A Place of Secrets: A Novel

This book will appeal to people who believe in the paranormal. It would bore people who don't. The story gets cluttered with too many characters at the very end, but everyone is tied together neatly and my brief confusion was resolved within a few pages. It is the story of 3 families tied together in the mid-1700s, but the how and why is not discovered until 2008 when one family, formerly wealthy landed gentry, must sell cherished heirlooms to keep the family home after the UK's notoriously crippling death taxes will require selling the entire property if the current head of household, who inherits after his father's death, doesn't make the devastating decision to sell the cherished heirlooms rather than lose the home. Large tracts of land have been sold after the deaths of 2 prior generations. The home is called Starbrough Hall and stars are the background of the story. When the owner contacts a small London auction house to manage the sale, the job of cataloging and managing the auction is given to Jude, whose grandmother's father was the gamekeeper for the estate when she was a child hence she lived in the gamekeeper's cottage as a child and still lives in the area. The cottage and some associated land has since been sold. The other primary claim to fame, one of England's famous follies, has also been sold to pay prior death taxes and it is falling into dangerous disrepair although it is a "listed" property. The current owner doesn't recognize it's historical value and is in process of trying to get permission to turn that parcel into a mini-resort. As Jude catalogs the books and artifacts being given up for auction, she discovers private journals of the owner and his adopted daughter in the mid-1700s. He was an amateur astronomer who trained his adopted daughter, Esther, to follow him. He necessarily must die suddenly and inconveniently before the will leaving the estate to Esther is solidified and the bulk of the book is told through her eyes in a journal she leaves behind, well hidden, but discovered by Jude. The story unfolds between these journals and the nightmarish dreams of Jude's niece, which eerily replicate dreams Jude had at the same age. To tell more of the plot would ruin the thrill of reading each new discovery unfold. In the end, the mysterious identity of Esther, the abandoned toddler adopted by the astronomer, is revealed which brings in a third aristocratic family. It was at this point the story became briefly confusing by the introduction of another family tree, but all the mysteries are ultimately solved, and Jude, whose husband had died a few years earlier, falls in love with the new owner of the gamekeeper's cottage, so all is well that ends well. A book like this has to end "tidy", but getting there has to have enough challenges to get to the goal post to be entertaining. I was thoroughly charmed by this story, was surprised by how well written it is, and hope I can find another paranormal story that is almost believable for my next ebook read.

Jude is an appraiser for an auction house in England. By chance, she takes a call requesting an appraisal of a collection of books and instruments from a family that belonged to their ancestor, an 18th century astronomer. The estate contains a cottage where her grandmother grew up, so she takes the opportunity to visit her grandmother and her sister and niece while she is there. While there, she spends time with the widow, Chantal who is from France and is quite sad to sell the collection that her husband cherished. But she knows that her son is right and that they must sell to provide for the expenses of the estate. While there, Jude makes some startling discoveries in the journals of Starbrough Hall indicating that a young woman, apparently the adopted daughter of the astronomer, helped her father make some significant discoveries. But where did this young woman come from? Jude also meets the man now living in her grandmother's old cottage and while there initial meeting is a bit rocky, she finds herself attracted to him. However, she is unsure if her sister has feelings for him as well. Another curious twist is that her niece is having nightmares, ones that harken back to dreams from her own childhood and also seem to be showing her niece some insights into the family history she is digging into. Without giving anything away in the story, if you are a fan of the style of Kate Morton, you will enjoy the twists and turns of this story.

This book started slow for me in the 1st third of it. (Thus the four stat) However, not so slow as to lose interest. As the book progressed I became completely engrossed. Chores around the house had to wait. All the twists, turns and mystery kept me reading instead of sleeping. The book had me guessing until the very last page!

I enjoyed this book immensely. After reading some of the other comments, I decided to go ahead and get it on my Kindle. I enjoyed the story lines (modern and 1800's), they intertwined well and had me guessing. I do have to say as another person commented, there are a lot of characters to keep straight, but once you get into the book, it's not that hard. Also, if you are a fan of Kate Morton, you will probably like this book (I thought this book was slightly better written!) However, this book is the only one available in the Kindle format from this author!! I hope Amazon works on getting her other books into the Kindle format!!

This was a light read but entertaining. The book had many plots and sub-plots. The heroine Jude archived a collection of astronomy equipment from the 1700's in doing so she learned many secrets about her own past. At the same time the characters from the 1700's tells her story through a journal Jude finds and through Jude and her neice Summer's dreams. The story explores Jude's relationship with her sister, and many other secrets in the past and the present. I read this story as a part of a book club at first I felt the story unfolded so slowly and there were too many characters and subplots which made the reading less engrossing. However, the book became more interesting as it progressed..

The Forgotten Garden was my first Kate Morton book and I couldn't put it down. Subsequent books of hers have not captured my interest like the first one and this newest novel least of all. Normally when I start a book I can't wait to get to the end and usually within a day or two but I started this book about 3 weeks ago and still have not finished it. I just have not identified with any of the characters and the story seems to plod. It's been a disappointment. I will finish it but it's been relegated to one of those 'if I have nothing else to read at the moment' books.

Really enjoyed this book! I’m a big fan of Rachel Hore - and this novel was as detailed and believable as all her others. The characters and storyline were consistent and plausible - but, as I’ve already commented on in her other works, sorely let down by the ending! It didn’t detract from my enjoyment overall, but was very irritating. Far too much detail and far too rushed - as though she was reaching her word limit and needed to tie things up pretty quickly! I had to keep flicking back to remind myself where everyone fitted it! Why oh why does she consistently do this? The ending would be much better as a slow crescendo - not a rapid clanging of cymbals!

There were a shocking number of errors in my Kindle version of "A Place of Secrets". Complete words were missing, rendering some sentences nonsensical. I was also alarmed by the number of Americanisms. If a book is set in England, the dialogue should retain the English vocabulary. If non-natives are perplexed, the Kindle dictionary is a click away. I would have preferred this book as a straightforward historical saga in the first person. The character of Esther was the redeeming feature of the book. Parts of her story and that of her family could have been elaborated on to create a much more satisfying tale. The modern plot line just detracted by holding up the pace of the story. The contemporary characters spoke and acted like illiterate teens or were simply convenient facilitators and the romantic subplot made Mills and Boon look like great literature. There were far too many coincidences, rendering a potentially interesting storyline into a daydream for those with delusions of grandeur. Not enough astronomy for those with an interest in science and too much astrology for anyone with an ounce of common sense. And what happened to the supernatural burial ground? I was hoping for at least one body buried at the folly. A book of missed opportunities. And too many neatly tied ends.

This is easily the best book which I've read in recent years. The story is set in Norfolk. It focuses mainly on Jude, a London auctioneer who researches the history of an 18th century astronomer and his adopted daughter who mysteriously disappeared shortly after his death. Jude visits Starbrough Hall, the former home of the astronomer to research scientific instruments and documentation in connection with him for valuation purposes. There is also much focus on a derelict folly in the woods which the astronomer and his daughter used for stargazing in their day. This story takes many twists and turns with many coincidences and family connections coming to light as the story progresses. It also has a light hearted romantic theme. The author brings the whole story and scenery to life. I was able to draw up a picture in my mind of the fictional setting. It is an extremely enjoyable book and the story is very easy to get into unlike some other books. This is the second Rachel Hore book which I've read, the other one being The Memory Garden. However I do much prefer A Place of Secrets!

This is a complex and multi-threaded tale (dare I say it, possibly almost too multi-threaded), that spans families and generations. Our main heroine Jude, works for an auction house specialising in rare books and goes to investigate a collection at Wickham Hall. Coincidentally Jude's family are from the area, her grandfather once being gamekeeper on the estate and her grandmother, sister and neice still living in the area.Most of the rare books at Wickham belonged to once owner of the hall, and amateur astronomer Anthony Wickham. While cataloguing the books, Jude discovers diaries of Anthony Wickham's adopted daughter Esther who mysteriously appears in Anthony's life and then disappears after his death. Who is she, and is there a connection between Esther and dreams that Jude had as a child? Weirdly, Jude's neice has started having the same dreams since visiting a folly tower, which was once part of the Wickham estate, and used by Anthony Wickham as his observatory.As Jude unravels the mysteries of Esther and begins to realise how intertwined her story is with that of Jude's own family, she begins to work through her own problems, a difficult relationship with her sister, and an inability to love after losing her husband in a climbing accident. Love begins to blossom for her with Euan, the current owner of her grandparent's cottage.Ok this story is peppered with ridiculous coincidences, unbelievably neat loose-end tying and a good bit of mumbo jumbo ghost/dream sequence plot revelation, but hey its fiction, and as far as I am concerned I enjoyed it as a light hearted romantic read. I will most likely read some of Rachel Hore's other books after reading this.

A place of secrets by Rachel Hore, I found this book like all her others I have read a joy. I don't understand why she has negative reviews. This book like others she has written goes back in time as well as has characters from the present day, this makes her reads one of the best collections.The story, follows the life of Jude, an auctioneer, from London, she visits Starbrough Hall to evaluate a collection of books for auction. Then the storyline follows a diary she finds hidden away, all about star gazing, I will admit some were not that interesting. But as the story untangled it did get better and I needed to complete.