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A runaway bestseller in Britain with over 100,000 copies sold, a riveting historical mystery in the tradition of Kate Morton In Rachel Hore's A Place of Secrets, auction house appraiser Jude leaves London for her dream job at Starbrough Hall, an estate in the countryside, examining and pricing the manuscripts and instruments of an eighteenth-century astronomer. She is welcomed by Chantal Wickham and Jude feels close to the old woman at once: they have both lost their husbands. Hard times have forced the Wickham family to sell the astronomer's work, their land and with it, the timeworn tower that lies nearby. The tower was built as an observatory for astronomer Anthony Wickham and his daughter Esther, and it served as the setting for their most incredible discoveries. Though Jude is far away from her life in London, her arrival at Starbrough Hall brings a host of childhood memories. She meets Euan, a famed writer and naturalist who lives in the gamekeeper's cottage at the foot of the tower, where Jude's grandfather once lived. And a nightmare begins to haunt her six-year-old niece, the same nightmare Jude herself had years ago. Is it possible that the dreams are passed down from one generation to the next? What secrets does the tower hold? And will Jude unearth them before it's too late?
Jude is sent to a location close to family to value items belonging to a generation of astronomers. Jude gets this call through happenstance and the story kicks off the moment she sets foot on location, changing her life forever.
The story switches between Jude and Esther so over time, the mystery meets after 230 years and all is explained. The back and forth is structured clearly and due to this structure, nothing is skipped or missed. The story follows Jude and readers uncover the mysteries alongside the protagonist.
The book is written and perceived - personally - as if readers can watch the events unfold directly beside Jude as she recounts the story in past tense. Events that take place are quite supernatural and yet almost a representation of trauma passed down through generations until Jude resolves the mystery. The romance is soft and not at all overbearing. There are great family dynamics and life goes on while Jude carries out her job. ( )
Jude is sent to a location close to family to value items belonging to a generation of astronomers. Jude gets this call through happenstance and the story kicks off the moment she sets foot on location, changing her life forever.
The story switches between Jude and Esther so over time, the mystery meets after 230 years and all is explained. The back and forth is structured clearly and due to this structure, nothing is skipped or missed. The story follows Jude and readers uncover the mysteries alongside the protagonist.
The book is written and perceived - personally - as if readers can watch the events unfold directly beside Jude as she recounts the story in past tense. Events that take place are quite supernatural and yet almost a representation of trauma passed down through generations until Jude resolves the mystery. The romance is soft and not at all overbearing. There are great family dynamics and life goes on while Jude carries out her job. ( )
Great read if you like modern "Gothics" with a hint of the magical and a mystery covering many generations. The research is fascinating and I particularly liked the "story within the story" of a woman who lived in the 18th century. ( )
A complex storyline, beginning when Jude has a recurrent dream which, oddly, is shared by her young niece. She goes to examine and value a collection of books about astronomy, becomes embroiled in the lives of the family she meets, and sets off a surprising series of events. Nicely written with fascinating forays into the past which came across as authentically done. Some suspense, and low-key romance, as well as good family relationships and believable people.
The plot-line did contain far too many coincidences, a few of which were so far-fetched I had to take a deep breath to swallow them. But still, suspending reality isn't necessarily a problem in fiction, and the novel was primarily character-based - so, all in all, I enjoyed it ( )
Look at the stars! Look, look up at the skies! O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air! The bright boroughs, the circle citadels there! - The Starlight Night by Gerald Manley Hopkins
If you are cheerful, and wish to remain so, leave the study of astronomy alone. Of all the sciences it alone deserves the character of the terrible... if on the other hand, you are restless and anxious about the future, study astronomy at once. Your troubles will be reduced amazingly. But your study will reduce them in a singular way, by reducing the importance of everything. So that the science is still terrible, even as a panacea... It is better - far better - for men to forget the universe than to bear it clearly in mind. - Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy
Dedication
For Jenny, my sister
First words
The night before it all begins, Jude has the dream again.
Quotations
Happy things can come out of sad ones, Jude, we must always remember that.”
Last words
Then strong arms sweep her up, the man says, 'What have we here?' and another life begins.
A runaway bestseller in Britain with over 100,000 copies sold, a riveting historical mystery in the tradition of Kate Morton In Rachel Hore's A Place of Secrets, auction house appraiser Jude leaves London for her dream job at Starbrough Hall, an estate in the countryside, examining and pricing the manuscripts and instruments of an eighteenth-century astronomer. She is welcomed by Chantal Wickham and Jude feels close to the old woman at once: they have both lost their husbands. Hard times have forced the Wickham family to sell the astronomer's work, their land and with it, the timeworn tower that lies nearby. The tower was built as an observatory for astronomer Anthony Wickham and his daughter Esther, and it served as the setting for their most incredible discoveries. Though Jude is far away from her life in London, her arrival at Starbrough Hall brings a host of childhood memories. She meets Euan, a famed writer and naturalist who lives in the gamekeeper's cottage at the foot of the tower, where Jude's grandfather once lived. And a nightmare begins to haunt her six-year-old niece, the same nightmare Jude herself had years ago. Is it possible that the dreams are passed down from one generation to the next? What secrets does the tower hold? And will Jude unearth them before it's too late?
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Book description
Can dreams be passed down through families? As a child Jude suffered a recurrent nightmare: running through a dark forest, crying for her mother. Now her six-year-old niece, Summer, is having the same dream, and Jude is frightened for her.
A successful auctioneer, Jude is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband. When she's asked to value a collection of scientific instruments and manuscripts belonging to Anthony Wickham, a lonely 18th-century asronomer, she leaps at the chance to escape London for the untamed beauty of Norfolk, where she grew up.
As Jude untangles Wickham's tragic story, she discovers threatening links to the present. What have Summer's nightmares to do with Starbrough folly, the eerie crumbling tower in the woods from which Wickham and his adopted daughter Esther once viewed the night sky? With the help of Euan, a local naturalist, Jude searches for answers in the wild, haunting splendour of the Norfolk forests. Dare she leave behind the sadness in her own life, and learn to love again?
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The story switches between Jude and Esther so over time, the mystery meets after 230 years and all is explained. The back and forth is structured clearly and due to this structure, nothing is skipped or missed. The story follows Jude and readers uncover the mysteries alongside the protagonist.
The book is written and perceived - personally - as if readers can watch the events unfold directly beside Jude as she recounts the story in past tense. Events that take place are quite supernatural and yet almost a representation of trauma passed down through generations until Jude resolves the mystery. The romance is soft and not at all overbearing. There are great family dynamics and life goes on while Jude carries out her job. (