by Kate Morton, 2015
Loved this book! Suggested by Christie. Set in Cornwall, England, in WWI, WWII, and modern days (2003). Wonderful setting – a beautiful lake house in Cornwall, near the sea. Interesting characters: a spinster mystery writer and her sisters and mother and father, and a precious baby brother who disappears and is never found. After 70 years, a young detective, Sadie Sparrow, reopens the case and by doing so, dark secrets are divulged which end up being simple misunderstandings and many, many questions are answered and healing and happiness in the end. Love the setting – I want to go to Cornwall! Love the characters-at first I thought there would be so many that I wouldn’t be able to remember who is who, but you end up knowing each character deeply! Loved the mystery-so many possibilities but it ends up being the best one. Loved the ending – Everyone lives happily ever after. Great book!
Also touches on shell shock and its aftermath.
I liked this line near the beginning of the book: “Her father had once said that the poor might suffer poverty, but the rich had to contend with uselessness, and there was nothing like idleness to eat away at a person’s soul.”
And along those same lines: “‘My father, Mrs. deShiel, has seen, as have I, what becomes of bored, privileged men who’ve been spared the effort of wage earning. I don’t plan to spend my days sitting around looking for ways to fill the stretch of time. I want to help people. I intend to be useful.”