Review: The Wildling Sisters

The Wildling Sisters by Eve Chase

G.P. Putnam and Sons, 2017.  Hardcover, 384 pages.

Eve Chase’s sophomore novel features Applecote Manor as a character shared between two timelines.  The first, set in 1959, the four Wilde sisters leave their London flat for a summer in the Cotswolds with their aunt and uncle.  None of the Wildlings, as Isla, Violet, Maggie, and Dot are called*, have visited since the disappearance of their cousin, Audrey, five years earlier.  As their aunt and uncle continue to grieve and two new neighbors arrive, one sister is drawn into the mystery surrounding the disappearance.

The present timeline features Jessie and her husband Will as they move from London to Applecote Manor.  Will’s daughter Bella from his first marriage and Jessie seldom get along.  While Jessie hoped that the move would help their relationship and that of Bella with her half-sister, Romy, it may never happened.  Instead, Jessie feels more and more isolated, especially after rumors about the home she had high hopes for.

This novel was very dark and it unnerved me that Bella treated Romy so rudely throughout.  That said, Chase’s writing was very descriptive and she wrote in a way that could lure readers in.  The chapters alternated between the two timelines until a convergence occurs near the end.  As a whole, I gave this novel a chance due to the However, I do think those who favor Gothic novels will find this up to their expectations.

Do you think you will read this novel?  Have you read Chase’s other book?  If so, what did you think?

This review is based on an advanced reader edition provided by the publisher.

*In the advanced reader copy, the sisters names are different-Margot, Flora, Pam and Dot.

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