Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing an ARC on NetGalley!

Pub date: 7/19/22
Genre: family drama, mystery
In one sentence: Half-sisters Kat, Flora, and Lauren are summoned to Rock Point, their father's house, and the secrets of 20 years ago are primed to come out.

I love books about sisters, and these characters were even more interesting to me because each half-sister had a different mother. So they are drawn together as sisters, but also forever apart due to the differences and competition among their mothers. There's also an art element to the story, as the sisters' father is a painter.

The secrets unspooled at a good pace in the dual timelines, and I guessed a bit of what would happen, but there was still plenty to surprise me! I think gothic mystery readers will enjoy this one - it was great fun to travel to Cornwall via this book. I'm planning to check out some of Eve Chase's previous work!

The Birdcage by Eve Chase was beautifully haunting! I fell in love with Eve’s writing when I read Black Rabbit Hall and I have been reading her ever since. I love how Eve did a slow build with the Birdcage. I love that she did this because it really immersed me into the Finch family.
Eve Chase truly writes amazing! Her storytelling is so unique and unlike anything else. This is why I will read all her books!

This definitely has the goth vibes with the artistic father, family house on a cliff and constant storms. Plus we have the mystery of what happened in 1999 to Lauren. Family dynamics are always interesting and siblings even more so, especially when each sister grew up very differently.

This novel is about three half sisters, Flora, Kat, and Lauren, who all share the same artist father but had different mothers. It alternates not just between their viewpoints, but between two different time periods - 1999, when the girls are teenagers staying at the family home on the coast in Cornwall, and 2019, when they are summoned back by their father to the house that they haven’t been to in 20 years, stirring up all kinds of issues. We know from the start that something traumatic happened in 1999, but it takes most of the book to find out what, and everyone has various other secrets as well.

It was a little slow going, but I enjoyed it and the mystery was good, and if I guessed a few of the revelations before they happened, it was still pretty satisfying.

I have been a huge fan of Eve Chase ever since her debut novel Black Rabbit Hall, a 5 star book for me which made my top ten of 2016. I can’t lie, that one is still my favorite though I have enjoyed her three other books as well, this one included. Her books are always mystery/suspense with two time periods, like this one, but in the other three, the earlier story line is set further in the past which makes them more what I would call dual time historical fiction. So I’d say her other three books are more akin to Kate Morton, while this one is maybe more like Lisa Jewell if that makes sense. Both great authors, my expectations were just a tad off going into this one.

The Birdcage is a mystery/thriller that follows three half-sisters and the backstory leading up to a traumatic event on the day of a total eclipse in 1999. With two separate timelines, it also dives into each of their relationships with their famous artist father, and with one other. There’s quite a few secrets the sisters are holding back, and not to mention who else might know them???

And there’s yet another important character here.. “Rock Point,” their fathers remote house in Cornwall IS a story in itself.. giving off all those atmospheric creepy, gothic vibes. I always enjoy how Eve Chase writes these wonderfully nostalgic stories that so easily bring out all your emotions.
3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub. 7/19/22

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Beautiful and haunting. I loved it. Had a bit of a slow start and I wasn’t sure where it was going, but as the tension slowly built, I felt myself getting dragged deeper and deeper into the lives of the Finch Family members. A bit dark and almost hazy in parts, the mood of the writing is perfect. Initially I wasn’t sure I liked the writing style, but by the end, I was ordering Eve Chase’s other books!
4.5 stars

I adored Black Rabbit Hall and The Wilding Sisters and was thrilled to read this. It has some of the same elements but didn’t help for me. Some of the things from the summer of 1999 I guessed very early. Things are revealed at the very end but it feels anticlimactic by then. I also had trouble connecting with the motivations of the characters and found things inconsistent. I am bummed this one didn’t work for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of The Birdcage. I absolutely loved this book. The characters were well written and the storyline kept me turning the pages well into the night. I highly recommend this book

If you’re looking for a mysterious time slip novel that is thick with sibling rivalry and family dysfunction set in a gothic-like seaside house then this is the book for you. Three sisters all with different mothers bonded together by an eccentric artist father and an incident that has haunted them for 20 years. Two of the sisters are tight but one has always struggled being on the outside of their twosome. When they all come back to the seaside ancestral home for a reunion, they start to see signs that someone else knows about what really happened one fateful ecliptic night. The author does a great job of keeping a haunting atmosphere throughout the book. With unreliable characters giving three different points of view, the reader is constantly trying to see what the truth is and what are just lies that have become time passed truths. While there are times that I found the back and forth between the characters and times difficult to follow, the mystery kept my reading. A bit of a slow start, the twists and turns are worth the effort to continue reading this mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and The Penguin Group for an advanced ecopy for an honest review.

Three women whose one link is their famous artist father and his most famous painting. Eve Chase takes the time to build a complete picture of each of the characters in the book, so it may seem a little slow at the beginning, but it's well worth it when the story heats up. The story drew me in until there was no way I was not staying up to finish and my sleep sacrifice was so worth it!

Three Sister, a Forbidding Mansion, and a Secret

Flora, Kat and Lauren are three sisters with three mothers. Charles Finch, the girls’ father, is a famous artist who had overlapping relationships that produced the daughters. For years each daughter has been busy with her own life. Now Lauren’s mother, Dixie, is dead and Charles has asked them all to come back to Rock Point for an important announcement.

The sisters have not been back to Rock Point since 1999 and the night of the eclipse. Things happened that night that they’re all desperate to forget most of all Lauren the youngest and the most disturbed by the events of that night. Once back, the story starts to come out and nothing anyone can do will stop it.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric novel. The old house situated on the rocky coast of Cornwall is forbidding. It adds the perfect touch of menace to the evolving story. I loved the descriptions of the coast. It made the atmosphere perfect.

Flora, Kate, and Lauren are good heroines. Despite having three different mothers, the sisters have managed to bond. Lauren has the most trouble returning to the house remembering that her older sisters seemed fierce and somewhat threatening when she was a child.

The mystery is revealed in tantalizing glimpses throughout the novel. It keeps you reading to find out what happened so long ago. If you enjoy romance and mystery with a Gothic flair, you’ll enjoy this book.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

The Birdcage by Eve Chase is a compelling read. The book sets you on edge from the start, but takes too long to get to the mystery of what happened in 1999. It takes place in two timelines keeping you guessing what happened in 1999 that is impacting the current timeline of 2019. The book centers around three estranged half sisters Lauren, Flora, and Kat that are the daughters of Charlie Finch. Charlie is an artist and has many paintings, his most famous with all three girls and a birdcage.

All three girls are summoned to Rock Point where they spent their summers in their youth. This is where their grandparents lived.. They have mostly good memories from that time. There's also a parrot that remembers a lot of things that are said now and in the past. Charlie asks them all to come to break some news to them. All three girls decide to go reluctantly. There's something about Rock Point that makes them not want to go, especially Lauren. What happened at Rock Point in 1999 that makes the girls hesitant to go? Will the girls find their way back to each other or stay estranged? Will they grow closer to Charlie? Why does Charlie want them there? These questions will keep you reading the book.

There are secrets that all of the characters in the book are keeping. It does get a bit confusing keeping everything straight with 5 characters in two different timelines. I would've preferred a more direct telling of the story. The best part of the book is the last 20%. It was really good and I wish the rest of the book had been as good. I would recommend this book if you like drama, but I wouldn't consider it a thriller.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Three half-sisters, daughters of artist Charlie Finch, meet in his Cornwall home for a homecoming full of dark secrets, much of them surrounding an solar eclipse causing trauma that has to be handled. Well written book about sisterhood and the ties that bind them.

In 1999 there was a total eclipse, and 3 half-sisters witness it, along with a disaster that upends their lives. 20 years later, they return to the family home on the Cornish coast at their fathers request. Many secrets and twists are revealed.

I have enjoyed Eve Chase’s previous novels, Black Rabbit Hall and The Daughter of Foxcote Manor, so was delighted to see The Birdcage was available.

The Birdcage is typical of Ms. Chase’s books. Family dramas with a Gothic twist The story., follows the three daughters of a famous artist Kat, Flora and Lauren, all three born of different mother’s. Their father Charles calls them all back to the family home for a reunion. All three daughters were traumatized by an unknown event when they were children. The novel takes place in two time periods the past and the present, As the daughters meet up again, old jealousies and secrets are slowly revealed. As usual with Ms. Chase’s novels the getting to the twist is the fun part. I enjoy her storytelling and the Cornish setting was a delight as well.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a gothic tale to while away an evening.

Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Group and the author for the chance to read and review this book.

The birdcage is a well written family drama with a solid mystery that takes place in a fairly creepy house with an even more unsettling family pet.
Flora, Lauren, and Kat are half sisters who share a philandering father, who is a famous artist. After years apart, the girls are invited to their family home at the request of their father. While there, secrets are uncovered about his most famous painting and their family.
I really liked this one! Eve Chase is a solid writer and I really enjoy her books

Half sisters, Lauren, Flora, and Kat are returning to Rock Point in Cornwall. They spent many summers there with their father, renowned artist, Charlie Finch, and grandmother. They have wonderful memories of playing on the beach and around the house. Their grandmother always made them delicious food and being with their father was terrific. There was also an African grey parrot that talks and has been around for years and still going strong. Their father painted a picture of the three girls next to a large birdcage that became famous. They were all looking forward to a total eclipse in the near future. But something terrible happened that has kept the sisters away from Rock Point for 20 years. Now, Charlie has requested that they return for a few days’ reunion as he has something to tell them.

OK. There comes a time when my patience is stretched to its limits. This book was ridiculous. The switching between the characters and events was the most confusing thing ever. There are some other books I have read this year that are written it this convoluted way that are not at all entertaining, but simply irritating. The flowery descriptions were so overdone that they became almost humorous. I read this author’s book “Black Rabbit Hall” and also found it dark and depressing just like this one. Sorry. Just not for me.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Three half sisters, a 20 year old secret, eccentric father with his own secrets and more. Set at their father's home, Rock Point, on the coastline of Cornwall.

The Birdcage is a very slow burn centered around mystery and half sisters trying to understand themselves, their past and their father. The sisters are hard to distinguish between in voice though they each have varting backgrounds. With their narrative voice sounding so similar (not audiobook; how they are written in reaction, speech and thought) it was hard to differentiate between them at times.

It takes until the end of the story to unravel what happens and a lot of what happens between the dualing timelines of 1999 and 2019 didn't keep a lot of my attention. Slow burns like this aren't mysteries that I connect with well. I think readers who enjoy the more domestic unravelings of novels like this will love what Chase created in these pages. I personally adored The Daughters of Foxcote Manor and will continue to look for more by Eve Chase.

Thank you to the G.P. Putnam's Sons for the gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.

Flora, Kat and Lauren are half-sisters, their charismatic father a well-known artist. They are quite close in age, Charlie Finch having cheated on each of their mothers. They didn’t see each other very often growing up except during their summers together at their grandparents’ home in Cornwall. One summer, during which their father famously painted them sitting together on a sofa next to a large birdcage, something terrible happened, and they haven’t been back since. Now, their father is insisting they come to Rock Point, saying he has an important announcement to make.

Lauren in particular is not eager to go back. Just thinking about that summer — the total eclipse that brought crowds of tourists to the beach; the making of that masterpiece, Girls and Birdcage; her aversion to her grandmother’s parrot, which is still alive 20 years later; those insistent and uncomfortable feelings of being out of place with her older two sisters — brings back more anxiety than she may be able to handle. But she dutifully travels from London out to the large vacation home, this time in the cold of winter.

The three women are happy to see each other, but they are wary about their father’s motivations. And being in that house unsettles them. The big topic they have stepped around for years is hanging over them. On top of that, they start receiving anonymous notes. Someone is watching them, blaming them for the tragedy they don’t want to talk about.

But the only way to heal their wounds is to finally be open about what happened, about whatever parts they played. And finally, the three women learn there is more to the story than even they knew.

The Birdcage is another very satisfying story of a family with buried secrets being forced to face them years later. Eve Chase is adept at this genre; I read this because I appreciated the other two books like this I’ve read of hers: The Wildling Sisters and The Daughters of Foxcote Manor (which apparently is also called The Glass House). I just think I preferred those other two a bit more because they were only rated moderate, rather than high.

Set against the atmospheric backdrop of a family estate in Cornwall, Ms. Chase gives her readers another gothic to savor. With a captivating storyline, Chase explores the bonds of family and the consequences of long buried secrets. Like peeling away the layers of an onion, the author skillfully discards the facade each family member has hidden behind, revealing their true selves.

"It's the secret they forged here twenty years ago that's pushed them apart as it's run through each day of their lives since. In each other they see too much of the worst of themselves."

I actually found many of the family members totally unlikable but was enthralled by the developing family dynamics as their journey to face the past would allow them to find the strength to move on into the future. While I guessed the main mystery fairly early in the story, the smaller twists made the reading journey enjoyable.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the author/ publisher through Netgalley. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.