The Snow Globe

It is the mid 1920s, The Great War a memory but still being very much felt by the people who live at Eden Hall but for Daisy Forbes on the cusp of something her belief in the life she has had so far is about to be shattered.

It is Christmas, a time for family for being together and for sharing in traditions, such as the snow globe that comes out every year and is one of Daisy most precious items. However everything she knows is shaken up and settles very much in a different way, just like her snow globe. Can it all return to the way it was or a brighter future?

Upon overhearing from servants that her father has a mistress and then seeing her mother invite said mistress as a guest for the Christmas season, Daisy's world and perception changes. She struggles to deal with such information and cannot understand how her mother puts up with such things and how even her older sisters seems fully aware of what is happening. Daisy is struggling to understand love and this is not helping her. 

She turns to her friend, Stephen who she has known since childhood, but he has plans of his own and they may not include still being friends with Daisy as their positions in life suddenly become very different and their social gap could widen. 

All the time she is being encouraged to settle down, to marry, not necessarily for love but perhaps for necessity. Dealing with kisses, proclamations of love and marriage proposals she does not know where to turn to seek the right advice. Her mother has gone travelling, her father she feels she cannot approach, her sisters either free spirits or already tied down with domesticity. What is the right way and if the globe is shaken once more the snow will settle exactly in the right place and then the answer will become clear. The questions she has been asking are making Daisy even more puzzled. 

This is a book which encompasses the lives of those upstairs and downstairs in a big house, where people gather and it is described in such a cinematic way that you can see it easily being transferred to a screen. Of course it is very much Daisy's story but I enjoyed her mother Mabel as she sets out to challenge convention and prove that love is worth fighting for. 

There is something about historical fiction that I am drawn to, the chosen era reflecting the storyline as this book does. The characters having the same anxieties as those today, with twists and turns as life takes us all on different paths. You learn so much about another time, another place but you also learn that love is sometimes all that is needed. This book encompasses all of that. 

A sheer joy to read.

Susan: @thebooktrailer

Snow globes are fascinating. That’s the first thing I thought of when picking up this novel to read. That miniature world encased in glass and you, like a giant looking in and wishing sometimes you were in that snowy world. Or was that just me? I digress

Anyway, a snow globe provides a very nice link to how Daisy in the novel is feeling since her world is seemingly made of glass, her world all planned and created for her, and all she has to go is to hold it in her hands. But what do you do, if you don’t want it but don’t want to smash it either? Daisy loves this snow globe but not her life - she puts it on display in Eden Hall and it’s as if she is the real object on display.

This novel is like sinking into a cushion and thinking you’re in Downton Abbey. It’s a nice slow read and much of the action surrounds Daisy and her life at Eden Hall and her journey as she grows up. The family dynamics are interesting and when the father’s mistress is invited to the dinner party, well, the fireworks outside aren’t the only ones exploding.

“ ‘Love never leaves us. It stays right here,’ she said, placing a hand to her chest. ‘And then, one day, the mist rises, everything falls into place, and its so easy to see, to understand, and one wishes one could run back through the years, back to that love.’”
Eden Hall is like that snow globe - keep it still and it looks idyllic from the outside but shake things up such as in the family and goodness knows what will result.
I always enjoy Judith’s novels and this was comforting and there’s always something about country houses and their quirks which continue to fascinate.

This book is a fantastically written family saga and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!  The writing style suits the book so well, it just flows and you really do feel as you are living back in the 1920s along with the characters. 

I particularly enjoyed Daisy as a character and the snow globe provides a very nice link to how Daisy is feeling - trapped in a world where she has no control and other people handle her future.  Daisy was given the snow globe by her father and whilst she loves and treasures it, her life at Eden Hall makes her feel as though she is the one on display - this is the first book that I have read by Judith and I will definitely be looking to read her other books, this one was a genuine pleasure to read and I've given it a solid 4 stars rating

If there is a Downton-shaped hole in your life that desperately needs filling, then look no further than Judith Kinghorn’s captivating, atmospheric and entrancing family sagas set in the earlier part of the 20th century. In her latest novel, The Snow Globe, this outstanding storyteller has penned a dazzling tale of passion, secrets and desire you are simply going to love!

In December 1926, the Forbes family are getting ready to celebrate Christmas and to hosting a dazzling Yuletide celebration at Eden Hall, their majestic family home, but eighteen year old Daisy Forbes cannot help but be worried by this strange sensation that a seismic change is in the air that is going to cause major upheaval for her and her family. As a loving daughter with a particularly close relationship to her father, Daisy has always felt safe and secure in the knowledge that she was loved and in the close bond she had with her Papa, however, when shocking secrets come to light, she realises that the man she trusted above anyone else in the world might not have been as trustworthy and honourable as she had previously thought him…

The only man Daisy can rely on is Stephen Jessop, the housekeeper’s son and the family’s chauffeur. Daisy has known Stephen almost all of her life, but recently their relationship has changed, their feelings for one another have altered and their every encounter seems fraught with tension – and an attraction sizzles between them that is becoming increasingly difficult to deny and resist! As life leads her down an increasingly fraught and confusing path where she finds herself receiving a kiss, a proposal and a declaration of love from three different men, a disconcerted and bewildered Daisy finds herself with no other option but to escape to London and try and sort out her muddled feelings.

When she finally decides to accept the hand of one of her suitors and Stephen comes back into her life, Daisy quickly realises that she has made the wrong choice. But will fate manage to bring her and Stephen together again? Or is their love simply not meant to be?

The talented Judith Kinghorn paints a vivid and colourful picture of life in Edwardian England and The Snow Globe is an addictive and engrossing family saga that I found absolutely impossible to put down. Rich in period detail, wonderfully drawn characters, drama, pathos and emotion, The Snow Globe is a spellbinding tale of family secrets, forbidden love and a changing world that I found fascinating and gripping.

The Snow Globe is a book I couldn’t stop reading and I am already eagerly waiting for the next sumptuous family saga by this first class storyteller!

The Snow Globe is a historical family drama set in a time when the country is recovered from the destruction of WWI, and a sense of newness is emerging.

The characters have all been carefully thought out, and their stories play out beautifully, flowing naturally with one another. Daisy is a young woman who is just becoming an adult and realising that being a grown up is not easy. Along with her mother, Mabel, these two women make the book exceptionally special.

As I was reading along I suddenly realised that the story had become exceptionally visual in my mind, and the images formed were very Downtown Abby-Esq. I had a real sense of satisfaction whilst reading the book as it truly captured my imagination.

I haven’t read any of Judith’s earlier work, and I’m not always a fan of historical fiction, but this book just made me want to keep reading, it engaged me with the emotions that the family were feeling and had me eager to see how the story would end.

Ms. Kinghorn has a true gift for creating compulsive and page-turning fiction. I will certainly be looking out for more of her work in the future.

I have to admit this is the first book I have read by Judith Kinghorn. So why was I pulled towards this one? Simple I just adore snow globes, they have always seemed magical to me and I used to have quite a collection. If only life was as simple as shaking one and settling it all down again.

The Snow Globe in this case was a gift to young Daisy from her father. It became a yearly fixture amid the Christmas decorations. It contained their home Eden Hall so was very personal.

As Daisy grows she learns of her fathers’ infidelity, the audacity of the mistress who will attend the Christmas festivities with them. The adoration for her father is shattered. But time moves on and Daisy begins to have romantic notions of her own. She is wooed by different men and she has to decide if any are suitable candidates for her love.

This is set c. 1926, a time when women were a delicate breed, the car was making an appearance and servants knew all the gossip.

A novel of love, family drama, secrets, coming of age with some history facts involved. The writing flows nicely, I got a bit lost with a few of the characters but once I’d got about half way in it all slots into place. Anyone fond of ‘Downton Abbey’ or ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ will really enjoy this. Does the snow globe have any significance? You will just have to read this book to discover that for yourself. I will have to investigate the author’s other books after savouring this one.

My thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for my copy which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

The Snow Globe is the first novel of Judith Kinghorn's I have read and it won't be the last. Judith has seamlessly woven two love stories together. As a history nut i couldn't wait to dive into an historical novel. The novel is set during Christmas 1926. The youngest daughter Daisy is looking forward to Christmas, discovering her fathers affair makes her feel she can not enjoy the celebrations especially when she discovers her mother has invited the mistress to be a guest at Eden Hall. If Daisy couldn't look forward to the celebrations before she certainly feels she can't now.

Three young men are all wanting Daisy's attentions and it is down to her to chose one of her suitors or none of them. This book is filled with family drama and the relationships each has with others as well as amongst themselves.

The characters are all well done and i feel a few of the supporting characters could have a novel to themselves. I couldn't find a weak character in the bunch and they all seemed 3d characters which in some novels i have read recently have been cardboard cut outs. But Judith has nailed the characterisation the historical details can not be faulted. I am looking forward to reading other novels that the author such as Echo of Twilight.

The Snow Globe is set in the mid 1920's in that period of history between the two World Wars. It reminds me of Downton Abbey with its Upstairs Downstairs feel and I particularly like how you are given different viewpoints throughout the book. The snow globe of the title is a wonderful symbol for life at Eden Hall. Daisy's sheltered life is tipped upside down after she overhears gossip about her father and it takes the whole of the book for the metaphorical snowflakes to settle again.

The writing evokes the period well, showing us the changes which women's lives have undergone. With fast cars and cocktails, the future seems harshly lit, a contrast to the tweedy country life in the country. The effects on the generation of men and women who survived the Great War and the optimism felt by the young in the 1920's are poignantly juxtaposed.

We are given a family saga of love and secrets, with all of the family dealing with the effects of past indiscretions. They are well rounded characters, particularly Daisy and her mother, Mabel and the lives of these two mirror each other as they both have to make life-changing decisions. Love is seen in many different forms and always at the centre is a sense of loss and loneliness which has to be acknowledged and worked through. Judith Kinghorn's words carry you through and by the end of the book, I was thoroughly engaged.

In short: a family saga which takes you back to the 1920's with panache.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book

Review: This was an enchanting book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Judith Kinghorn writes with a lot of death to her writing. This is the kind of book I have been waiting for, for a while. A story about a family and their trails and tribulations.

It was lovely written book with depth. The characters especially our heroine Daisy is very likeable. She has such confusing feelings and for a girl so young it is no wonder she flees. With a little mystery surrounding her love it makes the story very interesting.

I can't praise Judith enough for this book. It is delightful and the best bits for me was reading about Christmas and the preparation alongside all the family issues that occurs.

A truly wonderful book that I will come back to again and again.