A Place for Us

May 1, 2015

British author Evans (Not Without You) has created a warmly compelling family saga that includes fragments that bite and shock. Martha Winter is turning 80 and she wants to gather her family at her beautiful house, Winterfold, for an important announcement. She and husband David are famous for their charm and gracious hospitality to the extent that their lives often seem perfect to the outside world. This novel moves from character to character and back and forth through time, revealing that under the assumed perfection they are haunted by a distant past and carry secrets and shame dating back to World War II. As the story unfolds we learn that psychological damage from war, including undiagnosed and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, has been passed down through generations. VERDICT This title has plenty to discuss for book clubs, especially those who liked Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train for the descriptions of old sorrows shadowing the present and chances of redemption decades later. Though Evans's work is a slower read with complex plot lines, it is suspenseful and moving, and readers will find it easy to care about the many characters.--Jan Marry, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA

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