I usually don't see the comparisons to other authors as being especially valuable - too often I don't see it, or it causes me to have different expectations of a book. However, in this one, I do see the comparison to Kate Morton as being accurate.

I was just talking to a friend the other day about authors that publish 2-3 books per year vs the ones who publish a book every 2-3 year (I'm looking at you, Kate Morton) and if it really makes you more anxious for the next book or if you actually start to forget about them. Kate Morton is a bit of both for me - I forget about her, but then if I see she's published something new, I'll read it and remember why I liked her so much.

But there's really been no one else like her for me, especially since I love period pieces where they go back and forth in time.

The Wilding Sisters follows this formula. You bounce between the story of the four Wilde girls who are sent to the country to stay with a grieving aunt and creepy uncle. As they find excitement with the local boys, their relationships start to change as love and jealousy intrude on their close bond.

Margot is obsessed with her cousin's disappearance and cannot stop focusing on what happened to Audrey. The village folk seem to already have convicted her Uncle even though there was no evidence that he had anything to do with it, and her Aunt seems to be mistaking Margot for her missing daughter, all of which make for an awkward summer.

Meanwhile in present day, Jesse has moved into Applecote Manor with her daughter, stepdaughter and weekend visiting husband. Her stepdaughter is focused on the missing girl from the past, and seems to hate both Jesse and her baby girl.

I never like to give spoilers, and there were mysteries in both storylines. But (spoiler alert), one part that I didn't care for was why would Audrey's killer first offer one story of how she died, then give a totally different one to the same person the next day? I kind of understood in the first story it was presented as an accident, but really in the second story, it could have been an accident too, it's never determined that it was purposeful. Or I missed something.

The one problem with the time jump novels is that just when you get into one section, you get pulled into the next time without much warning. It can be a little jarring at times, and I was definitely more interested in the past than the present. But overall, it was really good, and I'll watch for Eve Chase's next book. I wonder if it will be 2-3 years away.

Such a beautifully, haunting story. I was obsessed from the first sentence.

This book is sad and creepy initially, but then as the story unfolds, readers receive more information and it all sorts itself out.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my favorite summer reads. An endearing family drama with a “who done it?” thrown in. The book was well written with well developed characters. The story line kept my interest all the way to the end.

I love the style of writing she used. The first page starts with a body being dragged outside and you are left guessing who was killed and what lead up to it. The story unfolds alternating between a family in the past and the family in the present. I enjoyed looking for the similarities between the families and seeing how they will merge in the end and solve the mystery.

If you liked Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty you will enjoy The Wilding Sisters. The first page of the Three Sisters starts with triplets enjoying their birthday celebration at a restaurant. You do not know the girls names yet. Bickering ensues and one of the sisters throws a fork at another and it lands in the pregnant belly of one of the sister. The story continues alternating the point of view of the sisters and bystanders.

Past and present, family drama at its best. The book starts present day and the unkept condition of Applecote Manor and a body. The four grown sisters each with their own problems and the past where sisters close as one unit become divided by the disappearance of their cousin and who is ultimately responsible for that event is only hinted at thru most of the story until the reveal. Great read about family dynamics and how one event can change your life forever. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.

This is my first experience reading Eve Chase, though Black Rabbit Hall is on my TBR. Chase has mastered the art of suspense, weaving a story into two timelines that pull you in like a spiders web. Beginning with a murder, a dragged out body, the sweat and swelter of summer, and the intoxicating and claustrophobic closeness that is the bond between the Wildling Sisters. Chase also has the exquisite talent of turning the very setting of the novel into a character; Applecote Manor is both setting and antagonist. While I read this quickly, the pace is slow and simmering like summer days in the 50's, when times were simpler and days felt longer. There were a few mysteries in this novel for me, naturally there is Audrey, there is a murder, there are questions you have that never quite get answered and that's okay; they aren't ones that you really want answers too. Chase balances past with present to keep you guessing, but she doesn't seem to favor one timeline over the other. Like most readers I found the past timeline and story to be a bit more compelling than the modern story line, however both serve their purpose in this novel. Hands down once this comes out in July everyone should read it.

As with most fiction that narrates two different stories, you get caught up with one and sometimes get frustrated by having to switch to the other one. The Wildling Sisters is an interesting tale which follows four sisters in the 50's and a modern family living in a house full of memories. It is easy to get attached to the sisters' different personalities and see them develop different attitudes toward love, a mysterious disappearance and growing up. The modern family version, told by the mother, Jessie, is however filled with her insecurities and just makes you wonder where this book is going; supernatural, mystery, mother/daughter relationship?
I enjoyed this book who provided a good twist but thought it was slow to get into.

Let me tell you now, folks, The Wildling Sisters by Eve Chase is a summer release you are going to want to pick up. This book captivated me from the very first page. It begins in 1959 at Applecote Manor in Cotswolds, England with the Wilde sisters dragging a body through the landscape. This haunting tale combines past and present perspectives, diverging in the end, to reveal the story of a young girl who unexpectedly vanished. The walls of Applecote Manor haven't changed much in decades, but the secrets within are silently screaming to get out. It will only take the right person to uncover them.

I cannot rave enough about this novel, as it had numerous elements I loved. To begin with, the cover is instantly eye-catching. When I look at it, I want to know the story the girls are going to tell. What are they up to? What secrets lie behind their eyes? It has such an interesting mystery, just like the pages to follow. I'm also enamored by stories set in England, especially the countryside; I love the written prose of British English; and enjoy reading about the quirks of life in Great Britain. Though this story was set in a beautiful place, it had a haunted feel throughout. I imagined the house speaking the sounds, thoughts, and feelings of its previous occupants.
The alternation between the past and present allowed such an enticing story to follow, as both perspectives were equally interesting to me. In the past, the Wilde sisters, endearingly known as the Wildling's are spending an unpleasantly warm summer at their aunt and uncle's home in Cotswolds as their mother goes to find work in Morocco. The sisters come to the manor living and breathing as one unit, but by the end of the summer find their relationship strained by the mystery surrounding their cousin's disappearance and the growing up they individually experience throughout the summertime.
Fast forward to present day, Jessie is desperate to start a new life away from the hustle and bustle of London with her husband, young daughter, and her challenging step-daughter, Bella. Applecote Manor seems to be just the ticket to create the family dynamic Jessie has been dreaming of, until she discovers the house may have more secrets than her small blended family.

Tidbits about the past are revealed though each viewpoint, keeping the plot always interesting. I could not put this book down, not even because I was anxious to find out the mystery behind Audrey's disappearance (of course, I was), but simply because I enjoyed the enveloping feel of this story. I haven't been completely drawn into a novel in ages, feeling like I'm living out the movie of the story in my head. Eve Chase's writing was like travelling through time and across the ocean to an eerie place I wasn't quite ready to leave. Her similes were thought provoking and expressive, the imagery made me feel like I was there, and the voices of her characters were realistic in the best possible way. Simply, this is well-written tale worth reading immediately. It has quickly taken over the top place as my favorite book of this genre for 2017.

Pick up this book when it releases on July 25th! The Wildling Sisters will send just enough chills up your spine to keep you cool this summer.


Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin/Putnam for allowing 5171 Miles Book Blog to review this novel.

Alternating between past and present events has become very mainstream in novels today, but only sometimes does it work. Here is one example.

Over fifty years past, four sisters sent to live with their aunt and uncle in a fog of their missing cousin, unravel truths to reveal the ultimate fate of Audrey.

Today, a new young family moves into the same house and discovers the importance the histories of a home can make to family.

Greatly written, a story to share for sure.

Told in a dual timeline, it was very easy to follow the story. Mainly because it starts out in the 1950's, so most of the people are still alive over 50 years later when a new family buys Applecote. Jessie, new wife and mother plus step-mother to a snotty teen-aged daughter whose own mother died a few years. Will is Jessie's husband and Bella's father as well as the new little girl, Romy.

The house seems to be alive, breathing as it contracts and constricts, seemingly at will. Something bad has happened in this house  And it feels like they may have made a horrible mistake.

Margot is the voice we hear of the four sisters. The story of that last fateful summer at Applecote and how all of their lives were drastically changed forever.

The writing is easy to read, there is a good flow to it and the characters are all flawed in some way and yet in a way that only family can do, they find the truth and come out on the other side much different from when they came to the house.

I love the title and cove and I hope you will give this one a read! A good summer escape read!

Books,Books and More Books Reviews thanks Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this lovely read!

Much like Black Rabbit Hall, this has an incredible Gothic feel that permeates the story, except this time it does so in both timelines. This time, I felt more for the modern protagonist than the historical one(s), but overall it was more balanced between timelines than Chase's first work. It's definitely hard to put down, and I will surely pick up her next novel of crumbling families (after the Wildes and the Altons) and crumbling estate houses (after Black Rabbit Hall and Applecote Manor). It's amazing how she can take the same concepts and write such different stories!

“You have a splinter of ice in your heart, Pam.”

“And you, my strange little sister…” she holds the paperweight up to the light and turns it so slowly that the cobalt swirl of colored glass in its center seems to move, like a girl twisting, dancing in a blue dress. “You have a ghost in yours.”

In 1959, while their unconventional mother takes the opportunity to work in Morocco, a much welcomed break from single parenting, the Wildling Girls ( Isla, Violet, Maggie and Dot) are sent for the summer to Applecote Manor in the Cotwalds. Their cousin Audrey’s disappearance has left their aunt and uncle changed in different ways, and there are secrets, ‘omissions’ that plunge the family into darkness. Margot’s presence, her secret explorations in her beloved missing cousin’s rooms sets off strange behavior in her aunt Sybil. The emotional state of her aunt is the most sorrowful weight of the entire novel, the terrifying confusion of loss, the denial of cold reality and the hungry need to transfer the longing for her missing daughter unto Margot. Hope will not die in Sybil’s heart, she can’t leave Applecote, not when her every living breath is electric with the possibility that Audrey could return at any moment. Margot loved Audrey in a way the other sisters didn’t, sharing a private world that left the other sister’s out, someone all for herself until Audrey began to blossom, she adored her daring cousin. Their last summer together Audrey was changing, and how could she have guessed it would be her final goodbye. “Audrey’s home life seemed to me like a never-ending birthday party, albeit without any other guests- until we arrived.” Needing truth, not the evasiveness of the adults, Margot wants to pick of the remains of Audrey’s life. What better place than her room, untouched by the years of her absence?

The sisters are thick as thieves, even in their sisterly pestering of one another, there is love but with the arrival of young men, loyalties will be tested. As their mother always said, ‘Your face must be your fortune, girls, ” Ma will say with a shrug. “I won’t pretend otherwise.” But what does that mean for Margot, the less memorable of the daughters? What happens when she gets a taste of attention, just how dangerous can passion be? The sister’s yearning may lead them astray, risk their very lives or fray their ties to each other. One thing is certain, they will be haunted by this summer for years to come.

Current day, Jess has come to said home to escape life in London and her husband’s deceased wife Mandy, whose presence is still alive everywhere she looks in their home. Mandy, much more glamorous and put together than messy, earthy, girl next door Jess,who can’t help but feel inferior to his former wife. Her step-daughter Bella isn’t about to let Jess usurp her mother’s memory, nor is she willing to let Jess love her. All she wants is things back to the way they once were, when it was just Bella and her father Will. Forced together at Applecote, Jess starts to fear for her daughter Romy and sees troubling behavior in young Bella. Could she really want to harm her half sister? Jess has been spiraling out of control, and the countryside doesn’t seem to be helping her one bit. Nothing does, not therapy and she certainly doesn’t want to take the hand Jess has been reaching out to her. What is Jess to do, isolated with a teenager she doesn’t trust, and often fears? Will is never home, he doesn’t see the things in Bella that Jess does. And what of the home’s past, that seems to be haunted by reminders, pictures, pieces to a puzzle that have been left unsolved for decades. Bella won’t let the things she hears die, she intends to find out the truth about their new home, disrupting the past- the hopeful escape and new beginning Jess was hoping for, which may well be eclipsed by darkness.

This is an engaging tale from past to present, a summer of passion and longing, fear and mystery and the ghosts that tail us through time. Everyone is haunted by something. I enjoyed the present day story but really wanted to spend my time in the past with the Wildling Sisters.

Publication Date: July 25, 2017

Penguin

The Wildling Sisters is a very well written book. I loved the plot, characters and setting. I really enjoyed this author's writing and definitely will be reading more of her work.

4 stars--I really liked it.

I read Chase's first book, Black Rabbit Hall, and liked it, and I think I liked this one even more.

These dual-timeline novels have a formula to them (one which I enjoy): a dramatic secret in the past leads to healing and character growth in the future. This one follows the formula, but with the added bonus of the "past" story taking place in the late 1950s, which means the players were alive in the "present" narrative as well, contributing to both stories.

With this book, I enjoyed the story and character in both timelines. I thought characterization was nicely done and pacing was good.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

THIS WAS SO GOOD. Normally I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this was paired nicely with the psychological thriller category, one of my favorite genres. Eve Chase has a way of really making you immerse yourself into the story and I actually felt like I was right there along with the sisters. Highly recommend!

A delicious gothic story set at Applecote, an english country manor where in 1959 the Wilde sisters come to spend the summer with their aunt and uncle, whom are still reeling after the disappearance of their daughter Audrey, five years ago. The spirit of Audrey is everywhere and the sisters close bonds are tested as they're drawn into their cousins disappearance with secrets and jealousies revealed. A deadly secret at summers end unite them once more, but their lives are forever changed.
Fifty years later Jesse and her family move to Applecote Manor hoping the country will provide them with a fresh start. Will and Jesse have married after the death of his first wife, added a new baby, and his daughter Bella is not reacting well. Their life is not smooth at Applecote and Bella is swept up into the old mystery.
A page turning, suspenseful novel with richly created characters, twisting plot, and setting. A delicious shivery tale.

Eva Chase's The Wildling Sisters, started like book that could be written by Barbara Erskine, with the story running parallel in past and in present and with the subtle hint about some paranormal activities maybe, but it really was more like Kate Morton books, with past and present and with secrets that can not be buried for forever.

The story has very good structure, every reader has opportunity to test their detective skills and it's till full of surprises. And the relationships between sisters and stepparents are written very enchantingly.

It was really good read, there was nothing missing and nothing was excessive.

Two stories, past and present, alternate both centering on a remote home in the Cotswold's called Applecote Manor. In the past, the 4 Wilde sisters spend the summer at the house with their aunt and uncle which is overshadowed by the disappearance of their cousin several years earlier. In the present story, Jessie tries to compete with the memory of her husbands first wife and a hostile stepdaughter.

This was a bit of a slow starter, but the characters grew on me and I was drawn into both stories.

Thanks PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and netgalley for this ARC.

Everyone can relate to this novel in some way. Family and friends love, fight, make-up, but it's the secrets that make this novel juicy and stand out from the rest.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved how we saw stories from past and present. We learn about the four Wilde sisters that previously lived in the Manor that Will and Jessie currently reside. They have a major secret of what happened to Audrey. We also have the story of Jessie trying to connect to her Stepdaughter. Intriguing and cleverly written. I very much enjoyed seeing past and present collide. Very well done