The London House

by Katherine Reay

Dakota County Library paperback 347 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Historical fiction

We had a good discussion at book club on Monday night. This book was more serious and complex than Reay's other books that we've read, but it also was less "Christian." Other than references to C.S. Lewis and absolute truth (toward the end of the book), it was about people, relationships, history, etc. but not really about faith in God. (Perhaps the author is trying to reach an audience that would reject "Christian" fiction?)

The main character Caroline Payne has never really dealt with the loss of her sister Amelia when they were 8 and 9 years old. This parallels her grandmother Margaret's loss of her twin Caroline ("Caro" - whom our protagonist was named for) during WWII. There are many other parallels, but the unraveling of the history of what really happened to Caro in the 1940s is sparked by Mat, a college friend of Caroline's.

There's plenty of history, some mystery, and dashes of romance. I put lots of post-it notes in the book, so I'll try to be brief with this. Overall, I liked this book, but didn't love it. The past was discovered mostly in the letters Caro wrote and the diary Margo kept.

Page 9 - "My belief is that those stories, your story, also provide a sense of hope. They assure us that when bad things happen, life continues, and that we humans are resilient and endure. Hope emerges from tragedy." 

This is Mat talking to Caroline. I agree that stories are powerful. They can also be painful. And the same people might have very different perspectives on an event . . . this also makes me think of the Storyworth stories I'm writing this year.

Page 114 - "If he saw even a fraction of what Creighton saw, I understand why he watches Europe so closely. How could the world ever endure such horrors again?"

This is from Margo's journal and references the "Great War" (aka WWI) and the unthinkable that was coming - WWII. But when I read it, I got the chills thinking about last week's invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I'm horrified that Putin is doing what he wants and the rest of the world seems to just be watching. 

Page 128 - "The irony of my indictment struck me - I was the one who survived that day, yet how well did I embrace life?"

Caroline is starting to realize that just as her grandmother had been altered dramatically by the loss of her sister, so has she. Loss and grief can be so difficult to work through! I can't imagine an eight year old having to deal with the loss of her sister in a horrific accident and not getting serious help to work through the emotional impact of that!

Page 134-5 The letter from Caro to Margo dated July 23, 1936 says in part, "Everything here is shocking, Margo - in all the best ways. There are so many things to taste, experience, think, discuss, and debate. At home, we were fed one way of doing things and one way to think. The door cracked open at Brilliantmont, but here it's been blown off its hinges."

You can feel Caro's youth, excitement, and worldview change in this letter. It's interesting that for a long time in Paris, she saw only the glamour and excitement but missed the impending danger. Brilliantmont is the Swiss boarding school she was sent to at age 16 when Margo contracted scarlet fever.

Page 137 - "'When something bad happens,' she continued, 'it's easy to blame someone else, and in some cases maybe it is their fault, but that doesn't matter. Not in the end. What does matter is how long we hold on to that hurt or that anger. We can magnify the pain, making it worse and worse until it devours us, or we can forgive it and get on with life.'"

I love Caroline's mother's growth and wisdom! Even though we didn't really "meet" her "before" character, we know through Caroline's experience that change has happened.

Page 138 - "There is a relational beauty to food, to cooking. Gifts I had forgotten, and I'm sorry for that."

Caroline's mom talking about moving in to take care of her former mother-in-law. The house renovations sounded incredible! And I agree that cooking can be therapeutic in a way.

Pages 162-3 - The pages where Margo is visiting Caro in Paris and this is described in her journal: "What they meant was my provincial ideas were so antiquated and passé, they've become cute. Furthermore, I am an idiot. They didn't say it, but everyone's tone dripped with condescension."

I could picture this so vividly! Poor Margo!

Page 173 - "Life is too short, Margo, to cut out the ones we love. I refuse to be the one who stops trying to bridge the gap between us."

A letter from Caro to her sister. From Paris in 1938. Life is too short to let brokenness in important relationships sever us from one another.

Page 198 - "It was a powerful word - an elusive, beautiful word of belonging."

Reay does such a beautiful job of making "we" a powerful word. But I'm too lazy to type it all right now.