Book talk: Books I read this spring

As I predicted when I wrote about the books I read this winter, I’ve read much  less in spring than I did during the previous season. Which is normal, since spring beckons me outdoors and I start spending time puttering around in our yard. I went through a total of 4 books during spring and I have to say that I really enjoyed reading all of them.

The Winter Folly by Lulu Taylor

From the book blurb:

In this house there are many secrets . . .

It is 1965 and young Alexandra Crewe obediently marries the man her father has selected for her. But very soon both she and her husband Laurence realize that their marriage is a disaster. When real love finds Alexandra, plucking her out of her unhappy existence, she is powerless to resist. Her home becomes Fort Stirling, a beautiful Dorset castle, but Alexandra fears that there will be a price to pay for this wonderful new life. When tragedy strikes, it seems that her punishment has come, and there is only one way she can atone for her sins . . .

In the present day, Delilah Young is the second wife of John Stirling and the new chatelaine of Fort Stirling. The house seems to be a sad one and Delilah hopes to fill it with life and happiness. But when she attempts to heal the heartbreak in John's life, it seems that the forces of the past might be too strong for her. Why does John have such a hatred for the old folly on the hill, and what happened to his mother when she vanished from his life? As Delilah searches for the truth, she realizes that perhaps some secrets are better left buried . . .

This is the second book by Lulu Taylor that I read this year and I enjoyed it much more than the first one. I found the characters to be more relatable and the lingering aura of suspense coupled with that nagging feeling that some tragic event must have taken place at Fort Stirling made this book quite a page-turner. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of mystery coupled with some Gothic undertones.

Loree’s rating: ★★★★☆

The Beekeeper’s Daughter by Santa Montefiore

From the book blurb:

Dorset, 1933:Grace Hamblin is growing up on a beautiful rural estate. The only child of the beekeeper, she knows her place and her future - until her father dies unexpectedly and leaves her bereft and alone. Alone, that is, except for the man she loves, whom she knows she can never have.
Massachusetts, 1973:Grace's beautiful, impetuous daughter Trixie Valentine is in love. Jasper is wild and romantic, a singer in a band on the brink of stardom. Then tragedy strikes and he must return to his home in England, promising to come back to Trixie one day, if only she will wait for him…
Weighed down by memories, unaware of the secrets that bind them, both mother and daughter are searching for lost love. To find what they are longing for they must confront the past, and unravel the lies told long ago…

This is a sweet story about love, loss and bees and it makes for an easy summer read for those days when your brain is too addled by heat to handle anything too complicated. The only things that slightly spoilt this book for me were the many coincidences that occur along the way and the rather too-neat ending that tied up every possible loose string.

Loree’s rating: ★★★☆☆

Let Me Tell You About a Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher

From the book blurb:

Provence, May 1889. The hospital of Saint-Paul-de Mausole is home to the mentally ill. An old monastery, it sits at the foot of Les Alpilles mountains amongst wheat fields, herbs and olive groves. For years, the fragile have come here and lived quietly, found rest behind the shutters and high, sun-baked walls.

Tales of the new arrival - his savagery, his paintings, his copper-red hair - are quick to find the warden's wife. From her small white cottage, Jeanne Trabuc watches him - how he sets his easel amongst the trees, the irises and the fields of wheat, and paints in the heat of the day.

Jeanne knows the rules; she knows not to approach the patients at Saint-Paul. But this man - paint-smelling, dirty, troubled and intense - is, she thinks, worth talking to. So ignoring her husband's wishes, the dangers and despite the word mad, Jeanne climbs over the hospital wall. She will find that the painter will change all their lives.

This is a story about the time  van Gogh spent in the asylum at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. But the protagonist is not the troubled painter. It is the warden’s wife: Jeanne Trabuc. It is her world that we are introduced to. Her thoughts and feelings that become ours. When she disobeys her husband, we are disobeying with her. Abd when she feels compassion for the ‘mad’ painter, we feel it too. This is the story of a middle-aged woman who starts to pull away from the narrow confines of her life in an attempt to view the world outside her shuttered windows. I absolutely loved this book, its storyline and it evocative short sentences. I’m sure I’ll be reading it again one day.

Loree’s rating: ★★★★★

Daughters of Castle Deverill by Santa Montefiore

From the book blurb:

It is 1925 and the war is long over. But much has been lost and life will never truly be the same again.
Castle Deverill, cherished home to the Deverill family in the west of Ireland for hundreds of years, has burned to the ground. But young and flighty Celia Deverill is determined to restore the sad ruin to its former glory. Celia married well and has the wealth to keep it in the family ... and she cannot bear to see her beloved home stand neglected.
But dark shadows are gathering once more, as the financial markets start to shake. And everything that felt so certain is thrown once again into doubt.

It was only after I finished this book that I realised that is the second one in a trilogy. So now I have to read the other two because the Deverills do grow on you as you read along. With that said, this is still a good stand-alone book. I found the characters to be very real, full of flaws and idiosyncrasies – like all of us. The setting for the story is the period between the two World Wars, that halcyon time before the world lost its innocence forever, but it occasionally delves into the 17th century and introduces us to the first Deverills. 

Loree’s rating: ★★★★☆

Four books is not many but, as I said in the beginning, spring can be quite distracting. I am not sure whether I will do better during the summer months. We will see. But shorter days are looming and I am sure I will be back to reading more as we head into autumn. Let me know whether you’ve read some interesting books lately. I am always on the look-out for books to add to my ‘want to read’ list.