All My Sins Remembered

by Rosie Thomas

Desperate to escape from under the shadow of her more glamorous, aristocratic cousin, Grace, Clio Hirsh chooses a bohemian life in London, where tragedy and heartbreak brings the two women together. Reprint.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary

610 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Janey King, née Morris was born on 1947 in Denbigh, Wales, and also grew up in North Wales. She read English at Oxford, and after a spell in journalism and publishing began writing fiction after the birth of her first child. Published since 1982 as Rosie Thomas, she has written fourteen best-selling novels, deal with the common themes of love and loss. She is one of only a few authors to have won twice the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association, in 1985 with Sunrise, and in 2007 with Iris and Ruby.

Janey is an adventurer and once she was established as a writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and travelled the silk road through Asia. She currently lives in London.

Reviews

[Cathi Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An almost Doctor Zhivago-like epic reading experience unlike any I've found myself obsessively reading for a very long time! Following the lives of several captivating members of a family from early youth to old age and their exploits in the middle of War World II and before and after... Each character catches your heart and I found myself experiencing each one's emotional gripping life story among the others. What a wonderful emotional roller-coaster this one was! I read it somewhat hurriedly, straining to see what would occur next! Wonderful writing... historical fiction... emotionally charging... I can't recommend this masterpiece any stronger! SO good!

[Eithne Murray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Summary: Edwardian posh Tottenham flirts with fascism and brings a lot of people down. Twin-destiny is the theme - how they hate each other. We know because the author tells us. Repeatedly.
The characters never came to life, and there were definite potholes. I simply could not believe that someone who was half Jewish could support the Nazis enthusiastically in the 30, especially in the face of her brother being persecuted.
And let's not forget the overtones of incest. Keeping it all in the family, like

[Paula Rooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Rosie Thomas's book, but not this one.
The story was wooly and weak. There were too many characters and not well thought out. The plot went on and on and on with nothing happening.
I skim read the last half, in the hope that it would improve but it didn't

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book more than 5 times, and it only gets better every time.

[Janey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was engaging, with vivid scenes from the childhood and adolescence of four siblings/cousins. Then they grew up and, for me, it all seemed to blur. The next generation of children arrive but they seem shadowy. Clio emerges as the main character (fair enough - these are her memories!) who trudges on in a way which is so very different to her younger independent, articulate, intelligent self although she is only in her 40s. She gets increasingly resentful which is maybe understandable, but her hatred and spite is toxic - to her and others. I had to skip read to get to the last couple of chapters, it was all so very depressing and uneventful. Except that then I realised I had missed the murder. By that time I didn't care.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hesitant to start with on starting the book as I did think it would lean toward womans reading,
But I was wrong It is the story of two families one middle class and the other decidedly Upper class tying them by twin sisters It spans roughly the late 1800's to just up to the outbreak of WW Two Its both interesting, decidedly erotic in places also very sad almost brought tears even to my cynical view of life I can't praise this book enough She must have spent some considerable time researching to bring this book together The story will stay with me for a long time.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got to the halfway point in this and it wasn't really going anywhere. The plot was stagnant and so were the characters. I didn't really like either Clio or Grace and they wobbled between liking one another and hating one another. There were a LOT of characters to keep track of and I felt the plot went off the rails when the character of Alice was brought in. So two stars for the part I did read, but even after skimming to the end, it doesn't look like much happens, save for Alice getting involved with the Nazi party.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating family saga set in England, France, and Germany during the first have of the 20th century. Although full of coincidences and parallels, this narrative twists and turns to the point that the reader often shifts loyalties between the two protagonists, Grace and Clio, amid their struggles against each other in turbulent periods of the world wars.

[Amanda Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful epic

You must love reading long books, as i do, to enjoy this one. It is lengthy and detailed with a slow pace. But if you enjoy a beautiful story that has not been rushed, and that does not rush the reader, you'll love it. Set against a backdrop of the early half of the 20th century, a period which has universal appeal, it is a joy.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another re-read in the vain hope of clearing space on my shelves. The fact that I did not remember much of it meant I read it as new, and the knowledge that if I send it to charity it will more likely get pulped means it goes back om the shelf.

[Dorothy H. Hudgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read in months, and I read more than most.

this 😉😉 book is set in the period leading up to the Second Word Was and the author fleshed out each character fully. A love story, or more than one

[Pauline Bicknell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but long winded

[Rachel Rothwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book about how two cousins inter ralated

[Alice Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great kindle unlimited read.

[Maureen BOOTH · Rating 4 out of 5]

l

[Tomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: good book. the generational story line was very enthralling. i was very interested in how the characters lives played out. There were twists and turns.
The ending was shocking. The book is very dense, lots of connections and literary devices and what not. Analyzing the book would be fun but it would take so much brain power due to sheer size.

Cons: the cousin incest plot was vital to the overall plot which is 😭. The book is very slow, especially in the beginning. Too many names and characters. Decent amount of them are recurring in some capacity, while others show up once or twice in irrelevant arcs. Some of the language, allusions, references, and metaphors did not make sense or passed over my head. Due to year was written, the age it was trying to evoke, and it being British English.

my thoughts: clio is very much the main character, which make sense as the story told somewhat through her perspective?; at the same time the reader is omniscient. Clio is lowkey a doormat which is funny given that she poses herself as a modern woman but falls into a trope.
Grace is an attention whore who just constantly does crazy shit without regards for anyone else. She’s selfish,
maybe inherently evil, jealous and lowkey petty. But she’s a “siren” in the way that everyone is obsessed with her and thus she is absolved of any crime. It’s like Clio vs Grace and everyone else r side characters.
Basically everything bad that happens could be blamed on grace but it takes some mental gymnastics.
Jake is a mostly irrelevant character as he is mostly present in beginning and end (says smth to his role in the plot). Julius is a dog, tortured artist might be foil to Pilgrim?

I have more thoughts but ehh

[Mrs stella norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book . I enjoyed it so much l could not put it down . I love Rosie Thomas"s books this will go down as one of her best and l am sure l will read it again.

[CECILIAMARYSTRONG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brilliant story by Rosie Thomas

Another fine read by Rosie Thomas, she never fails to deliver a good story, her characters so well portrayed, a wonderful story, very difficult to put the book down as you want to know the outcome, moist enjoyable

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most boring book I have read so far.

[Manuela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Inconsistente. L'ho del tutto rimosso dalla mia memoria.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

really not sure about this book. i liked patches but felt it dragged on for far too long.

[Jacqui Hadden]

Found this book harder to get into than other Rosie Thomas books I've read. It was a good story but took me a long time to finish it.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

it had me gripped, but the ending left me disappointed, and I felt a few too many things were rushed into the last quarter. still thoroughly enjoyed though

[MR P M WALSH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down!

Loved this book, was willing Rafael to return! Very good descriptive passages which set the scenes excellently. I am a an of this author