" Caitlyn, there's something I have to tell you. About Sara'.
Caitlyn thinks her marriage to Patrick is a success. For one thing, he is one of the few people not to fall head over heels for her beautiful friend, Sara. Life is lived on his terms, but they are happy.
Aren't they?
When a devastating accident turns her existence upside down, Caitlyn is forced to reassess everything she thought about her marriage, what she truly knows about Patrick, and his real feelings for her best friend. In the refuge of an old manor house, she begins to discover the truth.
In 1947, the worst winter in decades hits England, cutting off entirely the inhabitants of Kings Harcourt Manor. For Tommy Carter, widowed at the start of war, it is particularly hard: the burden of the family falls on her. She has the solace of her children, and the interesting presence of her brother's friend, Fred. But there is also Barbara, a mysterious figure from her past who appears to want a piece of Tommy's future as well.
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[Tommy was coming back across the fields when she saw Betie Potter cycling up the lane]***
(Pan, 30 November 2017, ebook, ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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This is my first time reading the author. I have her book, The Winter Folly on my TBR list but have never got around to reading it.
Her Frozen Heart is very enjoyable, part mystery, part suspense with a little bit of historical fiction thrown in.
I liked the layout of the novel, with chapters alternating between the present and Caitlin's quest to uncover her deceased husband's secrets and events from the past. I love books that use this type of non-linear structure.
The characters in Her Frozen Heart are well-written. I liked how Caitlin and Sara, despite being friends for years are polar opposites and how they play off each other. Sara was horrible person but I felt sorry for her a bit, she wasn't evil, just unhinged and sort of pathetic, pitiable.
There are two things I didn't really like about the novel. It's not very clear how events in Caitlin's life in the present and Tommy's life in the past are linked. There is some revelation at the end but I didn't find this very compelling and the threads connecting both stories are tenebrous at best.
I also didn't like the cover. It gives the wrong impression the book is some sort of love story which isn't accurate. I requested the book from NetGalley because I liked the blurb but the cover doesn't do the book justice.
