- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 2025 KB
- Print Length: 440 pages
- Publisher: Ebury Digital (27 Jun. 2019)
- Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B07HMJJFHW
Synopsis
Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It’s also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from…
Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning home with her young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead.
While Trudy tries to do her best for her son, she must also attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother. And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present…
Review
When I got the offer to be part of the blog tour for The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman I jumped at the chance having read and loved many of Rowan Coleman’s previous books. The Girl at the Window is set in the beautiful Yorkshire Moors, and follows Trudy, who with her young son, Will, moves back to her childhood home after her surgeon husband goes missing, presumed dead in Peru. Returning home has it’s own problems, Trudy doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother and her childhood home, Ponden Hall is in serious need of renovation. But this house has secrets, of inhabitants past and present, and treasures hidden within it’s walls all waiting for Trudy to come and find them.
Once I started The Girl at the Window I was even more excited than when I got the invite to take part in the blog tour; this book is an homage to one of all time favourite authors, Emily Bronte. The setting of Howarth is somewhere I have visited many times, and Rowan Coleman’s writing brought it back to life for me; the steep walk up to the Parsonage, and the beautiful Top Withen’s, the inspiration for Wuthering Heights and the stunning views over the moors (I am such a huge Bronte fan that one of my dogs is called Bronte). As well as the obvious references to Emily Bronte, there are also subtle references like Marcus having the surname Ellis, and his home is Castle Ellis. The detailed descriptive prose and multi layered plot line, with the plot moving from present day, and to the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, make this such a gripping and engaging read that once started you won’t want to put down.
The chapters are narrated by Trudy, with occasional chapters looking back at her relationship with her husband Abe, and chapters telling the story of Agnes who lived at Ponden Hall in the seventeenth century, but whose voice is strong throughout the plot. I really felt for Trudy as a character, her son won’t accept his dad is dead and she doesn’t want to take his hope away even though Abe probably couldn’t have survived the crash. The relationship with her mother is difficult, but through the chapters looking back at her relationship with Abe we find out what happened and Trudy finds out the secrets her mother has been keeping, and they start to learn more about each other. Trudy enlists the help of Marcus Ellis with the renovations of Ponden Hall. Marcus seems a good friend, who shares many of the same interests as Trudy, but I always felt a sense of unease where he was concerned. However, I would have married him for the library. he had at Castle Ellis; a book lovers heaven. The other main character in this book is Ponden Hall. It is a living, breathing thing, a place where Trudy and Will can heal and feel safe, at a difficult time in their lives. It also begins to reveal secrets to Trudy about her favourite author Emily Bronte, that put her on a treasure hunt that also reveals more of the houses history with the help of it’s ghosts.
The Girl at the Window combines historical fiction, contemporary fiction with a ghost story seamlessly. I found this to be a haunting and spine tingling read with beautifully descriptive writing, that brings both the past and present to life. This is a book about family, hope, love and home, values that cross the centuries of those who have lived in and visited Ponden Hall. The Girl at the Window is a gripping, beautiful and addictive read and another one to add to your ever growing book shelves; stunningly sublime.
I would like to thank Anne Cater and Edbury Press and Penguin Books for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for an honest and impartial review.
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