susanvoss18

I loved this story. It was so rich in building the suspense a piece at a time. Towards the end, I had a few moments where I had guessed what was about to be revealed and I found myself holding my breath, waiting to hear if I had it right. Truly, Diane Setterfield laid the grounds for the mystery of Winter’s life, but then coupling it with Margaret’s own tragic beginning made for excellent reading.

While many of the characters in this story are long dead, as they are part of Winter’s past, the author wrote them so believably real and their existence is still reflected in how they shaped and molded Ms. Winter as a young lady. From her own emotionally absent parents to the gardener and the house mistress, and even a short-term governess. All these people had a piece in the tragedy of Winter’s life, some good and some bad and some a mix. I appreciated that in the end, Winter wasn’t free of her burden of guilt and bad choices past.