The Unseen by Katherine Webb

The Unseen by Katherine Webb

Completion Date: May 17, 2012
Reason for Reading: TLC Blog Tour.

From Katherine Webb, the author of the acclaimed international bestseller The Legacy, comes a compelling tale of love, deception, and illusion.

A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings’ lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.

Quickly finding a place for herself in the underbelly of local society, Cat secretly plots her escape. Meanwhile, Robin, a young man of considerable magnetic charm and beauty, soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. Sweltering in the oppressive summer heat, the peaceful rectory turns into a hotbed of dangerous ambition, forbidden love, and jealousy—a potent mixture of emotions that ultimately leads to murder.

I read The Legacy by Katherine Webb in August of 2011. I was originally drawn to Katherine Webb because she was being compared to Diane Setterfield and Kate Morton. I have enjoyed these authors and their styles; so I am always on the look-out for comparable new authors to try. To start off, I will admit that I enjoyed The Legacy more than The Unseen. This surprised me because I thought the WWI connection to this book would easily make it the better of the two. The interesting thing is that in my review of The Legacy I thought that Webb would only get better. I am disappointed to find that I was wrong. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy The Unseen - it had its qualities, too.

Despite being interested in what Webb did next, I missed the information that this book was expected. I guess I was not expecting a new release so soon after her other one. I jumped at the chance to read it because I have always been intrigued by WWI and WWII books. And, I was captivated by the story in the beginning. I liked the idea of a 100 year old mystery. It begins as a story about an unknown WWI soldier, an ex-boyfriend, and his ex-girlfriend reporter. She is working freelance and needs a big story. He thinks he wants her back. What happens is a novel that flips back and forth from 2011 to 1911. The flipping viewpoints is similar to the story-telling method in The Legacy. I did enjoy the history lesson and, done right, changing viewpoints are a good way to tell a story.

So, I suppose you are wondering why I didn't like this book as much? If I had to put a finger on it I would say the characters. I found them much more interesting in The Legacy. As a result I was more intrigued by the overall story. In The Unseen I was interested, but not blown away and invested in the characters. I never seemed to lose myself in the story. As a result, The Legacy remains my favourite, but I still want to read more from Webb. I still think she has a lot of potential.

It is not that this book was bad. I just know that Webb can do better. I hope that an authors new book will be better than their previous one and am disappointed when it doesn't meet my expectations. Hopefully book 3 will get her back on track for me. I haven't given up yet!

Katherine’s Tour Stops

Wednesday, May 23rd: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, May 29th: The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Friday, June 1st: Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, June 5th: Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, June 6th: Literature and a Lens

Thursday, June 7th: “That’s Swell!”

Friday, June 8th: Life In Review

Monday, June 11th: The Written World

Tuesday, June 12th: Luxury Reading

Date TBD: Raging Bibliomania

TBD: Colloquium

The Legacy by Katherine Webb

The Legacy by Katherine Webb

Completion Date: August 3, 2011

Reason for Reading: Received a review copy from Harper Collins via NetGalley.

Following the death of their grandmother, Erica Calcott and her sister Beth return to Storton Manor, a grand and imposing house in Wiltshire, England, where they spent their summer holidays as children. When Erica begins to sort through her grandmother’s belongings, she is flooded with memories of her childhood—and of her cousin, Henry, whose disappearance from the manor tore the family apart.

Erica sets out to discover what happened to Henry—so that the past can be laid to rest, and her sister, Beth, might finally find some peace. Gradually, as Erica begins to sift through remnants of the past, a secret family history emerges: one that stretches all the way back to Oklahoma in the 1900s, to a beautiful society heiress and a haunting, savage land. As past and present converge, Erica and Beth must come to terms with two terrible acts of betrayal—and the heartbreaking legacy left behind.

I requested this book from NetGalley because I heard it was being compared to Kate Morton and Diana Setterfeld. I love both of those authors, so I knew I was going to have to try and read the book. The book shifts time periods from the early 1900s to closer to the present day. The early viewpoint is about a young woman that finds herself marrying a farmer. This leads to her leaving the big city of New York and taking up residence in the vast, empty spaces of Oklahoma. It is a huge adjustment for her, and one that she doesn't necessarily thrive in. There are a lot of problems for her along the way and it is not an easy time for her.

The other half of the book is told by this young woman's great-granddaughter. Erica and Beth's grandmother has died leaving them her large house, Storton Manor. The agreement is that either they decide to live in it together or they sell it. They have arrived just around the Christmas holidays to begin sorting through years of accumulated things. While there a young boy from their past reappears all grown up and adds to Erica's desire to figure out a secret from their past. She was there, but she has blocked things out. Beth knows the truth and it has been killing her slowly for years. She is depressed, anorexic, and there have been suicide attempts. Erica believes that if she figures out the secret of Cousin Henry it will help save Beth from guilt.

The novel switches back and forth between the two viewpoints. Erica is slowly getting to know her great-grandmother better through objects of hers still left in the house. It is apparent that Catherine was hiding a huge secret of her own. There is more than one skeleton in Storton Manors closets. The reader, though, knows the truth of Catherine's secret. Her young husband is tragically killed and part of her dies, too. She never fully recovers from the events of her first marriage. A marriage that is kept a secret when she goes to remarry so as to make her chances better. This second marriage is not a happy one and it further sinks Catherine into despair. She is not a very nice mother to her daughter and it will have repercussions through the generations.

I enjoyed this book. I have to admit that I had solved the mystery, but I still wanted to read on to make sure that I was right. I couldn't help feeling bad for Catherine. She had a tough life and she was largely misunderstood by the end of it. She lived to be very old and no one really knew her. There were too many secrets and part of her had been dead for many years. She was never able to fully recover and carried the love of her first husband until the day she died. It was a sad story-line. Then, you have Erica trying to solve all of the mysteries in her family. She fears that she is losing her sister and will do anything possible to get her back. I enjoyed reading about her rummaging in the attic and cleaning out the other rooms. That house had been in the family for many years, so there was plenty of time to collect a fair bit of treasures.

I think if you like elements from Kate Morton and Diane Setterfeld's novels, you will appreciate finding them in this book. It wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable. It had a bit of a mystery to tie everything together and I felt that Webb captured the early 20th-century lifestyle very well. This was a good introduction to Katherine Webb and I look forward to more from her in the future because I imagine she will just get better.

This book counts for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.