October 2013 Book of the Month.
Hannah’s first novel, Secrets of the Tides, was an accomplished delight, with this she has surpassed herself. So often novel number two, which perhaps has been hurried to fulfil a contract, is a let down. Not so this which is even better than the first. Told in the present tense in alternating dual-time chapters throughout a year, today and in the 1980s, it follows a group of friends from university in a novel of entangled relationships and sad consequences. A great plot with twists and turns that really does hold its secrets to the final page. Terrific stuff.
The Lovereadng view...
The bestselling author of Secrets of the Tides returns with a spellbinding tale of grief, jealousy and betrayal. An isolated cottage, deserted like the Marie Celeste, holds secrets and hidden dangers for a woman looking for some solace and space to escape her marriage. Perfect for fans of Maggie O'Farrell, Rosamunde Pilcher and Jodi Picoult.
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for The Shadow Year a small number of Lovereading members were lucky enough to be invited to review this title - 'it is a perfect summer read, one to take on holiday and lose yourself in...it would get a very strong 10/10 from me. I absolutely loved it.' - Angela Hunt. Scroll down to read more reviews.
A message from the author...
Dear Readers, I’m a Brit living in Australia, and while I love my new home, something I’ve learned from moving hemispheres is how deeply ingrained in me the English seasons are. The distinctions between spring and autumn, or winter and summer, aren’t as clear in Sydney, where exotic flowers blossom all year round and lorikeets still chatter in the gum trees mid-winter. Some days I find myself longing for the rain-soaked streets of London, or the autumnal hues of the Chiltern Hills, or even just the scarlet flash of a robin foraging through frosted hedgerows. (I know, your heart bleeds for me, right?)
That’s why I loved writing my novel, The Shadow Year. In telling the story of two distinct but intertwined years that play out in a remote Peak District location, I was able to revisit the English landscape and explore the impact the shifting seasons have not just on a place, but also on the characters who come to inhabit it. In my novel, a group of friends arrive at a remote, tumbledown cottage with lofty ideals of living off the land. Through writing their story, I was reminded of seasonal moments I once took for granted: the scent of wild garlic crushed underfoot . . . the reckless abandon evoked by a scorching summer’s day . . . the claustrophobia caused by never-ending rain spattering on window panes . . . the thrill of the first snowflake falling from a slate-grey sky.
I don’t expect sympathy for my homesickness, but this summer, if the sun fails to shine quite as brilliantly as you would wish, or if autumn seems to arrive at an alarming rate, rest assured there is someone on the other side of the world who envies you your capricious English summer: the cloudy skies; the buttercup-strewn lawns; the strawberries and cream; the muddy Wellington boots; and all those long, light-filled evenings when the blackbirds rustle and sing in the trees until nightfall. Hannah Richell
| Primary Genre | Family Drama |
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On a glorious summer's day in 1980, five friends stumble upon an abandoned lakeside cottage hidden deep in the heart of the English countryside. Isolated and rundown, it offers a retreat, somewhere they can escape from the real world. For Kat, it's a stay of execution: living there for a year will surely give Simon the time to fall in love with her. For Simon, the cottage is a way to avoid his parents' expectations and his impending legal career. For all of them, it's a chance to live the dream, with lazy summer days by the lake and intimate winter evenings around the fire. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise and when an unexpected visitor appears at their door, nothing will ever be the same again...Three decades later, Lila arrives at the remote cottage. Bruised from a tragic accident and with her marriage in crisis, she finds renovating the tumbledown house gives her a renewed sense of purpose. Little by little she wonders about the cottage's previous inhabitants. How did they manage in such isolation? And why did they leave in such a hurry, with their belongings still strewn about the place and, even worse, a bullet hole evident in a kitchen beam? Most disturbing of all, why can't she shake the feeling that someone might be watching her?
The Shadow Year features in the following genres: Family Drama, Thriller and Suspense, Books of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
The Shadow Year is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Shadow Year was written by Hannah Richell and published by Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) an imprint of Orion Publishing Co
The Shadow Year has 458 pages
£11.69
