Cousins

by Salley Vickers

How much can love ask of us?

Brilliant and mercurial Will Tye suffers a life changing accident. The terrible event ripples through three generations of the complex and eccentric Tye family, bringing to light old tragedies and dangerous secrets. Each member of the family holds some clue to the chain of events which may have led to the accident and each holds themselves to blame. Most closely affected is Will's cousin Cecelia, whose affinity with Will leaves her most vulnerable to his suffering and whose own life is for ever changed by how she will respond to it.

Told through the eyes of three women close to Will, his sister, his grandmother and his aunt, Cousins is a novel weaving darkness and light which takes us from the outbreak of World War Two to the present day, exploring the recurrence of tragedy, the nature of trangression, and the limits of morality and love.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Book Club, Contemporary, Family, British Literature

400 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2016

About the author

Salley Vickers was born in Liverpool, the home of her mother, and grew up as the child of parents in the British Communist Party. She won a state scholarship to St Paul’s Girl’s School and went on to read English at Newnham College Cambridge.

She has worked, variously, as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. Her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, became an international word-of-mouth bestseller. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion.

Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing, and poetry. One of her father's favourite poets, W.B.Yeats, was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago I read and enjoyed several books by this author, so I was excited to get hold of this one. The book starts narrated by Hetta Tye. Her brother Will, has been in a serious climbing accident. This event brings back echoes from the family’s past and the reader learns more of family relationships what happened years ago through the voices of Betsy, Will’s grandmother and Bell, Will’s aunt. Will and Hetta’s cousin, Cele, daughter of Bell plays a crucial part in this story, though she is not one of the narrators.
I really enjoyed a lot of the writing and the way the story of this family unfolds. However I did struggle at times with keeping track of who was who. This is compounded by some people having more than one name or a nickname used by certain family members. At first I thought maybe I was just tired and not concentrating, as I don’t usually have that problem. Or maybe it was because I never really connected greatly with any of the characters. Hetta was the most likeable. Yet the story maintained by interest and towards the end it became gripping. The other thing I didn’t appreciate was the crude language which was thankfully was used in moderation. But did it really need to be there? Debatable.
It is a story about family secrets, selfishness, wrong choices, defying convention and love. It also raises some ethical questions about life and death. I’ve struggled for a while to think how to rate it, as some of the writing and story I really liked, but it was certainly not without its flaws. So in the end three and a half stars. Loved the cover and thought it reflected the idea of family and roots perfectly.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In short - Parts of this book I really enjoyed. On the other hand... Maybe 3.5/5

This book by Salley Vickers is about the lives of a family. The main focus of the story is Will. At the start of the book we learn he is in hospital after a serious accident. Initially the narrator is Hetta (Will's sister) and we start to discover something of the general family dynamics. Other than Will's immediate family we are introduced to Bell, Will's aunt, and Cele, Will's cousin. After Hetta's narrative of Will and her family we then get Betsy's views. She is Will's grandmother. I actually found Betsy's voice more readable and interesting personally. This may be partly due to the eras covered I guess. We then hear about the family from Bell's perspective and the narrator continues to change to another member of the family.

I found this easy enough to read coming from an accomplished author whose work I really like. The characters are rich and vivid generally with interesting lives and insights into the family. I certainly enjoyed get to know the members of the family. I felt the overall idea for the story was very good. The parts I enjoyed I really loved. My reservation with this book is really the pace. At times I felt it was rather drawn out and that left me less involved/satisfied with the story. That said I thought the ending was definitely good although I guess I'd seen it coming to some degree. 3.5/5 for me.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review




http://viewson.org.uk/fiction/cousins...

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told through the voices of three women - a sister, an aunt and a grandmother - this is an emotional odyssey through one family's lies and secrets that stretch back through the generations but have their culmination in an accident that changes the lives of everyone. At the heart of the book is the glorious, aching relationship between Will and his cousin Cele - a story of love, wanting and sacrifice.

Vickers writes with a clear and nuanced style that absorbs us into the narrative from the outset, and her writing disappears so that we're only conscious of the story. It's also a feat to write a love story that convinces but which doesn't flounder in sentimentality, and she pulls that off marvelously as well.

For all the good stuff, this didn't quite become a 5-star book for me: with such a convoluted family it's sometimes difficult to remember quite who is who (and this isn't usually something I struggle with) especially when the narrative shifts back in time. My other niggle is that the story is told by the three first-person narrators after the facts, so they are putting the story back together from a point in the future and that means that much of the tale is told to us rather than being dramatised. In order to get some immediacy into the story, Vickers has occasional recourse to diaries, but it all feels a tad clumsy in a technical sense.

Nevertheless, this is a book which kept me up till 2 am as I had to know what happened next and couldn't bear to leave the characters where they were: so not a flawless book but a deeply involving one all the same.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley

[Beverley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masterfully written family drama. This book grabbed me instantly with its beautifully descriptive language and its web of well drawn, emotive characters. Engrossing throughout, the story expertly draws the multi-stranded stories together, whilst deftly revealing the tragic tangle of events and sweeping us towards a most surprising and very emotional conclusion. Thoroughly enjoyed this read.

[Tripfiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel set in NORTHUMBERLAND (a family in flux)

This is the story of one family’s construct, explored from several different – female – viewpoints and across generations. Betsy, Bell and Hetta. It is a diary-style narrative, a stream of consciousness, of musing and narration, how generations are influenced by the actions of those who have gone before. The ghosts prevail even at an unconscious level and exert their shadowy presence over family members as they struggle through adversity and distress. The author recently said that her personal family experience – which in parts is quite traumatic – gave her a particular feeling for tragedy which she clearly brings to her work.

Will Tye, a current descendant, suffers a climbing accident and as the book unfolds we have glimpses into family dynamics and how they have shifted and shaped the unfolding dramas. Communist sympathies come to the fore in the aftermath of World War 2 in one generation, which inform the structure and core of family values. Rebellion against the strictures and deeply held beliefs manifest in various guises, not necessarily in overt conflict but in often more self-destructive ways. Will has been academically successful but sabotages his gilded path largely through drink and drugs. Aunt Bell (though no-one calls her ‘Aunt’, god forbid, she is very much still a free child) will take herself off at a whim to be with her latest beau, abandoning her daughter Cele, Will’s cousin, at the drop of a hat.

The imposing family home of Dowlands in the wilds of Northumbria (inspired by a B and B near Bamburgh, says the author) is run on a shoestring and is a refuge for the disparate individuals, people who find temporary solace amongst the dusty vestiges of academia and political rigour.

he structure of the book is populated by rounded characters, whose lives dovetail throughout the narrative. Family secrets can lurk through generations but have a habit of coming out in ways that can never be anticipated, and thus find expression in future generations. Will, at the heart of the novel, is very seriously injured and set against the background of history, each of the family members has to come to terms with the shocking situation in their own way. Family guilt, stories, pleasures, betrayals and above all secrets (and there is a significant secret at the heart of the story) rumble through the generations. It is each generation’s duty, perhaps, to come to understand the effect of their actions and ways of being on future generations, but that of course is never easy.

The way the story evolves very much mirrors the dynamics of a family in flux, it can slide and curl around and sometimes it is hard to stick with a focussed storyline. This is a rich novel of a family finding its own way through very stressful times.

Much of the story is set in Northumberland (London and Somerset too). Setting is important to Salley. At a recent talk she stated that landscape and location feature very strongly in my books.

This is a novel that lays bare one family’s issues, a kind of mirror to family dynamics around the world.

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

'People may get used to terrible things but I don’t believe they get over them. They may go on, but that is because they have to, which is not at all the same.’ I loved this sentiment from Salley Vickers’ novel Cousins (Viking Books Penguin Random House 2016), an ambitious tale of intergenerational trauma and a family in distress. This sweeping story is narrated by three members of the Tye family who recount the circumstances of Will Tye, who in 1994 has suffered a terrible accident. Through the eyes of his sister, his grandmother and his aunt, we learn about many events through which the family has lived, from the Second World War to the present day. From Communists and conscientious objectors to daring university pranks and kissing cousins, we are embroiled in the secrets and truths of each of these women, whose stories scaffold the lives of Will and his dearly loved cousin, Cele. As events are remembered and recounted, we realise the precariousness of memory, and the subjective perspective of one person’s account. Through joy and sadness, through celebration and tragedy, we are constantly presented with moral quandaries which challenge our preconceived notions of what constitutes family. Ethical dilemmas are explored, and questions are raised about the strength of real love and, when tested, the lengths to which true love will go.
I did find this book a little difficult to follow at times, mainly because of the scope of the characters and the complex relationships between them. Three generations have a voice, and the narrative necessarily jumps around in time; it probably doesn’t help that they all have pet names for each other which creates a bit of confusion around who is who. So a switched-on brain is required while reading! But ultimately, the effort is worth it: this is a story that opens up discussion about many important issues, and despite its conclusions, leaves many unanswered questions around moral authority versus moral ambiguity. I had thought that the intimate relationships between not one but two sets of cousins might become the pivotal point, but they are both depicted in quite lovely and non-controversial tones; the cousins are loved and loving, and share intimate and touching bonds. Rather, it is other acts and incidents in the book that create the tension and suspense – how they are precipitated, how they are enacted, and the aftermath of their repercussions. There is also a lot in this book about the roles played in families, and particularly the relationships between children and their grandparents – the special kind of loyalty that engenders: ‘…grandchildren make up for a good deal because they are a second chance.’
This is a story with a convoluted plot which explores loss and grief, and the idea of the sins of the father / mother visiting the child, and which plays with the notion of preordained fate, and whether the decisions and choices we make at the time are mitigated by past circumstances. It asks us to step into the shoes of others, and to walk a little along their journey; to refrain from judging the actions of others when we are operating with limited knowledge of their circumstances and motivations.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description "family saga" would normally be enough to send me walking briskly in the opposite direction, but I'll read anything by the excellent Salley Vickers, and although this is the story of several generations of a family it's not what would normally be described as a saga. Much of it was excellent, although I did have some reservations.

The book opens with the account of 20-year-old Will suffering a terrible, life-changing fall. The narrative at this point is by Will's much younger sister (recalling and writing in adulthood) and at different points we also get narratives by his grandmother and his aunt. It is hard to give any idea of the story without giving away far more than I would have wanted to know before I started. The book is concerned with relationships within the family from the 1930s to the present day, with Will's accident as the focus for how they developed and how the individuals changed. It has Salley Vickers' usual penetrating but compassionate insight, with plenty of pithy observations and also some very thoughtful, understanding views of people – including the difference between how they see themselves and how others see them.

Each of the voices is excellently done. I found it all very easy and enjoyable to read and the final section becomes quite gripping as the story comes to a climax while dealing with difficult moral issues. However, the second section, narrated by the grandmother, didn't quite seem to fit. It's concerned with earlier history which, while relevant, I found a bit of a distraction. I also could have done with a family tree to keep track of the characters and their locations, especially as some characters are called different names by different people, which is very true to life but sometimes hard to keep track of.

At its best (which is most of the time) this is excellent. Salley Vickers is a very fine writer and she has a genuine, thoughtful insight into how people work. I can recommend Cousins as a very rewarding, if slightly flawed, read.

(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Salley Vickers for quite a while but I felt with this one that she’d rather lost her usually sure touch. The story is compelling enough, with the consequences of a terrible accident suffered by Will, the much loved son of the family, played out through the effect it has on the other members of the family. The story is narrated through the eyes of his sister, grandmother and aunt in turn, and blame, guilt and the possibility (or impossibility) of forgiveness permeate their thoughts and reactions. It’s certainly an engaging story but it’s not really a particularly original concept and I didn’t think Vickers brought anything new to the themes. The fractured structure works well on the whole, but there are too many characters, and I felt the whole book could have been a lot tighter. Nevertheless, it’s reasonably enjoyable and worth a read.

[Madkindle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious, endless rehashing of unbelievable characters. Annoying confidential style.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Det börjar lovande – en familj skildrad genom yngsta dottern Hettas ögon. Jag charmas av hennes personlighet och av hennes familj, kombinationen av gammal nedärvd borgerlighet och förvärvade vänsterideal hos farfadern, Hettas drag av beläst och mer lillgammal än brådmogen tonåring. Just i den första delen som berättas av Hetta tänker jag att det här är lite som The Past (Syskonen) av Tessa Hadley med den stora skillnaden att de här människorna faktiskt engagerar mig. Men sedan kommer de andra delarna, där fler familjemedlemmar börjar berätta sin och familjens historia. En historia om gamla synder som återkommer släktled efter släktled – eller är det snarare så att varje generation gör sina egna misstag? Ju längre berättelsen framskrider, desto mer avtar mitt intresse. Det är som om den här familjetragedin var intressantare när den bara kunde anas, och mindre intressant när den framstod i sin helhet.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

You need to either care very much or not at all to kill a fellow living creature.

Lacrimae rerum.

This is a novel about sorrow. Specifically about the sorrow of one particular family, the Tyes of Dowlands in Northumberland, told across three generations. Henrietta "Hetta" Tye starts us off by describing her brother Will's accident (he falls from King's Chapel in Cambridge), which renders him paralysed and mute, only able to communicate through blinking. Then her grandmother Betsy Tye follows, explaining how Will's uncle Nathaniel "Nat" Tye died attempting to climb the very same building many years before Will was even born. Betsy's daughter Christabel "Bell" Tye completes the trio, adding clarity to Will and Nat, as she had special bonds with both of them.

The main characters of the novel, however, are Will (from Wilfred, named for his grandfather Wilfred "Fred" Tye, a man of clear convinctions and wide erudition who inspired and pushed both Nat and Will to go to his alma mater, Cambridge) and Cecilia "Cele" Tye, his cousin. The two are lovers, much like Betsy and the original Wilfred were. When Will finds himself suffering from Locked-in Syndrome following his accident, it is to Cele that he turns for help in ending his life. We never hear either Will or Cele's voices, however, and we are told their story from the perspectives of Hetta, Betsy and Bell, making it a little disjoined at times. I personally found their relationship a little implausible, and while Will's character shined bright, Cele's was sometimes quite muted and washed-out.

One character that I truly liked was the Tye matriarch, Betsy. The story of her love and loyalty for her cousin Fred during WW2 was honestly beautiful, honestly inspiring. Her loyalty to Will and Cele later in the novel, when she takes on the blame of having helped Will die, was so moving it made me cry.

The novel somehow manages to take a lot of very heavy themes (mercy killing and/or assisted suicide, cousin incest, underage sex, WW2 & the Holocaust) and work with them without melodrama, with a clarity and an elegance that do Vickers credit. You never necessarily feel that this is an unbearably sad novel; the way it deals with sorrow is matter-of-fact, a very British well, what can you do. That being said, sometimes the characters or their reactions seem a little implausible. Harvey, Will's "evil" friend (who everyone in the family seemed to dislike instinctually) was a superficial character with ridiculous motivations; he might as well have been a Disney villain. Colin, the much older man who seduces a teenage Cele, is worse; why did he do the things that he did, besides creating a convenient plot device? We never find out. Meanwhile Bell, apparently the love child of Aphrodite and Bacchus, and the quite-frankly-dull Hetta, lack actual depth, despite their narrative voices. Same with Cele, who seems at best a strange wreck of a person whose actions are sometimes just odd; why Colin, for example? Why get married? It never makes much sense. The only characters that are truly well-written are Betsy, her husband Fred, and Will.

That being said, I quite enjoyed the novel. It will always be connected in my mind with autumn in London, because as I was reading it Halloween and Bonfire night came and went, and the city got surprisingly full of colour from the changing leaves. I was reading the last few pages today on a bus while outside it rained mercilessly over the sycamores that line some of the roads nearby. It seemed only fitting.

[Lucille · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite books is Miss Garnet's Angel and I also enjoyed The Cleaner of Chartres. Salley Vickers latest novel Cousins is way up there with very moving prose unravelling the story of a family deeply affected by two tragedies over three generations. Told through the voices of three women, at the heart of the story is the love shared between two cousins, Will and Cele. Once I got into the book I did find it gripping even while coping with the different time frames. The only criticism I have is where some characters are given two names, which I found confusing. I will have to reread the book to see if I can work out why Salley Vickers did this.
I have already bought a copy for a friend's birthday gift. Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the opportunity to read and review Cousins.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

CONSANGUINITY/HEREDITY
Another one I’ve reviewed but it’s disappeared. Second read for a different library book group and this time it was more appreciated. The author is a psychoanalyst which is apparent from the text. Themes include the role of women, motherhood, families, twins transference, assisted dying, drugs, coercive control, adoption, anti semitism, grooming, under age sex and guilt. The characters are realistic and generally likeable. Stylistically clever with three first person narrators with different POVs. Only one reader saw the twist coming. We agree this novel is timeless and worth rereading.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Salley Vickers, but found it difficult to sustain my interest in this book. While the story is intriguing and the writing beautiful, I found the structure difficult. The narrative shifts back and forth in time as the three narrators of different generations tell their point of view of the tragic events which effect this family. Character's names (and nicknames) and their relationships change depending on the narrator and I found it difficult to remember who was who. Probably not helped by the fact that we were moving house when I was reading this!

[SARAH TAYLOR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several books by Sally Vickers, and I personally think this is the best. Really complex depiction of characters - some are bad parents or do bad things, yet are depicted with such warmth and richness that we can't help having some understanding and sympathy towards them. Everyone, it turns out, has complicated 'streaks' within them - just like in real life! The plot was gripping and had a clever twist at the end that I had not guessed. I recommend this book!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far too many characters, some being known by different names by different people within the book. I'm sure I missed lots of subtle themes because I couldn't work out who everyone was or which bits of information were important for later

[Claire Randall Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book covering a family through the words of three powerful female generations and how the family dealt with a tragedy. Couldn't put it down and shall reread at some point and keen to read more of Salleys books. Highly recommended!!!

[Rebecca Dunbar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to abandon 2/3 of the way through. Life is too short for 400-page meditations on assisted suicide and incest. Lovely writing though.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very shortly going to an author event featuring Salley Vickers, so for that reason I have now read two of her books in a row (having previously read none). This one wasn't bad, but it's somewhat confusing with the multiple narration, and didn't quite live up to The Cleaner of Chartres (my previous read).

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times this is quite a confusing book. I felt there was so many characters and sometimes they went by different names. I think if I could have read a big chunk at the beginning, it would have been better. It all started to make sense as it went along.

[Banzibar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that held me totally in thrall.

[Heather W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, without trying to sound horrible, but the ending of this book was the best bit - well certainly the last third or so. The book starts, and presents itself as a book about family secrets and just family drama in general, but by the end it becomes so much more than that. This book, for me was rescued by the ending even if I didn't enjoy it. SPOILERS FROM HERE

I definitely wasn't expecting this to become what it did, but the story up until the actual fall was boring, tedious and I really wasn't enjoying it. I found it a real effort to try and stay engaged with the story as I had no care for the characters and I really wasn't interested. Added to the fact that there were so many characters, and same character but different name, meant that I had to really concentrate but my heart wasn't in it. Then the euthanasia storyline came into play and it was such a surprise. As I say I didn't enjoy the ending, it is heartbreaking, but it had such a significant impact on the plot and the storyline (as you would expect) that I was suddenly captivated by the story and characters that I had spent the last few hours of reading not really caring about (which was surprising but well done).

This is not an easy read, nor is it a thriller or a fun read. This is going to take its toll on you and leave a lasting impression long after you have finished the last page. That being said, the biggest issues for me were how long it took for the story to get to the crux of it - as it was a 0.5 star for me up until this point - as well as the language not really suiting the time frame in which it was written. It felt older - like it should be set in more of a Pride and Prejudice era rather than the 90s, which meant that references to walkmans and nine inch nails felt completely out of place and wrong. This could be down more to the audiobooks narration rather than the book - but I felt that the voices fit the language and therefore did not fit the period in which this was set.

All in all, the ending is done fabulously and handled with a great amount of sympathy - even if you do have to suspend your disbelief. I wouldn't recommend though if you want a fast paced drama - this is a definite slow burn to the point you are not sure if it is still alight at times.

T/W - Euthanasia, anti-Semitism and death

[Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. When I picked up a book that mentioned intergenerational trauma and WWI in the blurb, I didn't expect to end up reading about so much incest. I was willing to excuse the first cousin-couple (can't tell you why). But the second one? Especially when they were double related because their grandparents were already first cousins? Why was the author so interested in cousin couples? If my cousin wrote this book, I would be really uncomfortable at family Christmas parties, let's put it that way. The book was somewhat interesting but I also felt that the plot just completely came out of left field; it was SO different from the blurb. I did read the whole book; it was not uninteresting, I'll give it that. That being said, the plot was DEFINITELY more disturbing than what I expected. I would not read this book if you are not in a good mental space. I would also DEFINITELY not buy or check out this book for your adolescent children. Not in a million years.


Spoiler alert:

I also felt bad for the grandmother because it seemed very unclear to me whether the grandfather ever actually loved her or wanted to be with her. That might in some way be reflective of many actual relationships, and I think it was well-written, but it was sad. The whole book was sad. I was honestly very disturbed upon finishing the book. I sat there wondering about what would have happened if Will changed his mind about dying, and woke up while he was being strangled with a plastic bag, but couldn't do anything since he could only communicate by blinking, and the strangler couldn't see him through the bag. Then I thought, what if his cousin/lover used a clear bag to account for that? Will she be traumatized for the rest of her life because she had to look at his face while he died? And, you know what...if I could go back, and avoid those questions by not reading this book, I would. I think the blurb should be a little more explicit about how disturbing this novel is. Well-written, yes, but very, very, VERY disturbing.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ book. It wasn’t bad enough to throw aside after a few pages but I can’t say I was avidly interested in the fate of the characters.

And oh my God, there were so many of them, appearing then disappearing then wandering back into the story pages and pages later when I’d completely forgotten who they were. It was really distracting and frustrating and one of this books main weaknesses.

The other was the blandness of some of her main characters. Cele had little or no personality, Hetta just seemed to hover around pointlessly and even Will didn’t make much of an impact. Betsey and her daughter Bell were the only really interesting people in this book . Even here, Betsey’s story seemed to ramble all over the place with confusing jumps backwards and forwards

With better editing and the removal of half the characters, this could have been so much better.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt disappointed by this, partly because I had such high expectations based on Miss Garnet's Angel.

It wasn't the writing, or even the story, it was more that it seemed to need a good hard edit. Quite a bit read as if it was just notes from index cards taped together. And the multiple narrators were baffling for me - they didn't have particularly distinct voices and I just could not get the family structure clear in my head so whenever each narrator talked about "my father" or "my grandfather" I had no idea which man it was.
Honestly, a red pen and a pair of scissors could have vastly improved this for me in terms of readability, and it might have helped with tying up the loose ends, too.

[Bachyboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more I read, the less tolerant I have become of books that start with a great storyline, in this case a shocking accident to one of the cousins, and then sweep you back two generations and pore over the past and all the time you are thinking, get back to the story why don't you! So with this book which had three generations of narrators, I skipped the middle section and concentrated on the start and the finish. What I did read was good but I am sure the author would disapprove of such a practice.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, this book is rich in relationships, history, location, family stories, female voices - and for that, I found it an engaging read. On the other hand, it felt almost too English in its sensibility for me to enjoy and the voice of Hetta at the beginning wasn't one that appealed to me. So I almost stopped reading. But good sense prevailed, I kept going and in the end, enjoyed the journey.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the story was too fragmented as the author skipped between narrators, there were so many characters and generations in the family that it was hard to keep track of who was who. Plus some of the characters had different nick names which added to the complexity. Apart from this the story only got interesting in the last quarter where you find out “all that happened after that” which is alluded to a few times earlier in the book.

[The.Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story. A little too wordy in places and my take home interpretation was: 'generations of down-trodden women being ruined & harassed by men.' I do wonder of anyone else had this theme yelling at them and a slight snarl of disgust on their faces as they read?

[Wendy Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This as a great read, terrific characters, we could all identify with at least one member of this large family. Vickers is great at exploring characters. She seems to loves churches and saints, Cuthbert sat well in this tale. I was sorry to finish this book.