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The River Home
The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under... The new novel from bestselling author Hannah Richell. A wise and emotionally powerful story of a broken family and the courage it takes to heal.
The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under...
'It's something she learned years ago - the hard way - and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you ... like the echoes of a summer's night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.'
Margot Sorrell didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.'
As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told.
The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under...
'It's something she learned years ago - the hard way - and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you ... like the echoes of a summer's night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.'
Margot Sorrell didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.'
As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told.
368 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2020
169 people are currently reading
4855 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Richell
7 books722 followersI wrote my debut novel, Secrets of the Tides, around the time my first child was born. Since then, I’ve written four novels, with my fifth, The Search Party, to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2024. My work is available in twenty-four territories and has been translated into nineteen languages. My books have been selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club, the Waterstones Book Club, WHSmith Book of the Week, shortlisted for two ABIAs and an Indie Book Award in Australia, as well as shortlisted for the Bonniers Bokklubb Book of the Year Award in Sweden.
While each of my novels is a stand-alone story, what connects them all is my fascination with families and secrets, my desire to dive below the surface and explore the darker recesses of the human experience, the weight of grief and the echoes of loss, the light and resilience that can be found in unexpected places, combined with my ambition to tell you a cracking story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.
I have written fiction and non-fiction pieces for various media outlets in both the UK and Australia and am a judge on the annual Richell Prize, established in 2014 by Hachette and the Emerging Writers’ Festival in memory of my late husband, Matt Richell. It’s an incredible privilege to be invited to read a writer’s first pages and to support new authors as they take the next steps in their career.
I am a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom but currently live in the South West of England with my family.
While each of my novels is a stand-alone story, what connects them all is my fascination with families and secrets, my desire to dive below the surface and explore the darker recesses of the human experience, the weight of grief and the echoes of loss, the light and resilience that can be found in unexpected places, combined with my ambition to tell you a cracking story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.
I have written fiction and non-fiction pieces for various media outlets in both the UK and Australia and am a judge on the annual Richell Prize, established in 2014 by Hachette and the Emerging Writers’ Festival in memory of my late husband, Matt Richell. It’s an incredible privilege to be invited to read a writer’s first pages and to support new authors as they take the next steps in their career.
I am a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom but currently live in the South West of England with my family.
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March 3, 2020
EXCERPT: 'Lucy, I know you're all for straight talking, but I don't think now is the time -'
'If not now, then when?' She turns to Eve in frustration. 'Now is the time, don't you see? Now is all we have. We've spent far too much time tiptoeing around each other, I think Margot needs to know -'
'She knows, Lucy.' Eve gestures to where Margot stands. 'Look, she knows.'
Lucy turns back to Margot and sees her standing crumpled in on herself. She is bent over with her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
'Margot?'
She doesn't answer.
'Margot? Are you -'
But before she can say anything else, Margot has spun on her heel and fled the marquee.
Eve throws Lucy a worried look. 'Well done, Luce.'
Lucy sighs and throws her hands up. 'Somebody had to say it.' She stares after Margot, at the light falling through the opening of the tent, wishing she could shine a light on the secrets her sister seems hell-bent on keeping. 'What do you think she meant?' she asks, turning back to Eve. 'The real truth? What was she talking about? What didn't we see?'
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Margot Sorrell didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.'
As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told.
MY THOUGHTS: Families....we take them for granted, but when the chips are really down, it is usually the family who are there. But what happens if one day they aren't......? Is there any way back?
Families are complex entities. We love them. We hate them. We treat them badly. We expect to be loved by them. No matter what. Complex. There is always someone who feels the odd one out. In this case, it's Margot, the youngest. She doesn't feel 'seen', and I can quite see why. But when her family calls, she comes.
Hannah Richell is masterful in the creation of her characters; every nuance of them is so real that I live her books as I read them. The River Home is no exception. The plot is exquisitely intricate and swaps from the past, starting in 2005, to the present. Hurt feelings and misunderstandings are layered one atop the other, the writing powerfully emotional. You will need tissues. When I closed the cover on this book, tears were running silently down my face, happy/sad tears, tears of sorrow, tears of joy, and the feeling that I had read yet another wonderful offering from this author overwhelmed me.
I love this author. Another book I will be adding to my personal collection in hard copy.
❤😢❤😢.5
#TheRiverHome #NetGalley
'Grief is confounding, wild and unpredictable.'
'The past can have a funny way of haunting us if we don't face it head on.'
'We can hold ourselves so tightly. We build our protective walls and set ourselves apart. But what I see more and more is how much we all need each other.'
THE AUTHOR: Hannah Richell was born in Kent, England and spent her childhood years in Buckinghamshire and Canada. After graduating from the University of Nottingham in 1998 she worked in book publishing and film. Hannah began to write while pregnant with her first child. The result was Secrets of the Tides, picked for the 2012 Richard & Judy Book Club, the Waterstones Book Club and shortlisted for the Australian Independent Bookseller Best Debut Fiction Award, ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year (2013) and ABIA Newcomer of the Year (2013). The novel has been translated into sixteen languages. Her follow-up novel was The Shadow Year and her third, The Peacock Summer, was published in 2018.
Hannah has written for a number of media outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, The Independent, Fairfax Media and Australian Women’s Weekly. She is a dual citizen of the UK and Australia, though currently lives in the South West of England with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing a digital ARC of The River House by Hannah Richell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
'If not now, then when?' She turns to Eve in frustration. 'Now is the time, don't you see? Now is all we have. We've spent far too much time tiptoeing around each other, I think Margot needs to know -'
'She knows, Lucy.' Eve gestures to where Margot stands. 'Look, she knows.'
Lucy turns back to Margot and sees her standing crumpled in on herself. She is bent over with her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
'Margot?'
She doesn't answer.
'Margot? Are you -'
But before she can say anything else, Margot has spun on her heel and fled the marquee.
Eve throws Lucy a worried look. 'Well done, Luce.'
Lucy sighs and throws her hands up. 'Somebody had to say it.' She stares after Margot, at the light falling through the opening of the tent, wishing she could shine a light on the secrets her sister seems hell-bent on keeping. 'What do you think she meant?' she asks, turning back to Eve. 'The real truth? What was she talking about? What didn't we see?'
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Margot Sorrell didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.'
As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told.
MY THOUGHTS: Families....we take them for granted, but when the chips are really down, it is usually the family who are there. But what happens if one day they aren't......? Is there any way back?
Families are complex entities. We love them. We hate them. We treat them badly. We expect to be loved by them. No matter what. Complex. There is always someone who feels the odd one out. In this case, it's Margot, the youngest. She doesn't feel 'seen', and I can quite see why. But when her family calls, she comes.
Hannah Richell is masterful in the creation of her characters; every nuance of them is so real that I live her books as I read them. The River Home is no exception. The plot is exquisitely intricate and swaps from the past, starting in 2005, to the present. Hurt feelings and misunderstandings are layered one atop the other, the writing powerfully emotional. You will need tissues. When I closed the cover on this book, tears were running silently down my face, happy/sad tears, tears of sorrow, tears of joy, and the feeling that I had read yet another wonderful offering from this author overwhelmed me.
I love this author. Another book I will be adding to my personal collection in hard copy.
❤😢❤😢.5
#TheRiverHome #NetGalley
'Grief is confounding, wild and unpredictable.'
'The past can have a funny way of haunting us if we don't face it head on.'
'We can hold ourselves so tightly. We build our protective walls and set ourselves apart. But what I see more and more is how much we all need each other.'
THE AUTHOR: Hannah Richell was born in Kent, England and spent her childhood years in Buckinghamshire and Canada. After graduating from the University of Nottingham in 1998 she worked in book publishing and film. Hannah began to write while pregnant with her first child. The result was Secrets of the Tides, picked for the 2012 Richard & Judy Book Club, the Waterstones Book Club and shortlisted for the Australian Independent Bookseller Best Debut Fiction Award, ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year (2013) and ABIA Newcomer of the Year (2013). The novel has been translated into sixteen languages. Her follow-up novel was The Shadow Year and her third, The Peacock Summer, was published in 2018.
Hannah has written for a number of media outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, The Independent, Fairfax Media and Australian Women’s Weekly. She is a dual citizen of the UK and Australia, though currently lives in the South West of England with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing a digital ARC of The River House by Hannah Richell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
January 17, 2020
This is a story of a family broken apart by the secrets they keep from each other. One family member, for her own personal reasons, tries her hardest to bring the family back together. It is a very emotional book. Keep the tissue box handy.
Hannah Richell writes well and she works hard to produce well rounded characters who you can become attached to and care about. As the secrets come out and confrontations and accusations begin, no one character is all good or all bad. They are, as we all are, struggling with human frailties and doing the best they can at the time.
The author exposes the past and the secrets a tiny bit at a time throughout the story. This serves to make the book practically unputdownable as you develop a desperate need to know what happened. I carried on reading very late into the night because I just had to finish it.
In my opinion, a good book, well written and definitely worth a read.
My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Hannah Richell writes well and she works hard to produce well rounded characters who you can become attached to and care about. As the secrets come out and confrontations and accusations begin, no one character is all good or all bad. They are, as we all are, struggling with human frailties and doing the best they can at the time.
The author exposes the past and the secrets a tiny bit at a time throughout the story. This serves to make the book practically unputdownable as you develop a desperate need to know what happened. I carried on reading very late into the night because I just had to finish it.
In my opinion, a good book, well written and definitely worth a read.
My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
December 17, 2023
When Margot Sorrell received the text from her sister Lucy, saying “please come home, I need you”, she knew she had to return to Lucy’s side. The heartbreak of the past that she’d buried so deeply wouldn’t stop her returning to the family home and celebrating Lucy’s sudden and unexpected wedding. The estrangement from her mother Kit, the tension with her father, her need to see their eldest sister Eve – surely for a few days Margot could hold it all together.
Windfalls was the home they had all grown up in. Situated beside the river that had featured so largely in their childhood; their lives - still flowing silently as it always had. Could Margot spend the following few days with her family in a place that held good memories as well as bad? For Lucy she would do her best. But immediately it seemed it would be harder than she thought it would be. The bitterness and anger were still there, the heartache and confusion still on their faces. Would Margot ever find peace again?
The River Home by Aussie author Hannah Richell was an emotional read about a family broken, seemingly beyond repair, and the courage and love it takes to mend what many years had shattered. A beautiful story which tugged at the heartstrings, The River Home is one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Hachette AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Windfalls was the home they had all grown up in. Situated beside the river that had featured so largely in their childhood; their lives - still flowing silently as it always had. Could Margot spend the following few days with her family in a place that held good memories as well as bad? For Lucy she would do her best. But immediately it seemed it would be harder than she thought it would be. The bitterness and anger were still there, the heartache and confusion still on their faces. Would Margot ever find peace again?
The River Home by Aussie author Hannah Richell was an emotional read about a family broken, seemingly beyond repair, and the courage and love it takes to mend what many years had shattered. A beautiful story which tugged at the heartstrings, The River Home is one I highly recommend.
With thanks to Hachette AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
May 21, 2020
As much as she wanted to dismiss the text message from her sister, Margot Sorrell knew she couldn’t. The message reads please come home, I need you. Returning home was the last place Margot wanted to go and attending her sisters unexpected wedding was not something she was looking forward to.
Weddings bring family and friends together to celebrate a special occasion where they enjoy one another’s company, drink and eat plenty and have fun, but Margot had been estranged from her family for quite some time now and she was unsure what sort of reception she would receive.
Margot only needed to hold it together for a few days, then she could return to her life, but this would be harder than first thought. With hidden family secrets and emotions running high this could either fix or completely break this family forever.
A book with hidden secrets is always a sure winner for me and this book was exactly that and more. Aussie author Hannah Richell is one of my favourite authors and if you have read any of her books you will know why. Well written story that I thoroughly loved. Highly recommended.
Weddings bring family and friends together to celebrate a special occasion where they enjoy one another’s company, drink and eat plenty and have fun, but Margot had been estranged from her family for quite some time now and she was unsure what sort of reception she would receive.
Margot only needed to hold it together for a few days, then she could return to her life, but this would be harder than first thought. With hidden family secrets and emotions running high this could either fix or completely break this family forever.
A book with hidden secrets is always a sure winner for me and this book was exactly that and more. Aussie author Hannah Richell is one of my favourite authors and if you have read any of her books you will know why. Well written story that I thoroughly loved. Highly recommended.
June 24, 2021
Margot Sorrell lives in Edinburgh in Scotland, she left home when she was sixteen and she's estranged from her family. She receives a text message from her sister Lucy, she needs her to return to England and she’s getting married. The three sisters Eve, Lucy and youngest Margot grew up running around their parents Kit and Ted’s seventeenth century property in Somerset, it’s in a beautiful location, by the river, the sisters were close, now secrets and tension within the family have kept them apart.
Lucy and Tom have decided to get married, giving everyone a week’s notice and are holding their wedding at Windfalls. Eve’s in her element, she planned her own wedding and she offers her assistance to help her sister Lucy. Things begin to get a little tense, Lucy wants a very casual wedding, Eve gets rather exasperated and when Margot arrives the situation escalates.
The tension in the family is from the past, they all have grievances against each other and some have secrets. Kit’s a rather free spirited person and unconventional, she found motherhood difficult, Ted suggested she try writing a book and she becomes a successful published author. Ted’s a playwright, his career was put on hold to raise the girls and sadly his relationship with Kit ended. When her parents separated Margot was the only child living at home, her mother became even more distracted and just when Margot needed her the most. The wedding forces the whole family to be together, it’s a pressure cooker type of situation, everyone needs to get along for Lucy and Tom's sake, can they move on from the mistakes of the past and tragic secrets will be revealed.
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an amazing story, it’s about a broken family coming together for a happy occasion, all the emotion that comes with it, trying to heal their fractured relationship and receiving unexpected news. You will need a box of tissues, it’s beautifully written, it tugs on your heartstrings in so many ways and I was sobbing at the end.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review and five stars from me. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
Lucy and Tom have decided to get married, giving everyone a week’s notice and are holding their wedding at Windfalls. Eve’s in her element, she planned her own wedding and she offers her assistance to help her sister Lucy. Things begin to get a little tense, Lucy wants a very casual wedding, Eve gets rather exasperated and when Margot arrives the situation escalates.
The tension in the family is from the past, they all have grievances against each other and some have secrets. Kit’s a rather free spirited person and unconventional, she found motherhood difficult, Ted suggested she try writing a book and she becomes a successful published author. Ted’s a playwright, his career was put on hold to raise the girls and sadly his relationship with Kit ended. When her parents separated Margot was the only child living at home, her mother became even more distracted and just when Margot needed her the most. The wedding forces the whole family to be together, it’s a pressure cooker type of situation, everyone needs to get along for Lucy and Tom's sake, can they move on from the mistakes of the past and tragic secrets will be revealed.
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an amazing story, it’s about a broken family coming together for a happy occasion, all the emotion that comes with it, trying to heal their fractured relationship and receiving unexpected news. You will need a box of tissues, it’s beautifully written, it tugs on your heartstrings in so many ways and I was sobbing at the end.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review and five stars from me. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
May 29, 2020
The River Home is the fourth novel by best-selling British-Australian author, Hannah Richell. Despite strong misgivings Margot has, after eight years away, returned to her chaotic childhood home, Windfalls. She’s here for her sister Lucy’s hastily arranged wedding to Tom (Is she pregnant? Probably…), so of course Kit, Margot’s estranged mother, will be there.
Margot is prepared to draw a line under the past to keep things civil for Lucy's sake, although Lucy is (naively?) hopeful that the rift can be repaired, but Kit is insisting on an apology and an explanation for Margot’s terrible act. Their (always responsible) elder sister, Eve is, meanwhile, stressing over all the arrangements that Lucy airily seems to believe will come together.
When Kit Weaver and Ted Sorrell bought the run-down farmhouse near Bath over thirty years earlier, forsaking city life, Kit envisaged an idyllic existence of Ted writing plays and Kit creating a family. The reality was different: Ted plagued by writer’s block; Kit struggling with motherhood, then almost accidentally falling into fame as an author of the best-selling Rare Elements series. If her sisters remember a happy childhood, Margot, dropped through the cracks of a breaking family, has a different recall.
Now, they will all be together again at Windfalls. It is a mistake? Each of the sisters holds a dark secret, while Kit and Ted have separated. Can they all hold it together for these few days?
Richell has the reader instantly intrigued with the mystery of what Margot did and why, and hints are gradually meted out with flashbacks as the main story plays out over a few days. There are plenty of secrets and not a few red herrings to distract from the truth. Richell’s characters are multi-dimensional and fairly credible, although for a teen in 2010, Margot seems exceptionally naïve.
While Richell’s depiction of the author in the grip of her muse, and the effect of that on those around her, makes sense of those acknowledgements-to-family we often find at the end of books, and while our demands, as voracious readers, are clearly responsible for some of that, Kit is still not an easy character to like or connect with.
This is a gripping and emotional read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy.
Margot is prepared to draw a line under the past to keep things civil for Lucy's sake, although Lucy is (naively?) hopeful that the rift can be repaired, but Kit is insisting on an apology and an explanation for Margot’s terrible act. Their (always responsible) elder sister, Eve is, meanwhile, stressing over all the arrangements that Lucy airily seems to believe will come together.
When Kit Weaver and Ted Sorrell bought the run-down farmhouse near Bath over thirty years earlier, forsaking city life, Kit envisaged an idyllic existence of Ted writing plays and Kit creating a family. The reality was different: Ted plagued by writer’s block; Kit struggling with motherhood, then almost accidentally falling into fame as an author of the best-selling Rare Elements series. If her sisters remember a happy childhood, Margot, dropped through the cracks of a breaking family, has a different recall.
Now, they will all be together again at Windfalls. It is a mistake? Each of the sisters holds a dark secret, while Kit and Ted have separated. Can they all hold it together for these few days?
Richell has the reader instantly intrigued with the mystery of what Margot did and why, and hints are gradually meted out with flashbacks as the main story plays out over a few days. There are plenty of secrets and not a few red herrings to distract from the truth. Richell’s characters are multi-dimensional and fairly credible, although for a teen in 2010, Margot seems exceptionally naïve.
While Richell’s depiction of the author in the grip of her muse, and the effect of that on those around her, makes sense of those acknowledgements-to-family we often find at the end of books, and while our demands, as voracious readers, are clearly responsible for some of that, Kit is still not an easy character to like or connect with.
This is a gripping and emotional read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy.
May 13, 2020
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The River Home by Hannah Richell. (2020).
Margot didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.' As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth can finally be revealed.
Well this one had me crying at the end...so yes, it's quite heart-wrenching. Prepare yourself emotionally before reading! Eve, Lucy and Margot all have their respective issues in their personal lives and while they clearly love one another, they are all holding their secrets inside. The tension between their mother Kit and Margot is quite intense due to an incident that occurred years previously that gradually gets revealed, as does the horrific reason why that incident occurred. The secrets held by some of the family are quite traumatic and could trigger some readers if they have had similar experiences in their lives.
I loved this extremely well-written and absorbing family drama that by the end really tugged at the heartstrings.
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr
The River Home by Hannah Richell. (2020).
Margot didn't want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. 'I need you.' As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth can finally be revealed.
Well this one had me crying at the end...so yes, it's quite heart-wrenching. Prepare yourself emotionally before reading! Eve, Lucy and Margot all have their respective issues in their personal lives and while they clearly love one another, they are all holding their secrets inside. The tension between their mother Kit and Margot is quite intense due to an incident that occurred years previously that gradually gets revealed, as does the horrific reason why that incident occurred. The secrets held by some of the family are quite traumatic and could trigger some readers if they have had similar experiences in their lives.
I loved this extremely well-written and absorbing family drama that by the end really tugged at the heartstrings.
March 19, 2020
Margot Sorrell didn't want to go back to the family home in Somerset. She tried all her adult life not to .ook back. But her sister, Lucy sent her a text. Lucy was getting married. So Margot, Lucy and their older sister Eve are reunited together with their parents. But they are all harbouring secrets and sooner or later it's all going to implode.
This story about a dysfunctional family had me hooked from the beginning. It's told from multiple points of view. Its shows how damaging it can be to hold on to secrets.margot, Lucy and Eve are are three very different women, even though they are sisters. Their father had walked out on them all. A story of reunion and resentments. The pace is steady and the tension builds slowly. The characters are complex but likeable. The story is well written and the scenery is well described. I did feel the ending was a it rushed.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author Hannah Richell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This story about a dysfunctional family had me hooked from the beginning. It's told from multiple points of view. Its shows how damaging it can be to hold on to secrets.margot, Lucy and Eve are are three very different women, even though they are sisters. Their father had walked out on them all. A story of reunion and resentments. The pace is steady and the tension builds slowly. The characters are complex but likeable. The story is well written and the scenery is well described. I did feel the ending was a it rushed.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author Hannah Richell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 17, 2020
Four and a half stars.
Margot Sorrell spends a lot of time trying to keep her past where it belongs, in the past. Too often it won’t stay there. So the easiest way to deal with it is not to return to Windfalls, the family home. But when she gets a text from her middle sister saying she needs her, Margot feels unable to refuse. She returns for Lucy’s hastily arranged wedding, which Lucy hopes will bring the family back together. A wedding which Lucy and Tom want to keep low key and fun. But older sister Eve has taken over organising everything and is trying to turn it into something other than what it was intended to be. Surely Margot can manage to co-exist with her family for a few days until the wedding is over? So Margo comes home to Windfalls to find life has more shocks in store for her and the family. From the outset Margot finds the situation hard to bear but especially when confronted with her mother Kit. They have been estranged since Margot left home at 16 after tragic events which neither of them can forget. Can this family put aside the simmering resentments and bitterness that haunts them?
A story of three sister, parents divorced and the father remarried there are a lot of hidden secrets and resentments that gradually come to light. From the outset, even though she makes unwise choices at times, I felt for Margo. Scenes from the past plague her. Eve is one of those people who is not happy unless they are organising everything and everyone and things are being done her way. I found Eve hard to like for several reasons. Kit is a famous author, who with her self-absorbed attitude, is also hard to like. Lucy is a breath of fresh air, even if a little naive at times. Sibella, wife to the father of the three sisters is a good character. And Jonas who is Margot’s flat mate and friend is lovely. So a mixture of characters to care about and others to dislike, some intensely and with good reason, inhabit this family story.
Having read a few of this author’s books and loved a couple of them I was really keen to read this one. I enjoyed the way the secrets that each one in the family hold, are teased out. Sometimes things are not at all what the reader expects, which is good. It certainly made this reader keep turning the pages to find out what happened and why. One of those books you hate to have to put down. The characters are well drawn and mostly complex. The setting is atmospheric. I loved this one. An engrossing read, engaging, touching lots of emotional responses and definitely recommended.
Margot Sorrell spends a lot of time trying to keep her past where it belongs, in the past. Too often it won’t stay there. So the easiest way to deal with it is not to return to Windfalls, the family home. But when she gets a text from her middle sister saying she needs her, Margot feels unable to refuse. She returns for Lucy’s hastily arranged wedding, which Lucy hopes will bring the family back together. A wedding which Lucy and Tom want to keep low key and fun. But older sister Eve has taken over organising everything and is trying to turn it into something other than what it was intended to be. Surely Margot can manage to co-exist with her family for a few days until the wedding is over? So Margo comes home to Windfalls to find life has more shocks in store for her and the family. From the outset Margot finds the situation hard to bear but especially when confronted with her mother Kit. They have been estranged since Margot left home at 16 after tragic events which neither of them can forget. Can this family put aside the simmering resentments and bitterness that haunts them?
A story of three sister, parents divorced and the father remarried there are a lot of hidden secrets and resentments that gradually come to light. From the outset, even though she makes unwise choices at times, I felt for Margo. Scenes from the past plague her. Eve is one of those people who is not happy unless they are organising everything and everyone and things are being done her way. I found Eve hard to like for several reasons. Kit is a famous author, who with her self-absorbed attitude, is also hard to like. Lucy is a breath of fresh air, even if a little naive at times. Sibella, wife to the father of the three sisters is a good character. And Jonas who is Margot’s flat mate and friend is lovely. So a mixture of characters to care about and others to dislike, some intensely and with good reason, inhabit this family story.
Having read a few of this author’s books and loved a couple of them I was really keen to read this one. I enjoyed the way the secrets that each one in the family hold, are teased out. Sometimes things are not at all what the reader expects, which is good. It certainly made this reader keep turning the pages to find out what happened and why. One of those books you hate to have to put down. The characters are well drawn and mostly complex. The setting is atmospheric. I loved this one. An engrossing read, engaging, touching lots of emotional responses and definitely recommended.
March 19, 2020
Margot Sorrell did not want to go back to the family home in Somerset. She's tried all her adult life not to look back. But her sister, Lucy had sent her a text. Lucy was getting g married. So, Margot, Lucy and older sister, Eve are reunited together with their parents. But they are all harbouring secrets. And sooner or later it's all going to implode.
This story about a dysfunctional family had me hooked from the beginning. It's told from multiple points of view. It shows how damaging it can be to hold on to secrets. Margo, Lucy and Eve are three very different women, even though they are sisters. Their father had walked out on them all. A story of reunion and resentments. The pace is steady and the tension builds slowly. The characters are complex but likeable. The story is well written and the scenery is well described. Indid feel the ending was a it rushed.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author Hannah Richell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This story about a dysfunctional family had me hooked from the beginning. It's told from multiple points of view. It shows how damaging it can be to hold on to secrets. Margo, Lucy and Eve are three very different women, even though they are sisters. Their father had walked out on them all. A story of reunion and resentments. The pace is steady and the tension builds slowly. The characters are complex but likeable. The story is well written and the scenery is well described. Indid feel the ending was a it rushed.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author Hannah Richell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 10, 2020
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
‘They would all know. She couldn’t bear the thought of it. She could never, ever utter a word about what happened that night down by the river.’
Hannah Richell makes a triumphant return to the publishing world with her new novel, The River Home. A murky tale of strained family relationships, painful secrets and the weight of the past, Richell’s latest offering is utterly beguiling. The River Home absolutely hypnotised me from the astonishing opening paragraph, to the parting word.
The River Home is the story of the Sorrell siblings, Eve, Lucy and Margot. These three very different sisters, who are mostly estranged, are pulled back together by the shotgun wedding of their sister Lucy. For Margot in particular, the Sorrell’s childhood home, where Lucy will be married, is a place of much burden and pain. Margot has tried hard to put the past behind her, but her sister’s request to attend her upcoming nuptials forces Margot to confront old memories. But Margot isn’t the only Sorrell sister to have a long held secret. As the wedding preparations set in, each sister will gradually release a hidden aspect of their past. As this occurs, pre existing tensions and family problems bubble to the surface. However, Lucy’s wedding becomes a pivotal force in inciting change, acceptance and understanding in the Sorrell clan. This big event will signal the beginning of sadness, restitution and hope for a family unit who has struggled to see eye to eye.
Hannah Richell truly is a remarkable writer who never seems to fail in her ability to impress me with her masterful tales. The River Home is yet another powerful book written by this talented author, that I know won’t leave me anytime soon. From the breathtaking first paragraph, which is filled to the brim with rich imagery and precision, I was utterly spellbound by The River Home.
Firstly, I really connected to the format of The River Home. Richell has carefully constructed her new novel from the standpoint of three different perspectives. The reader also travels through a story that examines a tight time period of just a few days in the present, which provides a sense of urgency and brevity to the events at hand. While the remainder of the narrative contains chapters that delve deep into the past, which enables Richell to track back to the years 1986-7, 2005 and 2009-10 with a strong eye. What emerges is a critical interrogation of a family who has suffered a great deal, which has simmered for years, making these issues of paramount importance in the present. Richell is definitely skilled in making these narrative connections and aligning her threads together in a precise fashion.
There is a rich sense of place that pervades The River Home and I have come to realise that Richell has an aptitude for presenting this aspect of her writing, based on my appreciation of her previous works. In The River Home, the atmosphere is dripping in tension, uncertainty, duplicity, hidden secrets, longing, regret and atonement. There are murky and dark undertones to the novel as a whole, which served to heighten the overall tension level of the book. What I also appreciated about this aspect of the novel was the strong depiction of the family home, which is the centerpiece for much of the action and a catalyst for many of the events. I valued this segment of The River Home very much.
In The River Home, Richell uses a shared form of narration to help the reader to grasp each of the characters and their accompanying storylines. I was fully submerged in the unfolding events overshadowing each of the characters in the present and past threads. I did feel a much greater connection to Margot, and although each of the protagonists in The River Home are issued with significant life challenges to overcome, my heart went out to Margot above the others. Richell suspends much of the mystery aspect of the novel, which is mostly Margot’s story out for as long as she can, which kept me wholly engaged in The River Home. I really admired how Richell was able to conduct the events of the novel together, revealing each separate secret with full force, and each of the threads managed to come together in the one crushing finale. I never once felt my eyes move away from the book, which for me a is true testament of a solid piece of writing.
As I reflect on my experience of reading this exceptional novel, not only was I in awe of the beauty of Richell’s writing in general, but the themes this book presents are salient. From relationships, marriage, parenthood, love, lust, infidelity, passion, personal aspirations, teen angst, sibling rivalries, loss, grief, regret, guilt, survival and restitution, The River Home leaves a deep stain on the reader’s mind. Each of these areas are touched on with Richell’s authentic level of understanding and literary precision.
There is so much praise that can be issued to The River Home by Hannah Richell. This book truly is an arresting and distinguished piece that I will be earmarking as one of my favourite novels of 2020.
‘For too many years, this river has been a place of pain. Yet is also a place of joy. Perhaps, this place – this silent river –is all of these things. Or perhaps it is none. Perhaps it just is.’
*Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The River Home is book #24 of the 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge
‘They would all know. She couldn’t bear the thought of it. She could never, ever utter a word about what happened that night down by the river.’
Hannah Richell makes a triumphant return to the publishing world with her new novel, The River Home. A murky tale of strained family relationships, painful secrets and the weight of the past, Richell’s latest offering is utterly beguiling. The River Home absolutely hypnotised me from the astonishing opening paragraph, to the parting word.
The River Home is the story of the Sorrell siblings, Eve, Lucy and Margot. These three very different sisters, who are mostly estranged, are pulled back together by the shotgun wedding of their sister Lucy. For Margot in particular, the Sorrell’s childhood home, where Lucy will be married, is a place of much burden and pain. Margot has tried hard to put the past behind her, but her sister’s request to attend her upcoming nuptials forces Margot to confront old memories. But Margot isn’t the only Sorrell sister to have a long held secret. As the wedding preparations set in, each sister will gradually release a hidden aspect of their past. As this occurs, pre existing tensions and family problems bubble to the surface. However, Lucy’s wedding becomes a pivotal force in inciting change, acceptance and understanding in the Sorrell clan. This big event will signal the beginning of sadness, restitution and hope for a family unit who has struggled to see eye to eye.
Hannah Richell truly is a remarkable writer who never seems to fail in her ability to impress me with her masterful tales. The River Home is yet another powerful book written by this talented author, that I know won’t leave me anytime soon. From the breathtaking first paragraph, which is filled to the brim with rich imagery and precision, I was utterly spellbound by The River Home.
Firstly, I really connected to the format of The River Home. Richell has carefully constructed her new novel from the standpoint of three different perspectives. The reader also travels through a story that examines a tight time period of just a few days in the present, which provides a sense of urgency and brevity to the events at hand. While the remainder of the narrative contains chapters that delve deep into the past, which enables Richell to track back to the years 1986-7, 2005 and 2009-10 with a strong eye. What emerges is a critical interrogation of a family who has suffered a great deal, which has simmered for years, making these issues of paramount importance in the present. Richell is definitely skilled in making these narrative connections and aligning her threads together in a precise fashion.
There is a rich sense of place that pervades The River Home and I have come to realise that Richell has an aptitude for presenting this aspect of her writing, based on my appreciation of her previous works. In The River Home, the atmosphere is dripping in tension, uncertainty, duplicity, hidden secrets, longing, regret and atonement. There are murky and dark undertones to the novel as a whole, which served to heighten the overall tension level of the book. What I also appreciated about this aspect of the novel was the strong depiction of the family home, which is the centerpiece for much of the action and a catalyst for many of the events. I valued this segment of The River Home very much.
In The River Home, Richell uses a shared form of narration to help the reader to grasp each of the characters and their accompanying storylines. I was fully submerged in the unfolding events overshadowing each of the characters in the present and past threads. I did feel a much greater connection to Margot, and although each of the protagonists in The River Home are issued with significant life challenges to overcome, my heart went out to Margot above the others. Richell suspends much of the mystery aspect of the novel, which is mostly Margot’s story out for as long as she can, which kept me wholly engaged in The River Home. I really admired how Richell was able to conduct the events of the novel together, revealing each separate secret with full force, and each of the threads managed to come together in the one crushing finale. I never once felt my eyes move away from the book, which for me a is true testament of a solid piece of writing.
As I reflect on my experience of reading this exceptional novel, not only was I in awe of the beauty of Richell’s writing in general, but the themes this book presents are salient. From relationships, marriage, parenthood, love, lust, infidelity, passion, personal aspirations, teen angst, sibling rivalries, loss, grief, regret, guilt, survival and restitution, The River Home leaves a deep stain on the reader’s mind. Each of these areas are touched on with Richell’s authentic level of understanding and literary precision.
There is so much praise that can be issued to The River Home by Hannah Richell. This book truly is an arresting and distinguished piece that I will be earmarking as one of my favourite novels of 2020.
‘For too many years, this river has been a place of pain. Yet is also a place of joy. Perhaps, this place – this silent river –is all of these things. Or perhaps it is none. Perhaps it just is.’
*Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The River Home is book #24 of the 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge
May 9, 2020
Margot Sorrell has been estranged from her family for several years, since she was sixteen in fact. Since then she has enjoyed a fairly uncomplicated life arranged mostly on her own terms.
Growing up in their country home beside the river was in many ways idyllic, and although Margot got along well with her two sisters, she was a bit of a loner inasmuch as she was often left out of activities and often felt excluded.
Her relationship with her mother was strained as she blamed her mother's lack of attention for the ultimate breakdown of her parents' marriage.
Margot's mother enjoyed some notoriety as a writer of popular fiction which kept her locked away for days at a time in her space, and left the family to fend for themselves. As a result the sisters formed a closer bond with their father.
So when, after so many years of absence, Margot received a message from her sister Lucy asking her to come home... "I need you"...she was torn.
She loved her sister and didn't want to let her down, but how would she face her mother again after all this time without talking, how would she cope with the memories such a visit was bound to dredge up?
Secrets, lies, and unuttered truths, all combine to make one very noxious cocktail... placed in a capsule of time...these facts develop the soul destroying qualities of any well guarded secret left to fester untended.
This is a very believable story of three sisters raised in the same family who all have very different memories of home and why they all turned out so differently...at least one of them.
I very much enjoyed reading this story and was totally absorbed in the family dynamics, it kept me wanting more.
I would definitely recommend this to my friends and others.
5⭐️s
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy to read and review.
Growing up in their country home beside the river was in many ways idyllic, and although Margot got along well with her two sisters, she was a bit of a loner inasmuch as she was often left out of activities and often felt excluded.
Her relationship with her mother was strained as she blamed her mother's lack of attention for the ultimate breakdown of her parents' marriage.
Margot's mother enjoyed some notoriety as a writer of popular fiction which kept her locked away for days at a time in her space, and left the family to fend for themselves. As a result the sisters formed a closer bond with their father.
So when, after so many years of absence, Margot received a message from her sister Lucy asking her to come home... "I need you"...she was torn.
She loved her sister and didn't want to let her down, but how would she face her mother again after all this time without talking, how would she cope with the memories such a visit was bound to dredge up?
Secrets, lies, and unuttered truths, all combine to make one very noxious cocktail... placed in a capsule of time...these facts develop the soul destroying qualities of any well guarded secret left to fester untended.
This is a very believable story of three sisters raised in the same family who all have very different memories of home and why they all turned out so differently...at least one of them.
I very much enjoyed reading this story and was totally absorbed in the family dynamics, it kept me wanting more.
I would definitely recommend this to my friends and others.
5⭐️s
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy to read and review.
May 11, 2020
This novel is exquisite. I’m not sure why this has surprised me so much about it; Hannah Richell is an author whose work is known to me and highly appreciated. And yet, the depth in which this story has reached within me is unexpected. It is beautifully written: atmospheric and heartfelt with an honesty that is pierced with raw pain. The issues at the forefront of this novel are weighty but they are explored with attuned sensitivity whilst also retaining the gravity they deserve. This is a novel that invokes a range of emotions, indeed, I felt myself swinging from anger to despair and heartbreak to hope right the way through.
‘It’s something she learned years ago – the hard way – and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you, like the sickly scent of those apples, like the echoes of a summer’s night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.’
The symbolism of the river within this novel cannot be underestimated. For Margot, it is the source of her trauma, but the complexity of this is threefold. Hannah Richell demonstrates how layered trauma can be; Margot’s story has so much more to it than meets the eye. Her suffering affected me greatly. As her trauma came to light, the incredulity of no one noticing what Margot was going through at the time incensed me. But upon deeper reflection I was struck by something profound: as the reader, I had been given all the clues that Margot’s family had, and yet, I was still shocked by what was revealed. I hadn’t seen what was happening right before my eyes either, and all of a sudden, my rage at Margot’s mother evaporated. We see what suits us, yes, but we also see what a person wants us to see. As humans, we all too often accept what is presented to us, satisfying ourselves with the answers to our paltry, “you’re okay, aren’t you?” Dismissing behaviour changes as stages a person might be going through, attributing it to what we know without seeking the answer to what we don’t. This was intelligent writing, skilful on a whole other level. I am still in awe.
‘The silent river waits to embrace her. With a deep breath, she dives out towards its centre. The cold water claims her. The shock is electric. It envelops her traitorous body. As she pushes for the surface, she feels her wild, beating heart, her breath rising hot and urgent in her throat, her undeniable, incredible aliveness. She floats on the surface of the river and experiences a certain peace. She feels herself connected to the flow of life all around. Here I am, she thinks. Here I am.’
This is a story about a fractured family. There is still love, but there is anger and pain too. Blame as well. And so much misunderstanding. The characters were all fabulously crafted, authentically flawed, each with something about them that we were inclined to dislike, be it questionable morals, a tendency towards selfishness, self-sabotage, or ignorance to the effect of one’s own actions. I had a problem with each character at some point in time throughout the novel, but these flaws were balanced, as they are within humans, and so too did I accept them within these characters and move on. Hannah Richell appears to have an intimate understanding of human nature and the ability to articulate it through her characters, gifting us with these pop-up human beings on paper, people we become invested in and deeply attached to.
‘For too many years, this river has been a place of pain. Yet is also a place of joy. Perhaps, this place – this silent river – is all of these things. Or perhaps it is none. Perhaps it just is. Margot understands now that what she has been frightened of facing is not her mother’s studio, nor the river, nor Windfalls but the hurt place inside of her – the dark wound she has carried for so long. This is what Lucy has been asking her to confront. Joy. Pain. Life. Death. Each casts the other in sharp relief.’
The River Home is fiction at its best. There is nothing light and fluffy here, it is at times incredibly hard to get through without crying. But it’s so worth it. After I finished reading, at 1am, I just sat there for about ten minutes, feeling the weight of the story and contemplating the path each of the characters had walked. This novel is haunting; brutally beautiful and the very best that fiction can be.
Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a review copy of The River Home.
‘It’s something she learned years ago – the hard way – and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you, like the sickly scent of those apples, like the echoes of a summer’s night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.’
The symbolism of the river within this novel cannot be underestimated. For Margot, it is the source of her trauma, but the complexity of this is threefold. Hannah Richell demonstrates how layered trauma can be; Margot’s story has so much more to it than meets the eye. Her suffering affected me greatly. As her trauma came to light, the incredulity of no one noticing what Margot was going through at the time incensed me. But upon deeper reflection I was struck by something profound: as the reader, I had been given all the clues that Margot’s family had, and yet, I was still shocked by what was revealed. I hadn’t seen what was happening right before my eyes either, and all of a sudden, my rage at Margot’s mother evaporated. We see what suits us, yes, but we also see what a person wants us to see. As humans, we all too often accept what is presented to us, satisfying ourselves with the answers to our paltry, “you’re okay, aren’t you?” Dismissing behaviour changes as stages a person might be going through, attributing it to what we know without seeking the answer to what we don’t. This was intelligent writing, skilful on a whole other level. I am still in awe.
‘The silent river waits to embrace her. With a deep breath, she dives out towards its centre. The cold water claims her. The shock is electric. It envelops her traitorous body. As she pushes for the surface, she feels her wild, beating heart, her breath rising hot and urgent in her throat, her undeniable, incredible aliveness. She floats on the surface of the river and experiences a certain peace. She feels herself connected to the flow of life all around. Here I am, she thinks. Here I am.’
This is a story about a fractured family. There is still love, but there is anger and pain too. Blame as well. And so much misunderstanding. The characters were all fabulously crafted, authentically flawed, each with something about them that we were inclined to dislike, be it questionable morals, a tendency towards selfishness, self-sabotage, or ignorance to the effect of one’s own actions. I had a problem with each character at some point in time throughout the novel, but these flaws were balanced, as they are within humans, and so too did I accept them within these characters and move on. Hannah Richell appears to have an intimate understanding of human nature and the ability to articulate it through her characters, gifting us with these pop-up human beings on paper, people we become invested in and deeply attached to.
‘For too many years, this river has been a place of pain. Yet is also a place of joy. Perhaps, this place – this silent river – is all of these things. Or perhaps it is none. Perhaps it just is. Margot understands now that what she has been frightened of facing is not her mother’s studio, nor the river, nor Windfalls but the hurt place inside of her – the dark wound she has carried for so long. This is what Lucy has been asking her to confront. Joy. Pain. Life. Death. Each casts the other in sharp relief.’
The River Home is fiction at its best. There is nothing light and fluffy here, it is at times incredibly hard to get through without crying. But it’s so worth it. After I finished reading, at 1am, I just sat there for about ten minutes, feeling the weight of the story and contemplating the path each of the characters had walked. This novel is haunting; brutally beautiful and the very best that fiction can be.
Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a review copy of The River Home.
September 18, 2020
This author's "The Peacock Summer" was one of my favourite reads last year, so I was eagerly anticipating "The River Home". I've come to know that Hannah Richell writes heart-warming, sometimes heart-breaking family sagas that are rich in character and this book more than lived up to its predecessor.
Set in beautiful Somerset, the action of the novel takes place during September and the weeks surrounding the autumn equinox. The sense of place, and how people can have tenaciously strong attachments to their family home permeates the story.
The Sorrel family were easy to understand and even easier to imagine. Although the family was a little unusual and more than a little damaged, they had their own share of loves, regrets, betrayals, pain, recriminations, tensions, secrets, and worries. No family can endure and remain unscathed.
The book reminds us that life is short so we must love and live while we can. It also reminds us that we all want to be 'seen' - acknowledged - made to feel important in some small way.
Highly recommended to those readers who enjoy character-rich family drama woven into a engrossing plot!
Set in beautiful Somerset, the action of the novel takes place during September and the weeks surrounding the autumn equinox. The sense of place, and how people can have tenaciously strong attachments to their family home permeates the story.
The Sorrel family were easy to understand and even easier to imagine. Although the family was a little unusual and more than a little damaged, they had their own share of loves, regrets, betrayals, pain, recriminations, tensions, secrets, and worries. No family can endure and remain unscathed.
The book reminds us that life is short so we must love and live while we can. It also reminds us that we all want to be 'seen' - acknowledged - made to feel important in some small way.
Highly recommended to those readers who enjoy character-rich family drama woven into a engrossing plot!
February 15, 2020
This is a book I could barely put down, set in a quiet village in Somerset, England, it is the story of a dysfunctional family, secrets kept and of love, hurts and forgiveness, MS Richell has dug deep with emotions from these characters and told a story that had me grabbing for the tissues and feeling so many emotions, I hope that you will pick this one up and get to know Eve, Lucy, Margot and their family who live by the river.
Margot Sorrell is finally returning home to Windfalls the family home she ran from when she was a teenager, she buried many secrets in the corner of her memory, but now her sister Lucy has sent her a message saying she needs her. Coming home has Margot on edge being with her sisters and mother is opening up wounds, but Lucy has her reasons for bringing the family together and maybe it is time that secrets are told and with pain then maybe healing will come.
The relationship between the sisters has always been strong and loving and reuniting in the house that they had grown up in has them all feeling emotional, there will be changes that will bring much sadness but also show what love can do. Eve, Lucy and Margot all uncover secrets that have been causing hurt but together they will feel the strength and love that will keep them going.
I truly loved this story, I am still tearing up writing this review and I hope I do it justice, beautifully written with love and caring it shows what love can do, how it can bring a family together even though there has been so much hurt and resentment in the past through grief there is the chance to mend the broken bridges and find peace and happiness again. This is a story that I highly recommend.
Margot Sorrell is finally returning home to Windfalls the family home she ran from when she was a teenager, she buried many secrets in the corner of her memory, but now her sister Lucy has sent her a message saying she needs her. Coming home has Margot on edge being with her sisters and mother is opening up wounds, but Lucy has her reasons for bringing the family together and maybe it is time that secrets are told and with pain then maybe healing will come.
The relationship between the sisters has always been strong and loving and reuniting in the house that they had grown up in has them all feeling emotional, there will be changes that will bring much sadness but also show what love can do. Eve, Lucy and Margot all uncover secrets that have been causing hurt but together they will feel the strength and love that will keep them going.
I truly loved this story, I am still tearing up writing this review and I hope I do it justice, beautifully written with love and caring it shows what love can do, how it can bring a family together even though there has been so much hurt and resentment in the past through grief there is the chance to mend the broken bridges and find peace and happiness again. This is a story that I highly recommend.
February 26, 2020
The River Home by Hannah Richell is a story about sisters, family secrets and estrangement connected to an event in the past which is slowly revealed during the course of the novel. Richell's previous novel The Peacock Summer made my Top 5 Books of 2018 list so I had high hopes for this. Thankfully The River Home lived up to my hopes and expectations while delivering something 'new' at the same time.
Sisters Margot, Lucy and Eve are brought together by a family wedding. Having grown up at Windfalls in the shadow of their mother bestselling author Kit Weaver, the sisters are now adults yet each carry their own painful secrets.
Margot and her mother have a complicated history and are each under pressure to resolve their dispute or at the very least keep the peace during Lucy's wedding.
Richell's writing is atmospheric and she has a magical way of bringing a setting and a scene to life on the page. I longed to walk through the rooms at Windfalls and smell the apples in the orchard nearby.
The river is an essential symbol winding its way through the novel and the hearts of the characters in this contemporary novel in a similar way to Diane Setterfield's historical fiction novel Once Upon A River.
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an emotionally engrossing mystery, full of family drama, bitterness and resentment along with a dash of love and hope and I loved it! Highly recommended.
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
Sisters Margot, Lucy and Eve are brought together by a family wedding. Having grown up at Windfalls in the shadow of their mother bestselling author Kit Weaver, the sisters are now adults yet each carry their own painful secrets.
Margot and her mother have a complicated history and are each under pressure to resolve their dispute or at the very least keep the peace during Lucy's wedding.
Richell's writing is atmospheric and she has a magical way of bringing a setting and a scene to life on the page. I longed to walk through the rooms at Windfalls and smell the apples in the orchard nearby.
The river is an essential symbol winding its way through the novel and the hearts of the characters in this contemporary novel in a similar way to Diane Setterfield's historical fiction novel Once Upon A River.
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an emotionally engrossing mystery, full of family drama, bitterness and resentment along with a dash of love and hope and I loved it! Highly recommended.
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
September 5, 2020
Moving, mysterious, and absorbing!
The River Home is a pensive, compelling tale that sweeps you away to the Somerset fields and immerses you into the lives of the Sorrell family, especially three strong, young women, as they gather to celebrate, support, confront, communicate, repair relationships, and finally reveal secrets that could potentially change their lives forever.
The prose is smooth and expressive. The characters are genuine, troubled, and sympathetic. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel effortlessly into a heartfelt tale of life, love, loss, resilience, determination, acceptance, self-reflection, and all the intricate dynamics that exist between family members.
Overall, The River Home is an honest, sentimental, hopeful tale by Richell that does a beautiful job of reminding us that life is complicated and messy and even the smallest choices we make can often have far-reaching consequences.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The River Home is a pensive, compelling tale that sweeps you away to the Somerset fields and immerses you into the lives of the Sorrell family, especially three strong, young women, as they gather to celebrate, support, confront, communicate, repair relationships, and finally reveal secrets that could potentially change their lives forever.
The prose is smooth and expressive. The characters are genuine, troubled, and sympathetic. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel effortlessly into a heartfelt tale of life, love, loss, resilience, determination, acceptance, self-reflection, and all the intricate dynamics that exist between family members.
Overall, The River Home is an honest, sentimental, hopeful tale by Richell that does a beautiful job of reminding us that life is complicated and messy and even the smallest choices we make can often have far-reaching consequences.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 9, 2020
“The memory brings an ache - nostalgia for the past, when everything felt so simple and uncomplicated, for a time when they didn’t have to let go of anything more weighty than dandelion seeds.”
I have been eagerly anticipating my first book of Hannah’s and I was not disappointed. The River Home is a story about family secrets, past and present, and the impact it has on the various members. With a strong focus on the three sisters, events slowly unravel over the course of the novel with far reaching ramifications.
The story moves between past and present with Hannah masterfully moving all the puzzle pieces, slowly revealing the fallout from each of the various characters' interactions over the years. Can this dysfunctional family, broken apart through miscommunication and failure to be honest, heal itself? A story of several characters is easy to follow thanks to Hannah’s skill in writing - each being so real and their individual tale, as part of the whole, is seamlessly presented. Overall themes of tragedy and heartbreak make you wonder if they will each find their closure and be able to move on. The plot lines speak to the heart and you will reflect and ponder how you may have reacted when in such dire circumstances.
What is so appealing about this novel when there are a plethora of books out there on dysfunctional families? It all comes down to how engaging Hannah's writing is. Her eloquent prose is engaging with its imagery and nuances to make it feel as if you are sitting at the kitchen table as events unfold - a spectator to both the joy and grief. Featured throughout is the river ... symbolic as it too winds its way through events with a role of its own to play.
“She would never, ever utter a word about what happened that night, down by the river.”
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an emotional mystery, filled with family drama - from the longfelt bitterness and resentment to the hope of a brighter future.
“You’re not empty. You’re afraid. Let yourself feel. Let yourself feel it all. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I’m afraid I will crack”.
“If you crack, perhaps you might start to heal?”
“What if I don’t? What if I break?”
``Then I will be here to hold the pieces.”
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
I have been eagerly anticipating my first book of Hannah’s and I was not disappointed. The River Home is a story about family secrets, past and present, and the impact it has on the various members. With a strong focus on the three sisters, events slowly unravel over the course of the novel with far reaching ramifications.
The story moves between past and present with Hannah masterfully moving all the puzzle pieces, slowly revealing the fallout from each of the various characters' interactions over the years. Can this dysfunctional family, broken apart through miscommunication and failure to be honest, heal itself? A story of several characters is easy to follow thanks to Hannah’s skill in writing - each being so real and their individual tale, as part of the whole, is seamlessly presented. Overall themes of tragedy and heartbreak make you wonder if they will each find their closure and be able to move on. The plot lines speak to the heart and you will reflect and ponder how you may have reacted when in such dire circumstances.
What is so appealing about this novel when there are a plethora of books out there on dysfunctional families? It all comes down to how engaging Hannah's writing is. Her eloquent prose is engaging with its imagery and nuances to make it feel as if you are sitting at the kitchen table as events unfold - a spectator to both the joy and grief. Featured throughout is the river ... symbolic as it too winds its way through events with a role of its own to play.
“She would never, ever utter a word about what happened that night, down by the river.”
The River Home by Hannah Richell is an emotional mystery, filled with family drama - from the longfelt bitterness and resentment to the hope of a brighter future.
“You’re not empty. You’re afraid. Let yourself feel. Let yourself feel it all. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I’m afraid I will crack”.
“If you crack, perhaps you might start to heal?”
“What if I don’t? What if I break?”
``Then I will be here to hold the pieces.”
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
February 28, 2020
A local friend was raving about Hannah Richell's writing (and books) and I had to admit I hadn't read any.
Thankfully I'd requested her latest and I can see why my fellow-avid-reader loves her work. Her writing is stunning. I'm not a very visual person so some of her incredibly descriptive prose is probably wasted on me, but she strings words and phrasing together in an almost lyrical fashion. As if it comes easily.
Read my review here: https://www.debbish.com/books-literat...
Thankfully I'd requested her latest and I can see why my fellow-avid-reader loves her work. Her writing is stunning. I'm not a very visual person so some of her incredibly descriptive prose is probably wasted on me, but she strings words and phrasing together in an almost lyrical fashion. As if it comes easily.
Read my review here: https://www.debbish.com/books-literat...
October 14, 2020
3.5 rounding down to 3. This probably would've been a 4 if the author did not fall into the same old tropes (not one but TWO) that come up everywhere nowadays in books and settled on the "easy" endings to provoke the expected emotional responses. I would've loved to be caught off guard and proven wrong with what even one of the outcomes would be but alas, it ended up being extremely predictable and unfortunately lessened the impact of what would otherwise be a beautiful and well written family drama.
I appreciated the character depth in this book, especially regarding the individual sisters and the relationship between their parents. It unfolded nicely and provided insight into all of their individual behaviors. I also liked that the father's wife was included in the plot as much as she was. Honestly, she was the most normal out of the bunch and I really enjoyed the lightness she brought to the book with her sunny disposition.
As mentioned, there are tropes centering around the trigger warnings of rape of a minor and cancer that, by me just mentioning them, provide you with how the the book ends up handling them. Honestly, the rape of a minor part of it probably went a tad too far as its outcome seems to be too jarring for the overall story.
While this book had the ability to be really great and create a captivating and heartwarming family drama, its hesitancy to be different was its downfall. While I would be open to reading more from this author, I would hope that her other novels would stand apart more from what already saturates the Women's Fiction market.
I appreciated the character depth in this book, especially regarding the individual sisters and the relationship between their parents. It unfolded nicely and provided insight into all of their individual behaviors. I also liked that the father's wife was included in the plot as much as she was. Honestly, she was the most normal out of the bunch and I really enjoyed the lightness she brought to the book with her sunny disposition.
As mentioned, there are tropes centering around the trigger warnings of rape of a minor and cancer that, by me just mentioning them, provide you with how the the book ends up handling them. Honestly, the rape of a minor part of it probably went a tad too far as its outcome seems to be too jarring for the overall story.
While this book had the ability to be really great and create a captivating and heartwarming family drama, its hesitancy to be different was its downfall. While I would be open to reading more from this author, I would hope that her other novels would stand apart more from what already saturates the Women's Fiction market.
February 9, 2020
‘I need you.’
Sisters Eve, Lucy and Margot Sorrell grew up at Windfalls, a seventeenth century house by a river, in the English countryside. Lucy is to be married (a spur of the moment decision), Eve is exasperated (but handling the organizational aspects) and Margot has returned home (reluctantly). There’s tension between family members, secrets (both present and past), resentments carried from the past.
‘What is it about a homecoming that can strip a person of all that they have become?’
Slowly the story unfolds. Events from the past need to be acknowledged while each of the women, and their parents, deal with their own lives as well as the wedding arrangements. Why is Lucy getting married in such a hurry? What does Margot need to apologise for? And what about Eve?
The story moves between present and past, gradually information is revealed. This family has broken apart because of secrets, can it be reunited? Tragedy and human frailty are part of this story, as is courage and determination. Well-developed characters facing issues many can relate to, doing the best they can, given what they know. Be warned: parts are sad, and tissues may come in handy. A novel to read slowly, to think about and to reflect on.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Sisters Eve, Lucy and Margot Sorrell grew up at Windfalls, a seventeenth century house by a river, in the English countryside. Lucy is to be married (a spur of the moment decision), Eve is exasperated (but handling the organizational aspects) and Margot has returned home (reluctantly). There’s tension between family members, secrets (both present and past), resentments carried from the past.
‘What is it about a homecoming that can strip a person of all that they have become?’
Slowly the story unfolds. Events from the past need to be acknowledged while each of the women, and their parents, deal with their own lives as well as the wedding arrangements. Why is Lucy getting married in such a hurry? What does Margot need to apologise for? And what about Eve?
The story moves between present and past, gradually information is revealed. This family has broken apart because of secrets, can it be reunited? Tragedy and human frailty are part of this story, as is courage and determination. Well-developed characters facing issues many can relate to, doing the best they can, given what they know. Be warned: parts are sad, and tissues may come in handy. A novel to read slowly, to think about and to reflect on.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
March 26, 2020
Review to follow.
August 11, 2020
“The events that cause us the most difficulty can often, if we let them, become the experiences that make us stronger.”
This story is all about family secrets and attempting to reconcile your past so that you may move forward into a healthier future. In this case, there are three sisters that come together after a several year absence for a family wedding. Each sister is totally different - the flighty Lucy is the one getting married, announced last minute with less than a week’s notice. Eve is an overwhelmed, frazzled mom in a dead end marriage. And finally Margot, the dark, brooding troublesome youngest daughter who hasn’t been back home since a tragic incident divided the already broken family. To add fuel to the fire, the dead beat dad returns for the wedding with his new wife in tow.
“No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you, like the sickly scent of those apples, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.”
So needless to say, there’s a LOT going on in this book. It all starts off as pretty classic chick lit summer fun when the sisters all emerge on their hippy mom’s farm house. The author does a wonderful job of capturing that feeling of no matter how much you grow and change, when you come home you easily revert back to all your old roles. The story weaves through a moment alluded to often but never fully shared. But I do need to warn you early that this book should come with ALL the trigger warnings. I don’t think I would have picked it up if I had known the contents. It came too close to comfort for me to find it entertaining. So you will have to decide if this one is for you!
TW: rape, child rape, child death, miscarriage, arson, divorce, affairs, alcoholism
“It’s my job. Seeing. Revealing. Exposing. The best photographers always find the light.”
The good news is that as hard as a lot of these scenes are to read and as completely dysfunctional as this family is, and with the multitude of story lines going on…the book still wraps up nicely in the end. There is loss and redemption, hope and healing. And a chance for a fresh start.
This story is all about family secrets and attempting to reconcile your past so that you may move forward into a healthier future. In this case, there are three sisters that come together after a several year absence for a family wedding. Each sister is totally different - the flighty Lucy is the one getting married, announced last minute with less than a week’s notice. Eve is an overwhelmed, frazzled mom in a dead end marriage. And finally Margot, the dark, brooding troublesome youngest daughter who hasn’t been back home since a tragic incident divided the already broken family. To add fuel to the fire, the dead beat dad returns for the wedding with his new wife in tow.
“No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you, like the sickly scent of those apples, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.”
So needless to say, there’s a LOT going on in this book. It all starts off as pretty classic chick lit summer fun when the sisters all emerge on their hippy mom’s farm house. The author does a wonderful job of capturing that feeling of no matter how much you grow and change, when you come home you easily revert back to all your old roles. The story weaves through a moment alluded to often but never fully shared. But I do need to warn you early that this book should come with ALL the trigger warnings. I don’t think I would have picked it up if I had known the contents. It came too close to comfort for me to find it entertaining. So you will have to decide if this one is for you!
TW: rape, child rape, child death, miscarriage, arson, divorce, affairs, alcoholism
“It’s my job. Seeing. Revealing. Exposing. The best photographers always find the light.”
The good news is that as hard as a lot of these scenes are to read and as completely dysfunctional as this family is, and with the multitude of story lines going on…the book still wraps up nicely in the end. There is loss and redemption, hope and healing. And a chance for a fresh start.
February 5, 2020
Oh Hannah...you have done it again 🥰
I was truly blessed to receive a proof copy of Hannah Richell’s exquisite new novel, The River Home (Hachette - Aust release Feb 25th).
I have long been a huge fan of Hannah’s beautiful novels, ever since losing myself within the pages of The Shadow Year which I describe as the BEST book I have ever read. And for those of you who know how much I read, that says a lot!
Hannah writes so eloquently, with subtle nuances that leave you guessing until the very end. She layers her prose with such strong visual imagery that you feel like you are there in the room, side by side with her characters, sharing their love, their grief and their pain.
‘Windfalls’, a riverside home in Somerset, England is where The River Home unfolds. The houses in each of Hannah’s novels become a character in and of themselves.
The ending saw tears welling in my eyes and I didn’t want to turn the last page.
You can pre-order The River Home now and you too can fall in love with Windfalls and the characters who reside within its walls 💙
I was truly blessed to receive a proof copy of Hannah Richell’s exquisite new novel, The River Home (Hachette - Aust release Feb 25th).
I have long been a huge fan of Hannah’s beautiful novels, ever since losing myself within the pages of The Shadow Year which I describe as the BEST book I have ever read. And for those of you who know how much I read, that says a lot!
Hannah writes so eloquently, with subtle nuances that leave you guessing until the very end. She layers her prose with such strong visual imagery that you feel like you are there in the room, side by side with her characters, sharing their love, their grief and their pain.
‘Windfalls’, a riverside home in Somerset, England is where The River Home unfolds. The houses in each of Hannah’s novels become a character in and of themselves.
The ending saw tears welling in my eyes and I didn’t want to turn the last page.
You can pre-order The River Home now and you too can fall in love with Windfalls and the characters who reside within its walls 💙
December 24, 2019
I had the pleasure of receiving an early copy of this book due for release in Australia in March 2020. It’s fair to say I was pretty happy! The River Home is another captivating story of an old house in the English countryside, of the family that lives there and the secrets that bind them all together. This type of story is the author’s specialty. And this is another special story. The characters are real and complex and suffer such terrible heartache that I ached alongside them; the past blends beautifully with the present and all the while there’s an inherent sadness that never weighs the book down. And of course there is the eloquent prose and beautiful writing and imagery. This will be one of the best books of 2020.
June 7, 2020
Margot is the youngest of three sisters. Rebellious and estranged she has no interest in returning to her childhood riverside home. But her sister, Lucy, is getting married and begs her to return. And behave.
This story winds its way through the lives of the family, but mostly Margot and how her relationship with her parents became so damaged. There are quite a few secrets that need to be told and long term pain to be healed.
I thought this was generally a good read, a little slow at times, and the characters could have been slightly better drawn, but it is not a difficult book to pick up when you find a comfy spot to sit with a cup of tea.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
This story winds its way through the lives of the family, but mostly Margot and how her relationship with her parents became so damaged. There are quite a few secrets that need to be told and long term pain to be healed.
I thought this was generally a good read, a little slow at times, and the characters could have been slightly better drawn, but it is not a difficult book to pick up when you find a comfy spot to sit with a cup of tea.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 21, 2020
https://www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/conte...
I’m heartsore.
Hannah Richell strips everything right back to the darkest of times in her character’s lives, ultimately shining the light in the shadows so that emotions can heal and life move forward.
What to say? Each sister has life changing events – one in the past, one approaching and the other happening now. Kit has lost her way. I was emotionally attached to all four women and loved them each equally.
The themes that are explored are written about sensitively although hard-hitting and emotional. There are scenes that made me cry ugly tears and others that filled me with love and belonging. Some things I sussed but others left me open mouthed, making me pause and reflect for a while. One thing for sure, I was so involved that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
The Sorrel family will live with me for a long time. I was carried along in their whirls and ripples, at times drowning and at others being lifted up and buoyant. This is one of my top reads of 2020.
I’m heartsore.
Hannah Richell strips everything right back to the darkest of times in her character’s lives, ultimately shining the light in the shadows so that emotions can heal and life move forward.
What to say? Each sister has life changing events – one in the past, one approaching and the other happening now. Kit has lost her way. I was emotionally attached to all four women and loved them each equally.
The themes that are explored are written about sensitively although hard-hitting and emotional. There are scenes that made me cry ugly tears and others that filled me with love and belonging. Some things I sussed but others left me open mouthed, making me pause and reflect for a while. One thing for sure, I was so involved that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
The Sorrel family will live with me for a long time. I was carried along in their whirls and ripples, at times drowning and at others being lifted up and buoyant. This is one of my top reads of 2020.
April 6, 2020
A beautiful story that moved me to tears.
December 7, 2023
Three and a half stars rounded up to four. The Sorrels have gathered together at Windfalls for Lucy's last minute wedding. Eve, the oldest is busy organizing everything. Margot, the prodigal baby sister, has reluctantly returned because Lucy said she needs her. But past trauma and long kept secrets threaten to ruin the occasion...
I enjoyed this book even though I found it quite predictable and guessed one of the major plot points very early on. Well written.
I enjoyed this book even though I found it quite predictable and guessed one of the major plot points very early on. Well written.
August 4, 2020
Man this book was not what I was expecting😭😭😭
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