The Peacock Summer by Hannah Ritchell

As an author myself I can be quite critical if I find myself beginning to analyse the ‘technicality’ of the writing as it demonstrates poor quality.

However, the Peacock summer is beautifully written combined with very clever storytelling - that elusive combination we all strive for.

It peels back the story layer by layer, keeping you engaged, which is so hard to do in a contemporary romance where, so often you can figure out the ending by the third chapter. Even I didn’t work out all of the pieces of the jigsaw until the very end. The story runs in parallel, but Hannah manages the time jumps with such elegance its seamless.

Lillian is now old and frail, battling dementia but determined to remain living in the deplapidated Cloudesley, which no one knows why? Maggie her granddaughter is running away from her own hidden past and turns up to help care for her grandmother.

Both have lost love and are hiding secrets. Both need each other to save one another and both have futures and pasts tied to the secrets hidden within the walls of the ancient house.

I absolutely loved everything about this book and would have given it six stars if I could. The story stayed with me, long after I turned the last page. I will be buying all my friends copies to read over the summer.