In MEADOWSIDE, a haunting dual timeline ghost story, Matilda Grey is nearing the end of her life, but peace eludes her. Fraught with worry over her sister Kitty’s future and the fate of their beloved home, Meadowside, Matilda clings to the memory of a mysterious letter from decades ago - one that may hold the key to securing both her sister's safety and the future of the house.
When Amber Lewis arrives at Meadowside, she finds herself stepping into a house frozen in time. Matilda, frail but fiercely determined, refuses to pass away without sharing the tragic secrets of her past. But the longer Amber stays, the more unsettling the house becomes. Items move on their own, and shadows shift in the upstairs corridor. Kitty, child-like and strange, patiently waits for someone - someone who may no longer be among the living.
As Matilda's tale unfolds, Amber uncovers the shocking truth behind a tragedy that has haunted Meadowside for over eighty years. She soon realises she is the only one who can bring peace to the house and its restless spirits. But will Amber have the courage to face the past and lay its ghosts to rest once and for all?
I did enjoy reading this book as it had a lot of imagery and rich character building that transported me into their world. I found the story unique and the ending satisfying and rather sweet! I do have a few niggles with this book though.. 1) why,all,the,commas,every,single,sentence?? 2) The repetitive storytelling led to so much filler content which I often sped read through. An event would happen/be explained and then straight after we get the whole thing hashed out again. Matilda would tell Amber a story, which Amber would then relate to Nathaniel in painful detail. It almost felt like the author didn't trust the reader to understand the first time...or even the second as sometimes it would be repeated thrice!! The art of subtlety did not exist in this book. 3) Some characters conclusions left me feeling short changed. We get a lot of insight into them only for them to have a quick, almost footnote conclusion. Like I said, I did enjoy the overall story and most of the characters felt very real. I just wish all the waffle would have been cut out and replaced with more storyline/character development for certain people within the book.
I’ve rated 4 stars on the basis of the storyline, the characters and the setting. The story and characters are beautifully thought out and really draw you in. However I did struggle with some of the dialogue, ie. 3 pages of narration on what happened, and then another 3 pages of a character explaining to another character (and the reader) what happened all over again, instead of, simply, ‘Amber relayed what had happened to Nathaniel, and then they discussed what they thought about it’. I also struggled with the sudden epiphany about Seraphina’s song at the end, it just seemed a bit convenient with no real lead up to it - the ‘what have I missed? I’ve missed something’ was a bit meh. Anyway, still well worth the read and the author clearly has a wonderful story telling imagination!
I loved this book. The story is so captivating and the characters interesting and authentic. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.