The Vanishing Tide

by Hilary Tailor

What if all you inherit from your mother are her secrets?

Isla knows her family kept things from her. When she inherits the cliffside cottage where she spent her childhood, she must face dark shadows of her past―the mother who rejected her in favour of her art, the aunt whose death haunted them both, and the silence that permeated every room. Digging through the belongings of someone she realises she never really knew, Isla finally has the chance to find answers to the secrets her mother spent a lifetime hiding.

But lies can’t be swept away by the tide. And when Isla crosses paths with a mother and young daughter visiting her remote hometown, she becomes entangled in their family’s secrets, too, forcing her to wonder whether the truth she is seeking will really set her free.

Isla’s past is as dark as the ocean around her. But when she comes up for air, the mysteries of this lonely shore will reveal themselves in unexpected ways…

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Audiobook, Contemporary, Book Club, Amazon

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2022

About the author

Hilary Tailor is a design consultant, and has worked with clients including adidas and Puma as a colour and trend forecaster. She was raised on the Wirral Peninsula and graduated from the Royal College of Art. The Vanishing Tide is her first novel.

Reviews

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book but, at times I found it a little drawn out and wordy. It seemed to meander on and on and then suddenly you read something good and then back it went back to slow. This could have been a very good story but I can only give it three stars because of the boring bits.

[Fictionophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel which reminded me of the better works of Rosamunde Pilcher. It was a rich narrative of family secrets, social isolation, guilt, regret, trauma, and artistic genius.

Set on an isolated peninsula on the northern English coast, the waves and the salty air were almost tangible. This was a ghost story - but only if the reader wants it to be... It was also a mystery of sorts.

I relished the writing: "She had made a promise to herself to keep out of Isla's way, but she was drawn to that house like a tongue seeking a loose tooth."

All in all, the characters, setting, and story came together to create a novel that I won't soon forget. Highly recommended!

[Lynnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this debut, (yes debut!!) book, it was a suspenseful and enthralling story that challenged my preconceptions about family relationships. The characters were well written - including the absent characters. I don't know which bit of the North coast it's based on, but it sounded wonderful. I was totally wrapped up in this book, and oh the epilogue!!

I hope Hilary Tailor will write more.

[Joanna Hadler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The relationships are very strange within this book. I couldn’t connect with how quickly the relationships seemed to develop between the characters over a very short space of time. I think Frankie’s mum was right to cut Isla out… weird!

[Emma Bevan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure as it began if it was going to be a ghost story, or exactly what genre the book was. Normally I like a clear view of where the book is going, and/or what it`s about. But I enjoyed not being sure and going along with the story to see what happened.
The writer tells you what you need to know as the protagonist finds out, and so you really feel you are going on this journey with her. I really enjoyed the style and the story.

[Sue Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

Read this in one! I could not put it down, in a week or two I think I will have to read it again to absorb the

[amy jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wholeheartedly enjoyed reading this book. I am a huge fan of magical realism or stories that weave in the spiritually supernatural, and I think The Vanishing Tide did an excellent job at dancing with that thread of the beyond and where we go when we die. I also appreciate complex female characters, and this book was full of them. The prose was brutal yet delicate, haunting yet beautiful, and it supported and complemented the narrative gorgeously.

We follow Isla, who returns to the north of England after her distant and cold mother, renowned painter Astrid, dies. Isla suspects there's a layer to Astrid's death which may not be entirely accidental, and she returns to a place she always struggled calling home when she has a calling to stay. At first, it's to investigate, to speak to her mother's best friend Penny, but ends up with a sad family mystery unfolding and Isla trying to reclaim the tides of the shores she grew up on. She's complicated, and unlikable at times, but the chapters in Isla's perspective capture the moral of the narrative beautifully. Her grapple with the loss of a mother she never felt loved her is raw and real, and the way it intersects with her current life is interesting and sad.

I also appreciated the chapters from Penny's perspective, and getting to peer in at the Astrid Penny knew and love, not just the talented but cold mother we receive from Isla's. Penny's narrative is whimsical, melancholy, and ties the story together in all the places where Isla's can't. Like Isla, Penny is likeable and unlikeable, and we feel her reluctance to tell Isla the full story, while still being frustrated at all she's holding back. That's not easy to do, and Tailor does it expertly.

While I appreciate Erin's thread of the story, and do sympathize with her struggles ⁠— having Frankie after years of infertility and raising her daughter to be as perfect and fulfilled as possible makes perfect sense ⁠— she never crossed over into the territory of enjoyable. I thought she was vindictive and cruel, someone who never grew out of feelings of contempt that still hold the emotional maturity of a high-schooler. She was rude and hotheaded, and she let her anger fester without communicating the root of it, and as someone in their fourth decade of life, she didn't seem like it. Maybe it was the point, but in a story of three very powerful, complicated female character, Erin seemed cheap by comparison.

This book was beautifully written, and I want it to be shared with the world! If you're ready for death and ocean and coldness and the warmth that weaves between the devastation, The Vanishing Tide is a book for you.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was the women who mattered in this family. Men added a layer of complication." I loved everything about The Vanishing Tide, except Erin! I think Ms. Tailor does an excellent job of making her characters real and complicated, and all too human; they grew and opened their hearts, acknowledged their imperfections and gave of themselves. But Erin holds fast to her selfishness, resentments and insecurities.

Ms. Tailor also does an excellent job with the sense of place - the sea, the houses resting on the beach, the smells; I also appreciated the bit of supernatural elements she infuses. This being Ms. Tailor's first book, it's excellent. Highly recommend.

P.S. Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy a lot of this read for the most part, but I took stars off for a couple of reasons:

1) It took me quite a while to slog my way through the book, and

2) I couldn't really relate to how emphatically Isla fell in love with someone else's kid and thought she had some sort of transcendent relationship with the kid (not in a creepy, just in a "move on, lady!" sort of way)

I guess it could be explained by the trauma of her own neglectful childhood, but still, it exasperated me while reading.

[jenny king · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprising find

I found this book by accident and didn’t regret doing so at all. The landscape, the characters and the carefully unfolded story began to grip me from the start. Each character is carefully drawn and the main setting isn’t named, but intentionally so. I’m sure that I won’t be the only one looking forward to Hilary Taylor’s next book, due out in 2023.

[Deborah Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story!

I loved this story. It was hard to put the book down. So much of what I love was in this novel. The characters were awesome and felt so real. I could smell and feel the salt air as I read. It made me remember all the walks we took as a family along the beaches of Cape Cod, Maine and Madison, Connecticut. The story was sad in so many ways but so full of love and ended just the way I wanted it to. I will not share more as I highly recommend you give it a try. So deserving my 5* rating.

[Susan Dyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story involves a woman trying to understand her mother, that she had been estranged from, following her death. It involves her searching her house for clues to understand the death of her aunt and why her mother refused to talk about it. Along this story visitors to the beach next to the house have an accident. All the parts come together in a clever way. The characters are well developed and I enjoyed the book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from The Vanishing Tide, Hilary Tailor's first book, but I have to say it was a very good read. The story of emotional discovery sucked you in and became addictive as you raced to the end - rather like a good ghost story! One of the other reviewers wrote that the story 'meandered', I would rather say ebbed, like the tide, as we wandered through deeply hidden family secrets to finally surface to unexpected revelations. Recommended!

[jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Page Turning Read

What a great job on her first novel, applause for Hilary Tailor. Different from anything I've read before. I will definitely be looking forward to what's next.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure whether I would enjoy this book when I started reading it. However, the more I read, the more I became intrigued about the family secrets and my opinions of the main characters, particularly Astrid and Penny changed for the positive. My opinion of Erin however didn’t change at all, she was not likeable! The relationship between Isla and Frankie was touching and I thought the book covered a wide range of topics including grief and guilt and I found myself wanting to read on to see what would happen. I would read another by the author.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a little drawn out and unrealistic at times, however, I did enjoy the story and the atmospheric coastal descriptions

[Peyton Wydick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weak 2.5 stars. I’m convinced I did not read the same book as those who were posting 4 and 5-star reviews.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book!

[Mary Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vanishing Tide

A truly fascinating story one you won't want to put down. I loved the characters and the ever changing scenes which transport the reader to another place. Excellent

[Luisa Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging

I loved the way the story develops and it slowly grabs you and surround you with all these feelings, I feel like I know Isla and her life.

[Norma Endersby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh ... where to start? I really, really liked this book and I didn't expect to. I sort of stumbled on it by chance, and (in the beginning) I almost backed off due to the supernatural elements, or was it their imaginations, as I'm not a big fan of ghost stories per se. But the creepiness drew me in, in spite of myself, and I was rewarded. This construct worked in many ways.

Was it perfect? No, but damned near ... I actually rated it 4 1/2 stars but rounded it up to 5 just because it was a debut novel and authors need to be encouraged and supported.

I loved most all of the characters (present and dead) with the exception of Erin. I found her to be overly strident, immature, annoying and unrealistic. I could have easily done without her. As the story drew down, I actually found myself thinking (wanting?) that she would die and Mark would turn to Isla.

The way secrets and lies invaded and damaged lives was told with compassion and understanding. People are only capable of doing the best with what they have, and sometimes they have little to nothing to work with. No one (in their right mind) gets up and says, "How can I f**k up my kid's life today?" I know firsthand how damaging that can be, but it also speaks to the resilience of children and how they can succeed in spite of less-than-perfect childhoods.

Even though I'm not a sand and surf devotee, I am a painter and landscapes speak to me, especially the sea, so that scored big with me. Also, because I understand painting, I'm usually very critical of books that attempt to "describe" the processes that go into creating fine art. Most books do a very bad or, at best, a mediocre job of translating that (Afternoon of the Boating Party was spoiled for me because of that) but this book hit the mark. Even readers unfamiliar with painting couldn't help but be drawn in through her meaningful prose.

I'm looking forward to Hilary Tailor's next book as I found this one very interesting. Thanks, Hilary!

[Hannelore Cheney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
What a lovely book this is, I loved it!
The story is told by three characters: Isla, the daughter; Penny, her mother's best friend and Erin, who Isla met as a child. The setting is a beautiful beach where Isla grew up with her mother in a cliffside cottage. Their relationship was difficult, Isla spent most of her time alone; her mother was consumed by her painting, barely communicating with Isla. Isla fled to London as soon as possible. I think her mother suffered from agoraphobia.
Now her mother is dead and Isla has inherited the cottage and she's back in her old home.
Trying to understand her mother, she searches the house to find anything that could shed a light on both her mother and her past.
The story is haunting and even features a ghost, but towards the end all the secrets are bared and I was left with tears in my eyes; it was so poignant and satisfying, just lovely. Highly recommended!

[Krissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, wanted to paint after finishing the read. That's a good sign, right?

It is a haunting tale, but not a straight-forward ghost story. More about the ways we haunt each other and ourselves. The families we create and lose. I also learned something new, or rather I gained a better understanding of the way people focus their grief (e.g., at a grave, or headstone, or urn, or what-have-you), or let it bounce off a place such as a house like a haunting. Never quite realised until now how important having that smaller focal object can be.

The only missed opportunity, from my perspective, was the superficial way of relating to the ocean; it felt like it was meant to be more of a side character, which wasn't built out enough. Maybe I'm just picky, though. Well written.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isla returns to her childhood home near the sea in the north of England after her mother died. She’s on a mission to finally understand the woman who reared her. There’s also another family staying nearby with their own troubles. This wasn’t a good book but it wasn’t bad either, a bit whimsical, a bit far fetched and a trifle too long. I wonder why whenever there’s art/artists that the paper is always described as “thick and creamy”! I liked the scenic descriptions but not most of the characters who tended to irritate not charm. A few parts were intriguing and it was easy to get into, always a bonus. It will be interesting to see what the author writes next! I was given this ARC by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isla has returned to the seaside cottage she grew up in after the death of her estranged mother Astrid. Soon after moving back, she feels a faint shadowy trace of her mother. The Vanishing Tide is not actually a ghost story but more about family secrets and lies being revealed and learning to live in the present and not in the past. I found this an enjoyable read. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to author Hilary Tailor, Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley.

[Graham Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant debut novel which is part ghost story & part story of love & loss. The plot involves 3 central characters, each with their own personal story. I really enjoyed it as it is not the type of book I usually read but will be looking out for future books from Hilary

[Fiona Macdougall · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Ghost Story of sorts

What a great book. Read within 24 hours. A story of love, loses and the sea. Something other worldly and with plenty of suspense. Throughly enjoyed it.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good parts, but mostly like watching paint dry.

[Meg Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex

This starts slow and I nearly gave up, but I am glad I continued. It is a clever book and thoughtful. Well worth the time I gave it. Recommended.

[susan rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, eventually after a slow start but at times a bit drawn out, however a good story and original.