The Peacock Summer: A Novel

A mystery with storylines of abuse, love, duty, expectations. Uses the by now very familiar technique of weaving past and present day in a new and refreshing way. I enjoyed it!

It was hard to read about the choices made due to secrets kept. Hiding behind secrets is common in many families. This novel shows just how harmful secrets can be. The novel does a good job of showing the harm and how it can be passed from one generation to the next.

Just found this author, and loved this book. Beautifully tied together at the end, and a book that truly had me turning the pages. Time-split, my favorite, and a love story from the past that continues to haunt the present.

Brilliant written, I absolutely loved this book.

Nice easy read-good for a summer trip! Fast shipping!!!~~~!!!

I love sitting on the stone bench across the street from my house. It is under a medium-sized oak tree that bathes one half of the bench in shade; the other is bathed in sunlight. On late summer afternoons, with FrankieBernard snoozing in the grass at my feet, I catch some rays while engrossed in a perfect summer novel …And, for the last few afternoons, "The Peacock Summer" by Hannah Richell, has been my perfect summer bench read…The intriguing, almost puzzling beginning of Richell’s third novel (just released today in paperback by HarperCollins) instantly casts its reader into the lives of Lillian Oberon, the mistress of Cloudesley, and that of her granddaughter, Maggie, now living in Australia. Cloudesley is an ancient opulent mansion just outside the small English village of Cloud Green which has, as does both Lillian and Maggie, many secrets. Including a locked room in the west wing to which Lillian is regularly drawn in the middle of the night… And to which, in the course of the novel, Maggie, too, is drawn…Richell tells Lillian and Maggie’s stories in parallel, with alternating chapters that flash back to 1955 when young Lillian is the wife of handsome Charles Oberon, the ambitious, wealthy, often arrogant and cruel, master of Cloudesley. She soon realizes that her husband considers her, like the objects in the mansion, his possession. To do with her whatever he likes. Whenever he likes... She longs for escape but is bound by family obligations. When Charles hires a prominent – also charming – artist to paint murals on the nursery, she is compelled to make a momentous decision.In the present, when Lillian falls ill, Maggie is summoned from Australia where she is trying to forget a hastily broken engagement to take care of her. When she returns home, Maggie is dismayed to find the once pristine mansion, with its treasure trove of objects d’art and expensive furnishings, neglected and slowly crumbling into decay. She is disheartened to also discover that there is very little, if anything, left in the family coffers to pay for even the smallest repair, let alone pay the salaries of a maid and part-time groundskeeper. While tending to Lillian’s needs, Maggie seeks a way to save Cloudesley realizing that, in doing so, she must confront the consequences of decisions made in her messy, muddled past. As she does, the mystery of Cloudesley, Lillian’s past secrets, and that of her own complicated life begin to unfold.As she has in her previous internationally acclaimed best sellers ("The House of Tides" and "The Shadow Years"), Richell, infuses this novel with true-to-life characters, richly defined settings and descriptions. A British-born author who has worked in both the book publishing and film industries, she, once again, uses her finely-tuned talents and experiences to craft a complex, yet easy to read, story with dynamically engrossing plot lines that builds and crescendos to a most satisfying dénouement. And a surprise, totally unexpected ending.I loved this novel not only because of Richell’s elegant writing style, but also for her astute insights into the mind and heart of each character. And while it is not a mystery, per se, the author does beguilingly craft a… well, a mystery couched with the scintillating overtones of a psychological thriller. It is, as a fellow literary critic commented, beautifully written. Indeed, a handsome, perfect novel for this Summer!Whether you are at the beach or on a bench.Enjoy the read!

4.5*This is a dual timeline novel following the story of Lillian in the post WW2 years and granddaughter Maggie in the present day. There are various backstories which are beautifully knitted together. At the heart is the historic family home of Cloudesley, set in fictional Cloud Green in the Chilterns. Parties and peacocks were the order of the day back then. Now, however, the whole estate has fallen into disrepair and a lot of money is required to turn everything around. That is down to Maggie to sort out.The author has a real gift for transitioning between the two time periods, the stories flow effortlessly which is a real feat. She feeds in quite a few themes – not too many – and knits them all together in a cohesive way.After the war Lillian meets Charles (they literally run into each other on a road) who is the owner of the mansion Cloudesley and who is on the look-out for a new mother for Albie; his first wife is dead. Lillian slides into the role of wife and parent but soon discovers Charles’ darker side and his growing abusive behaviour towards her. The author builds up the picture of domestic violence in a layered and thoughtful way. Lillian’s focus throughout is on Albie, the young son, and she will tolerate most things in order to protect him.Charles engages a young painter, Jack Fincher, to paint a mural in the room that was the nursery. Lillian is now barren. This handsome and capable young man joins the household over one Summer and the scene is set. His mural gains significance as he finds his inspiration and gets into his stride.Albie is the missing generation. He has seen too much of his caregivers’ relationship and flees when he can. He travels the world without a care, elusive and with neither a real sense of purpose nor responsibility. He has a fling and into the world comes Maggie. Both birth parents literally abandon her and she is brought up by grandmother Lillian (who is not a blood relative but the next best thing). I feel that the hurt and abandonment issues suffered by Maggie could perhaps have had more core exploration and tended to be brushed over in the narrative; the single flaw to my mind in the otherwise very good story.Maggie is called back from Australia as Lillian has taken a fall and needs care. Just the previous year Maggie had a local entanglement which devastated those involved. And now she is back to face her past as well as pick up the threads with her grandmother and truly understand the weight of the estate and its disrepair. Her own history starts to unfurl as she discovers secrets and the true story of her family history.The writing is thoughtful and as graceful as the peacocks that once strutted the Cloudesley manicured lawns. It’s well put together and a pleasure to read. Recommended.

Loved this book, but glad I didn't read the Amazon reviews first as some of them almost tell all. I read this over a lazy sunny weekend in the garden. I found it a little hard to get into as the writing didn't seem great at first. But it improved and the suspense added to it being a real page tuner. An easy read, and a great ending with all lose ends accomplished. Even the bit at the end about.........(no I won't spoil it)!!!!!

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 illusive 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.I thoroughly enjoyed this & will be buying all my friends copies to read over the summer.

If you are walking past a bookshop or browsing your kindle lists it matters not...if you see this title BUY IT! for if you don't you will miss one of the most wonderful reading exeriences of your life. I have just completed the book after two weeks of reading it. I found that i was so riveted in the story that i read it as slowly as i could and didn't want to miss a detail of it. The style of the writing is gorgeous, so descriptive. It is typical of an English village with its cricket matches and yearly village shows when the gentry used to judge the exhibits. The chapters flowed between Lillian and Maggie but never did you loose the thread of their story. I feel that i have been reading this story for years, totally thrilled with every aspect of the book. To sum it up in one word...HEAVENLY.

Well worth a read but for me not as gripping as described. Very sad story. A crumbling marriage lived out in a crumbling old house along with crumbling emotions in the different crumbling characters - all round a catastrophic crumbling mess of a read that will either leave you a crumpling emotional wreck or entice you to read on as I did to find some light at the end of the pages. I would suggest - READ ON. There is light even if it comes too late for sacrificial Lillian the main character and the final pages do give answers to the tragedy of the past.

I had a mixed reaction to this book. The plot is set out early on, a grand old house with Lillian the beautiful young wife, a cruel husband, a handsome resident artist... But running alongside, also what happens years later, when Lillian's troubled granddaughter comes home to care for her grandmother. I didn't have that sense of looking forward to the next bit for quite some time, despite the drama and passion (and necessarily repressed passion). Nevertheless I could see that the two narratives flowed fairly seamlessly, and towards the end I was moved by what the author conveys about the difficulty of decisions when you have to think about loved ones, the passage of time, grief and redemption through the generations.