Imogen Clark books

Post Cards from a Stranger is the latest book I've read by Imogen Clark.  

The story shifts from perspectives in 1969, 1976, 1987 and then 2017 within three generations.

In 1969 the Kemp sisters Annie and Ursula are trying to stay out of their father's way when he returns home from work.  Anything can set him off and he becomes violent.  When he isn't angry he is condescending and demeaning.  They dream of the day they are old enough to leave and make a life for themselves far away. Why their mother endures being slapped and mocked is beyond their understanding.

When Annie is old enough to work she mets attractive and fast-talking Joe Ferensby.  She is charmed and accepts his marriage proposal, escaping her hellish homelife and thinks she hit the jackpot.

Joe doesn't hit Annie but his true nature comes out after marriage.  He's passive aggressive and talks down to her.  He isolates her from friends and keeps a tight wallet so she must ask for everything.  Once their two children Cara and Michael are born she knows she'll never leave. Lots more regarding the Feresby household but it's inserted in backstory throughout.

In 1987 we get a glimpse of single father Joe dealing with 2 year old Cara and 7 year old Michael. The children are uprooted from their London home and move to the Moors in Yorkshire.  Cara cries for her mother for weeks and Michael comforts her.  She misses her dead mother but in fact, young Michael is keeping huge secrets from his sister in an effort to protect her.

In 2017  Cara and her brother Michael as adults. Cara is caring for their father who has Alzheimers and her life is difficult.  Cara is still living on the moors while Michael is a barrister in London.  He is married with twin daughters and wants nothing to do with his father. There was a huge falling out when Michael was old enough to discover his father's secrets.

Now, Joe has Alzheimers. When things get bad Cara calls Michael for some input and he he says he knows it's difficult and would help more but..."you know how it is." He has no idea how difficult it is to be there and deal with an Alzheimers patient 24/7 and the rift between him and his father means he certainly won't head north and physically help. You'll discover the secrets much later in the book.

Cara is a wedding dress designer and has a studio where she crafts magnificent original designs. One day she is looking in the attic, a place forbidden by their father when Cara and Michael were children, and she finds a box of postcards.  Right there - her life is upended.

This wasn't my favorite book by Imogen Clark but I wasn't tempted to put it down. It certainly covers quite a bit of territory.  I was weirdly both sympathetic and impatient with Cara as she works her way the secrets her father kept. Imagine finding something you need to confront your parent with but their mind is gone so your opportunity is forever lost. 

Previous books I’ve enjoyed by the author are as follows:

Where the Story Starts

Reluctantly Home 

 On my former book blog Novel Meals I wrote about The Last Piece . I love the cover!

 I am awaiting the author's latest book Impossible to Forget.

Sharing with 

Marg at The Intrepid Reader for the  2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 

 Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

Where the Story Starts by Imogen Clark

 

So far all the novels I've read by Imogen Clark have been wonderful.  While I generally go for mysteries or police procedurals, this women's fiction genre is exactly what I needed now.  The story is told in present time with a few switches to the past allowing the reader to see three different points of view.

Our narrators are Grace, Leah and Clio.  All are well developed characters.  Love, friendship and betrayal are the major themes.

Leah is a woman in her thirties with two children.  She is a single mum and doing the best she can juggling work, finances and being a good parent for her children.  In the first chapter Leah is struggling to get her kids ready to leave the house when there is a knock on the door.  Clio is standing there and introduces herself to Leah.  She said she'd been to the house before on a holiday with her father and wondered if she could come in.

Eventually Leah and Clio become good friends despite their very different upbringing. While Leah is clipping coupons and living on a tight budget, Clio is rich. I mean  extremely rich living on an estate which could well be a National Trust home.  These women have more in common than they initially thought.

The author had inspiration from a true story. The setting is England near Newcastle.  I liked this book and read it in two days.  

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

Reluctantly Home by Imogen Clark

What attracted me to this book was the rural Southwold county Suffolk setting and the discovery of an old diary - a mystery! Also, I am an easy mark for a attractive cover and I just love the looks of this one.

The beginning of the book is set in London and we do travel back there briefly during the story.  Phillipa Rose Appleby is from a rural area of England, growing up on a farm.  She aspired to have a grander life than a farmwife and achieved her goals by becomng a barrister, QC which means Queen's Counsel.  On the farm she was always known as Pip.  When she begins her life in London she switches to a posher name, Rose. 

One morning during her drive through London she has an accident.  She is on her way to court when a young boy darts out on traffic. Rose struck him with her car.  It's an accident and ruled so by the police, coroner and witnesses but  Rose can't forgive herself.  She is detroyed by guilt and panic attacks and returns home to Suffolk, hence the title of the book - Reluctantly Home.

Her parents are supportive but Pip, as she was always refered to at home, is impatient with her situation.  She longs to go back to her London life yet she is still consumed with guilt and worries about having another panic attack in court.  Stuck in a small town where life is decidedly slower and low key, she volunteers at a charity shop to keep her occupied.  Fortuitously she comes across a diary from 1983, donated by mistake, and lets herself escape her life by reading the diary of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Evelyn was an actress in London but her story is very interesting as laid out in the diary. Both Evelyn and Pip have one thing in common - they both felt stuck in Southwold and wanted their old lives back. Evelyn's story is engaging and resonates with Pip even though their reasons for being back home are different.  I will say the ending was not what I would have predicted but I'm satisfied.

The only other novel I have read by Ms. Clark is The Last Piece and I enjoyed it very much. I've now discovered she has several books published which I intend to add to my to-read list. As a matter of fact, I just purchased Postcards from a Stranger which was on sale for $1.99 (Kindle version/ Amazon).

Publication date for Reluctantly Home is April 29, 2021 by Amazon Publishing UK. Genre is Women's Fiction and General Fiction.

Much thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review and all opinions expressed here are mine.

Sharing with Joy's Book blog for British Isles Friday.