A sweeping, multi-generational drama that moves from turn of the century Oklahoma to present day Wiltshire, exploring the lives of two very different women from one remarkable family.

These days any popular novel has to have at least two threads, one set in the present, one or more in the past. The different narratives alternate and turn out to be linked by a historical mystery, often a tragedy, usually gradually unravelled by the contemporary protagonist. I’ve lost track of how many novels I’ve read recently that follow this pattern.
Katherine Webb has mastered the art of this type of novel. I enjoyed ‘The Unseen’ and ‘The Legacy’ is equally gripping in a gentle sort of way. Two sisters, Erica and Beth, return to the rather forbidding mansion they have inherited from their grandmother which revives all sorts of mixed pleasant and disturbing memories of childhood, in particular the mysterious disappearance of their obnoxious cousin Henry. Beth is disturbed and depressed and haunted by a secret that she will not even share with her sister. Erica is determined to get to the bottom of it to understand the psychological legacy of that time, help her sister recuperate and try to retrace all that she herself has forgotten. In doing so she stumbles across some family history going back to her great grandmother, Caroline, and it is Caroline’s story, her own adventure and terrible secret, that forms the second thread of the novel.

Contrasting and atmospheric settings – turn of the Century Oklahoma and present day rural Wiltshire – and well drawn characters give the story an enjoyable richness. I like the way we see a range of different social classes and their attitudes to each other, past and present, in particular the treatment of the traveller family who play a key role in both segments of the story.

There are some implausibilities in the plot, especially relating to the main twist reveal at the end, but I can just about believe that this happened. Generally this is a really good read with some haunting qualities and images that will stay with me.

Taking to mini meet up at the White Hart on Thursday

I think this was the one I stole in the book swap game.