The women in Helena Mayrick's family have always led secretive and tragic lives, and when Helena's comfortable marriage is devastated by her husband's violent death, it seems that she, too, is locked into the cycle.
Helena is invited to research a book on her grandfather, H. Donaldson, the celebrated Edwardian photographer. At first she is reluctant to immerse herself in family history, particularly as Donaldson's relationship with her grandmother, Ruth, is shrouded in mystery and turmoil.
But gradually, as the story of enigmatic Ruth and the elusive, passionate Donaldson unfolds, Helena finds that the past, like the present, was shaped by cruel dilemmas and the demands of love...
My Thoughts:

A dual story of past and present of two women, Helena and Ruth. I enjoyed reading about Ruth and her relationship with Donaldson and her what becomes of them.

The story is nice and soft and is ideal if a reader dosen’t want anything too taxing and I felt myself getting sucked into the lives of the two women. I didn’t guess the outcome which is sometimes nice and then the story takes on the unexpected.

My only niggle is that in the beginning there were a lot to characters to know and at times I had to think well who are you !

This tale is a typical family secrets saga with rambling houses and very much in the vain of Kate Morton or Katherine Webb. A perfect read to get caught up in and I would like to see this tale perhaps as a tv drama. ( )

An interesting novel well worth reading in which a woman, suddenly widowed, retraces her family's history. In parallel we hear the story of her troubled ancestor living in 19th century Suffolk who was involved with a photographer but never married him. Family secrets are unearthed, but I engaged more with the contemporary heroine than the historical one. Romantic sub-plot also dragged in, arguably unneccessarily! ( )