Review: Superbly Plotted.,
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2011
Linda Gillard is one of my favourite writers of recent years and I thoroughly enjoyed her first three books. For this her fourth novel you are at present only able to read it if you have access to an eReader, or have downloaded an application enabling you to read books on your computer. Despite publishers liking her writing, for some ridiculous reason they still reject her work. What makes this even more strange is that her last novel Stargazing' won the Romantic Novelists Association Award for being the Best Love Story Of The Last 50 Years 1960 - 2010I have read and thoroughly enjoyed all three of her previous novels, reading them in the order of publication and for me her writing has just kept getting better. Unlike many authors she still seems able to produce something different with each new novel, no standard structure to her novels as there seems to be with many writers these days. They find a successful pattern and churn out every book following that framework. It is not so with this author's writing as she surprises me every time I read her work. There is one subject that has appeared in her earlier work and is a strong and interesting presence again this time and that is the author's obvious love of Quilting. She certainly writes stories that appeal to many tastes and this latest offering is no exception.In `House of Silence' the house `Creak Hall' itself is a major presence as mysterious tragedies are discovered as the family history reveals itself slowly with plenty of intrigue. The characters are all memorable and strong, especially the protagonists Alfie the prodigal son, a struggling actor and his wardrobe mistress girlfriend Gwen who visit the family for the Christmas festivities. The supporting characters are also well portrayed and my particular favourites were Marek the mysterious gardener and Hattie the disturbed younger daughter.The early chapters introduce us to Gwen and Alfie and set the scene for the main part of the action which all takes place over the course of just a few days at the Tudor Manor House in Norfolk, Creake Hall which is Alfie's family home. Gwen was alone in life with no family so was excited at the prospect of a proper family Christmas, where apart from the gardener she was the only non family member present. Gwen soon discovers that she is staying in a houseful of strange and flawed characters, who all seem to be hiding secrets from her, especially her own boyfriend. His mother is a famous author of children's books although no longer able to distinguish between reality and fiction and it is around her that the secrets of the past appear to hinge.There are certainly plenty of family secrets to be revealed that will keep you turning the pages of this superbly plotted novel. I really do recommend you sample Linda Gillard's writing if you have not already done so.