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The Scrapbook
Fern, Iris, Ivy. Three women, three generations: one dark secret.
Iris keeps a scrapbook of Lawrence, the lover who went missing years earlier. She defines herself by his loss and soothes herself with gin and the fairy tale of this one perfect relationship. Years later, Fern, their daughter, is tasked with finding Lawrence. In the process she has to come to terms with her own past and memories. Ivy, Iris' mother, had her own cache of secrets: spells she took to the grave. Spells that Fern unearths.
The Scrapbook is a novel about memory and the unreliability of memory. It's about the tangled, often dysfunctional, bonds of family. And it's about absence and the power that a void can exert over a person's life.
Iris keeps a scrapbook of Lawrence, the lover who went missing years earlier. She defines herself by his loss and soothes herself with gin and the fairy tale of this one perfect relationship. Years later, Fern, their daughter, is tasked with finding Lawrence. In the process she has to come to terms with her own past and memories. Ivy, Iris' mother, had her own cache of secrets: spells she took to the grave. Spells that Fern unearths.
The Scrapbook is a novel about memory and the unreliability of memory. It's about the tangled, often dysfunctional, bonds of family. And it's about absence and the power that a void can exert over a person's life.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Carly Holmes
24 books24 followersI'm a writer living and writing on the west coast of Wales. When not writing I love to read, and discover books and authors that are new to me. My favourite writers include Jon McGregor, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Peter Carey, Julian Barnes and Daphne du Maurier. I've had a number of short stories published in journals and placed in competitions, and my debut novel, The Scrapbook, was published by Parthian in May 2014. I'm currently working on a collection of ghost stories. I'm on the editorial board of The Lampeter Review (http://lampeter-review.com) and host and manage The Cellar Bards, a group of writers who meet monthly in Cardigan, Wales, for an evening of spoken word poetry and prose (https://www.facebook.com/groups/33354...)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 27, 2025
Fern’s life plans have come to nothing and she has returned to the small island she vowed to leave forever to look after her mother, an alcoholic who’s spent most of her adult life pining for the married man who could never be hers. There is a third presence in the house; that of Fern’s late grandmother Ivy, an enigmatic woman of enchantment and secrets.
If all this sounds a tad melancholy, that’s because it is. But Carly Holmes’ The Scrapbook is beautiful in its melancholia. A novelist Holmes may be, but within lies the soul of poet.
On the small island where she lives, accessible only by ferry, Fern is discovering that perhaps all was not as it seemed as a child. Her grandmother’s Cooking Book for one. Instead of recipes it lists spells. And perhaps Fern is closer in character to her mother than she dares to concede.
In these exquisite pages, the story of three generations of women unfolds like a flower. In other words, beautifully and delicately. So seductive is the author’s prose that we barely notice as we are wafted nimbly back and fore through time, via multiple perspectives, without ever losing touch with the narrative thread. It all just washes over us.
Like Holmes’ follow up novel, Crow Face, Doll Face, The Scrapbook is about what happens when the mundanity of everyday life receives a light dusting of the fantastical. Also, like its follow up, it’s a rich and rewarding read; mesmeric and beguiling, immersive and evocative. Once picked up it’s near impossible to put down. I urge you to let it cast its spell on you as it did me.
If all this sounds a tad melancholy, that’s because it is. But Carly Holmes’ The Scrapbook is beautiful in its melancholia. A novelist Holmes may be, but within lies the soul of poet.
On the small island where she lives, accessible only by ferry, Fern is discovering that perhaps all was not as it seemed as a child. Her grandmother’s Cooking Book for one. Instead of recipes it lists spells. And perhaps Fern is closer in character to her mother than she dares to concede.
In these exquisite pages, the story of three generations of women unfolds like a flower. In other words, beautifully and delicately. So seductive is the author’s prose that we barely notice as we are wafted nimbly back and fore through time, via multiple perspectives, without ever losing touch with the narrative thread. It all just washes over us.
Like Holmes’ follow up novel, Crow Face, Doll Face, The Scrapbook is about what happens when the mundanity of everyday life receives a light dusting of the fantastical. Also, like its follow up, it’s a rich and rewarding read; mesmeric and beguiling, immersive and evocative. Once picked up it’s near impossible to put down. I urge you to let it cast its spell on you as it did me.
August 9, 2021
This book is an astonishment.
July 27, 2015
This is a vivid novel by a clearly talented writer about three generations of a dysfunctional family, and their history of making bad decisions about men. Fern, the youngest, returns to the family home to look after her ailing mother Iris, and begins to research the whereabouts of Lawrence, Fern’s absent father to whose memory Iris has devoted her life. The toxic relationship between Fern and Iris is particularly well-rendered, and the latter’s fixation on her lost lover is a touching portrayal of self-destructive obsession. A well-structured, fluent novel with strong characterisation.
Rubery Book Award
Rubery Book Award
October 29, 2014
This is such a beautifully written book about three generations of women. Ivy, the grandmother, concocts spells, Iris, the mother has a scrapbook of memories of one perfect love which she clings to and Fern, the daughter has tried to escape from her family but is back to care for Iris as she deteriorates into a maudlin mix of heartbreak and alcohol poisoning. The ending is beautiful, as the three women's past, and the connections between the generations, is finally revealed
May 25, 2014
A story of love and longing, and of how one woman's past bears upon the lives of future generations.
As someone who regularly falls back on very good but nonetheless 'formulaic' novels, this beautifully written first novel by Carly Holmes deserved a 'proper' read, and I am all the richer for my investment.
As someone who regularly falls back on very good but nonetheless 'formulaic' novels, this beautifully written first novel by Carly Holmes deserved a 'proper' read, and I am all the richer for my investment.
May 25, 2014
Beautiful book. The story is haunting, touching. The language exquisite. I enjoyed reading it, couldn't stop in fact!
August 16, 2025
This book is so very clever. Her shrewd and insightful characterisations never cease to amaze me. I'd definitely recommend it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews