Postcards from the Past [Kindle Edition]

Brother and sister, Billa and Ed, live together in their old family home, a beautiful converted mill in Cornwall, in which they both grew up. Billa's and Ed's early childhood was very happy, but when their beloved father died, and their mother made an unwise second marriage to an unreliable man who brought his difficult, manipulative son, Tristan, to live with them, both Billa's and Ed's lives changed for the worse. Now, however, many years later, Billa and Ed enjoy a fairly uneventful, but satisfying life with friends and family nearby, and they are looking forward to spending many more happy years together. But then Billa begins to receive postcards with some rather unsettling messages from the past and when she realizes the postcards are from their old childhood tormentor, Tristan, both she and Ed start to feel uneasy and very uncomfortable. (No spoilers, we learn all of this early on in the novel and there are, of course, other characters and aspects to this story for prospective readers to discover). But what does Tristan want after all these years without contact and why should Billa and Ed feel threatened by him?

With some lovely descriptions of Cornwall and full of comforting, homely details such as the smell of woodsmoke from open fires; family meals cooked on the AGA; crisp cotton laundry drying in the sun and jugs of fresh flowers, this novel makes for very easy down-time reading. I do have to say, however, that I found this story a little sentimental for me in places, and I wasn't entirely convinced by some aspects of the plot - but that said, this is one of those effortless stories which are very easy to sink into after a busy, tiring day and if you are looking for an unchallenging and homely bedtime, down-time or fireside read, this could well fit the bill for you.

3 Stars.

This book looks simple and effortless on the surface. There are some excellent descriptions of Cornwall, the landscape, the weather, and the quiet and fruitful lives of Ed, Billa and Dom and their friends and family. It seems almost too good to be true and then the author introduces Tris, a character from the past who has plans for the future.

Tris announces himself by sending postcards each of which seems to be carefully chosen to bring up events in the childhoods, fifty years ago, of the main characters. We begin to realise then that the seemingly quite and fulfilled lives of Billa and Ed especially are filled with pain and regret because of the things that have happened in the past which are mostly centred around Tris. Tris' reappearance is for his own ends but it triggers a rejuvenation in the other characters as they reassess their lives.

This is a thoughtful and slow book. The author fills it with the everyday happenings of the community, their children and especially their dogs and therefore gives us something real and tangible which Tris may be seeking to destroy. The tension builds up well through the book until I was consumed with curiosity about Tris' plans and why he had recontacted the family after so long. The ending fits in well with the book and is not overdramatic.

I almost gave up on this book because it has a very slow beginning and it is written in the present tense which I dislike. If you feel like that when you start reading I advise you to persevere - This was a gem of a story with excellent descriptive writing. I received a free copy via Netgalley.

Billa is enjoying life living in a small community with her brother Edward in their Cornish childhood home. Although she occasionally mourns the children she never had, on the whole life with Edward and Dom, who lives nearby, is almost too good to be true. All that peace of mind changes when a picture postcard of a bicycle arrives. The words are innocuous so why does she hide it away? What harm can someone she has not had news of or set eyes on for over fifty years do?

This book is one of those that has multiple stories skilfully handled. The landscape, people, dogs and life in a small community is descriptive without being laboured so that I had a clear picture of each character, what their hopes and dreams were, what sadness they'd suffered and what their homes look like,all of these were vivid and clearly defined.

All of the scene setting makes the point when the past collides with the present, in the form of an unwelcome visitor, more dramatic. What does he want and how much of the tale he tells them can they believe? Can someone really destroy all the beauty and love that surrounds Billa and Edward? Both siblings deal with the visit in their own way and as ever Dom is looking out for both of them.

There is something for all types of readers within these pages; a little bit of romance, a little bit of mystery a book that allows the reader to examine how actions in the past can have consequences in the future but most of all this is a book about people which Marcia Willett has bought to life with her expert layering of their stories.

I received my copy of this book from the publisher in return for this honest review.

A lovely book and a joy to read- a revisit with some of the cast of "The Christmas Angel" - the story has a has a slightly darker feel than some previous books but again with characters you want to get to know and also a cast of dog characters who are just as important as the rest of the people. A Marcia Willett book for me is as good as a holiday and always very sad to see it come to an end.