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1940, 1958 and 2019: How many secrets can one house hold?
1940, 1958 and 2019: How many secrets can one house hold?
1940: In south-west Ireland, the young and beautiful Lady Charlotte Rathmore is pronounced dead after she mysteriously disappears by the lake of Blackwater Hall.
In London, on the brink of the Blitz, Nancy Rathmore is grieving Charlotte’s death when a letter arrives containing a secret that she is sworn to keep – one that will change her life for ever.
2019: Disgraced young journalist Ellie Fitzgerald flees Dublin for the safety of rural Kerry. When she discovers a faded letter, tucked inside the pages of an old book from Blackwater Hall, she finds herself drawn in by the mystery of Lady Charlotte’s disappearance, and uncovers a long-buried secret…
County Kerry, Dublin, London
The book is set in three places but County Kerry and the fictional Blackwater Hall is the star of the show.
The author has captured County Kerry in the most marvellous of ways!
“Across the dark, slick surface of Lough Atoon, Blackwater Hall hove into view. It was less grand than she remembered, but handsome enough – not quite a pile; more sprawling than imposing. Thick ivy covered the walls, and its blue slate roof was scattered with a dozen chimney pots. Three rows of white sash windows – some of them open against the warm evening – peppered the front elevation. French doors led directly on to a sloping lawn that ran a hundred yards to the reedy edge of the lough.”
“Here on the westernmost fringe of Europe, where jagged fingers of purple sandstone plunge dramatically into the angry froth of sea, both my story and I found a home…And this wild landscape, part tamed by generations of rough hands, is the perfect mirror in which communities like this can view themselves: vast histories stretching back generations, their imprints left on the land.”
The BookTrail bookreview of The Midnight House – Amanda Geard
Destination/Location: County Kerry, Dublin, London Author: Amanda Geard Departure: 1940, 2019
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