Author:
Rosemary McLoughlin
Publication
Date: February 25, 2014
Publisher:
Atria
Charlotte Blackshaw is only eight years old when her little sister Victoria goes missing from the estate. Charlotte is left to struggle with her loss without any support from her hostile mother and menacing nanny. It is obvious to Charlotte that both of them wish she had been the one to go missing rather than pretty little Victoria.
Charlotte finds comfort in the kindness of servants. With their help she seeks an escape from the burden of being the unattractive one left behind.
Despite her mother's opposition, she later reaches out for happiness and believes the past can no longer hurt her.
But the mystery of Victoria's disappearance continues to cast a long shadow over Tyringham Park – a mystery that may still have the power to destroy its world and the world of all those connected to it.
“Artists
don’t live in the same world as we do,” said her father when the clock showed
five minutes past eight and the painter’s chair across from her stood
unoccupied.
The
mother wasn’t seen to lose her composure and the father didn’t return from
London when Victoria Blackshaw, the pretty one, went missing at the age of
twenty-two months.
How
could she have known how easy it was to love and care for a child? Why had no
one told her how all-consuming and satisfying tending to a child could be?
I’m
not afraid of her anymore. What harm can she do to me at my age?
This
book turned out to be nothing like I expected it would be. Marketing for the
book compared it to Downton Abbey, which I cannot get enough of, but I found this
book to be more emotional and heartbreaking than Downton Abbey ever had time to
be. This book was a nice surprise and different from any other book I had read this
month. The story focuses around Charlotte Blackshaw, who has lived her life
constantly in the shadow of her younger sister, Victoria. There is only one
problem with this situation: Victoria disappeared when she was just a toddler.
Her entire life has not been the same since her sister’s disappearance and her
parents treat her differently because of it. Charlotte suffers from more than
mental abuse and neglect, however. This book is truly heartbreaking, but
something you should not miss!
Charlotte
is a truly riveting character. The struggles and psychological damage that she
suffers is something that took me awhile to wrap my head around. This book
deals with issues that are heart wrenching and not for the faint of heart. Many
reviews that I have read focus mostly on the bashing of Charlotte because of
her destructive nature. Yes, Charlotte can be difficult, but I couldn’t help
but have hope for her future. Charlotte is not your typical protagonist, but it
was a nice change. This book is not at all clichéd or predictable and Charlotte
adds to that greatly!
A
lot of the characters in this book are extremely unlikeable – but, alas, this
is a compliment for Rosemary McLoughlin. Charlotte’s mother in particular is completely
loathsome. Neither of Charlotte’s parents are at all very likeable. This plot
changes quickly and keeps things interesting as well. For as much information
that is packed in this book, McLoughlin keeps readers fascinated with dramatic
twists and turns for not just one but all of the characters.
***A
free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Atria in
exchange for my honest review***
The
publishers at Atria have graciously offered up one free copy of Tyringham Park for giveaway on my blog.
If you are interested in possibly owning your own copy of this book, please
enter in the Rafflecopter giveaway below. The giveaway will run through Friday,
February 28th! This giveaway is for the US ONLY!
This
a way that I can repay all of my wonderful readers! Thank you for reading and
staying faithful to my blog!
I finished up Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series last month..I loved The October Horse.
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