The London House by Katherine Reay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.

Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.

Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.

Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.

In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.

***

The London House is the third book by Katherine Reay that I read and this time it was entirely different but it was as good as her other books.
In this case, we have a historical fiction story (set in the 30’s and 40’s), intertwined with a present story. And let me tell you, this book has it all: romance, mystery and drama.
The characters are interesting and profound, both the Waite sisters and Caro and Mat (though, I did not love Margaret), and even the secondary characters like Caro’s family. I enjoyed reading the different perspectives and formats and that made the story easier to read and even more entrancing. I liked the setting as well, and enjoyed the descriptions of London and Paris since those are some of my favorite book settings.
The story is about family and history, about life and secrets and they can do to us and to those around us. However, it is also about letting go and second chances. Caro is going through so much and we see her going forward and being strong, just like her aunt did so many years before.
Overall, it is a book filled with emotions and the author really captures that and captivates you while you read. I could not stop reading and it only took me a couple more days to finish it due to, well…life, but you can easily finish it in just a couple of hours. So, I really recommend you give it a try.

4.5/5

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