The House by the Lake-Books On Tour (Review)-Historical Fiction-Available Now

Having read two other books by the author, it was natural for me to read this one as well. While Beyond the Horizon still remains the better book, it was neat to receive more information on the story that was begun in Paris Time Capsule.  

This time, we start with Anna who is quite happy running her café in San Francisco. Her grandfather, Max, doesn’t talk much about his past – until one day he reveals a long-held secret. This sends Anna off to a castle in Germany to fetch something that Max left behind when he had to leave suddenly with the rise of Hitler and the onset of WWII.

As with the first book in the trilogy, it’s an interesting set up. The time period is rich with places, people, and events to build stories upon. It’s not hard to imagine that are still millions of stories to be told from that time.

I did like how the author tied the characters from the first book into this one and how the stories intertwined. It was a nice through-line.   

As with the first book, there is a slight issue with language and the writing style. It doesn’t seem as if the writer gained the confidence in style that shows up in Beyond the Horizon. There were also a few minor issues that caught me, such as Anna referring to her “flat” when she lives in San Francisco (should be apartment).

But the story is engaging, it’s a nice throughline from the first book, and I look forward to reading the last in the trilogy to see how it all wraps up.

Author Bio:

Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.

Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.