"From bestselling, beloved author Harriet Evans, a moving, page-turning saga about one family's journey across half a century - and about the extraordinary house that they call home.

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen collects her treasures - the keepsakes, figurines, and mementos that help her make sense of her fragile family. But the next day her heart is broken, and the final treasure, a gift from her father, is lost. Two years later, Alice answers a phone call from a stranger and runs away to New York, trying to forget her last golden summer at the orchard on the banks of the Hudson.

Tom Raven can't understand why he keeps losing so many of the things and people that really matter to him, but he knows for certain that something important is missing from his life. One day, he remembers a forgotten letter and makes a phone call, then leaves Sevenstones, the only place that feels like home, for a strange city.

Gripping and beautifully written, this story follows a family and a house over fifty years and three generations, of their beginning and their ending, and of finding the treasures that symbolize the most important memories in our lives."

Just the other day I was thinking how much I wanted to read a Harriet Evans book and viola, a new one!

This is an emotional rollercoaster of a book that has beautiful, lyrical prose. The author has a unique writing voice that pulled me in from the first page! There is a lot of worldbuilding/backstory so it is a bit slow but there is a point to it all!

📖 ARC Review 📖

Summary:

Two strangers. Two lives unfolding over the years. Their coming of age, their hardships, and their histories are all intricately tied together by one central thread: the Sevenstones, a home that each prominent character is connected to in some way. Follow their paths as they twist, turn, and ultimately converge. “Every family’s story starts somewhere.”

My Overall Thoughts:

Whoa this one packs an emotional gut punch. There are no happy endings here, just raw, honest explanations for broken people making broken choices that lead to broken outcomes. And yet. . .somehow, it’s really good? I’m flabbergasted too. It’s absolutely not a fun or comforting read. But I can’t deny that it’s a fantastic start to the trilogy. Think Yellowstone family drama meets Tom Lake style narrative, with a heavy dose of Charles Dickens level bleakness. It’s hard to summarize and even harder to explain but undeniably compelling. A hesitant recommend . . .with a few disclaimers.

If you’re a fan of classic literature, slow burning, multi generational sagas, and stories packed with hidden meaning and symbolism, this is for you. You need to be willing to dig deep and unafraid to stare into the uglier parts of the past though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Via for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. While it ultimately wasn’t the best fit for me I think others will love it!

My Rating: 3 ⭐️
Release date: September 2nd

What I Liked:
🍎 The Writing! The writing in this novel is beautifully done. It often felt like reading a modern classic and I could easily imagine this being assigned reading one day. Even in the moments when I was completely devastated by the storyline, I still found myself appreciating the prose and the author’s ability to hide important details in plain sight.
🍎 The Characters! It took me nearly the entire book to get there, but I did end up caring deeply about these characters. These poor, traumatized souls slowly crept under my skin. By the end, I was surprisingly emotional. The last 50 pages, especially, did some serious heavy lifting in building that emotional connection.
🍎 The Meaning! I can’t say much here without giving away major spoilers but just know that the book’s overarching message and the many life lessons woven throughout really landed for me. Subtle, powerful, and haunting.

What I Didn’t Like:
🍎 The Pacing. This might be the slowest book I’ve ever read. The author takes a lot of time to build backstories and character arcs, and I found myself repeatedly asking, “What’s the point here?” We do get there eventually but it happens much later than I’m used to. Did the pacing serve the story? Maybe. But I wasn’t quite convinced it was worth the slog.
🍎 The Trigger Warnings. This book took me by surprise more than once with its content. There are some seriously intense and disturbing elements: death, attempted SA, heavy drug use, neglect, starvation, abandonment, you name it. It’s very, very dark. Don’t be fooled by the gorgeous cover, this story is overwhelmingly heavy. If that’s not a dealbreaker for you, then yes, I think I still recommend it . . . with caution.
🍎 The Ending. After that long, emotional, and often semi torturous journey . . .we end on a cliffhanger. A CLIFFHANGER, y’all. 🤯😒 It felt like a gut punch after everything we’d been through. I get that it’s a trilogy, but still some closure would’ve been nice.

Harriet Evans is new to me. I enjoyed The Treasures and will look for more of her work. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper.

Living in the Hudson Valley and a fan of Scotland. I was thrilled to be able to read this . Beginning with Alice, a teenager coming of age, we see her struggle with life difficulties thrown at her. Followed by Tom, growing up in Scotland, he also faces his own challenges . When a chance phone call occurs between the two characters their connection begins. I was not wild about the last part of the book; I did finish it and can say the ending was predictable but satisfying.

This was a little different than other Harriet Evans books I have read. It started out really slow for me and a little hard to get into. I wanted to see how all the stories od the characters connected. It was heartbreaking what happened to Teddy and to know that it also happened to people all over during that time. In the end I am really rooting for Alice and Tom to be together.

This was a new author for me and I really liked this book. I love historical fiction so this book was right up my alley. If you love historical fiction, add this book to your TBR!