergic' to the mother who has never been able to offer her the unconditional love she craves. Many ghosts will be waiting for Rilla's return to the family house, most painful of all that of her little son, who drowned in the lake during a fatal game of pretend. Then there is Beth, Rilla's stepdaughter, who carries a secret love for Efe, her step-cousin, and hates his wife Fiona. Alex, always trailing behind the others, is unaware of his true feelings for Beth until he witnesses her love for his faithless brother. Fiona, trapped and stifled by her love for Efe, is set to make a terrible discovery. And the frail Nanny Mouse, elderly and often confused but the silent witness to so much pain, is beginning to remember.... As the party draws nearer, will the family be able to free themselves from the bonds of their dark history by finally learning to face the light? The past and the present merge effectively, gradually piecing the many stands of the story together to create an atmospheric tale of suppressed truth and emotions.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I've read a couple of Adele Geras' books now and I quite like them. This one was a good tale with a bit of a twist. A good old family saga.

Picked this up at Meet, not from the OBCZ as the release notes suggest. I have read another book by this author, and enjoyed it. I think my Mum will probably enjoy this too, so it might be a while before it gets moving again.

I'm trying very hard to reduce my TBR pile and I have given this one a go and abandoned it according to the 50 page rule. It's obviously going to be a family saga with all the usual elements that that implies - unrequited love (or maybe not in the end?), the big rambling family home, the mystery in the past and so on. It's quite long and wasn't getting under my skin so I'm going to wild release it. Hope to do so on holiday so it has a journey!

Left on a window ledge.

Found this on 20th July on a window ledge at Carew Tidal Mill, Pembrokeshire whilst on holiday. Will read it then release :-)