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Together Again at the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Barlett #Review

  Jo Bartlett's new series continues with Together Again at the Cornish Country Hospital . It was published by Boldwood Books on April 3rd. You can read my reviews of the others in the series here: Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital and Finding Friends at the Cornish Country Hospital and  A Sound Family at the Cornish Country Hospital Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital A lost love... A&E Nurse Amy Spencer lives a very ordinary life in Port Kara. She loves her job at the hospital and has a great group of friends, but there is something or someone, missing from her life. Amy’s tried dating but no one ever compares with the one boy that got away –Lijah Byrne. A surprise arrival... Lijah’s life since he left Port Kara has been what dreams are made of. But lately Lijah has started to feel hollow –the fame and celebrity he once craved now makes him feel trapped. The only place he’s ever felt safe is Port Kara...so maybe it’s time to go back home? A reunion...

The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans

    The Butterfly Summer is a family saga which gives us the stories of different female members of the Parr family through the generations. It concentrates on two in particular: Nina, in the present day and her Grandmother, Theodora, earlier in the twentieth century. The almost forgotten family home of Keepsake is a thread which binds their stories together. Fallen into disrepair, it has a story of its own having been gifted to the females in the Parr family by Charles II. 

    The stories of Theodora and Nina are told in parallel, both in the first person, with only the size of font to denote the different sections. Inevitably given the scope of the book, there are many characters to take on board in both accounts. I found the first part of the book rather slow to get into and I did get impatient when the narrative swapped from Nina to Theodora as there was a lot of family history to get through. I was pleased that I persevered however as the story was in the end, well-crafted and the twist, satisfying.

    Butterflies are a feature of Keepsake and the motif ran throughout the book. This part of the story has obviously been well researched and they add to the house's other worldly, almost magical atmosphere. Keepsake remains largely hidden from the casual passer-by and secrecy and hidden identities are important themes within the book. Elsewhere, outside events are there as a backdrop to the story, but Keepsake remains untouched by them. There are references to the riots which occurred in Britain in 2011 and earlier, the political attempts to avoid the Second World War and the subsequent treatment of the Jewish Community and displaced people. Above all, the unreliable narrators ensure that nothing can be taken at face value.

In short: a complicated family saga with many twists and turns.

Thanks to the publishers, Headline Review for a copy of the book.

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