by Ella Carey
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 298
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Heartbroken and alone, Boston art curator Sarah West is grieving the recent deaths of her parents and the end of her marriage. Ultrasensible by nature, she’s determined to stay the course to get her life back on track. But fate has something else in mind. While cleaning out her father’s closet, she finds a letter from the famous Parisian courtesan Marthe de Florian, dated 1895. The subject? Sarah’s great-great-aunt Louisa’s death. Legend has it Louisa committed suicide…but this letter implies there’s more to that story.
Determined to learn the truth, Sarah, against her nature, impulsively flies to Paris. There she’s drawn into the world of her flatmate, the brilliant artist Laurent Chartier. As she delves deep into the glittering Belle Époque to unravel the mystery, Sarah finds that her aunt’s story may offer her exactly what she needs to open up to love again.
Following Sarah in the present day and Louisa in the 1890s, this moving novel spans more than a century to tell the stories of two remarkable women.
Kritters Thoughts: The third in a series that is loosely tied together, so I would suggest starting at book one, but there won't be any spoilers below as each book focuses on a different main character that makes appearances in the previous book.
With two storylines in different two different times, the reader knows from the beginning how they are semi linked, but as the story progresses we get more and more clues and more and more enlightened. In 2015, Sarah is an art curator who is grieving the loss of both of her parents and a marriage that has come to a close. She finds a letter that sends her on a chase throughout Europe to figure out the truth of her family. In 1895, Louisa falls in love with a well known man and must become the quiet wife at a time where she is ready for change for women and wants to be a part of that change. With mystery and intrigue, Sarah will find out where she came from and maybe that will influence her future.
As a reader, I appreciated knowing how these two storylines were connected from the beginning. We knew from the start that Sarah was connected in some way to the story of Louisa from a letter, but to slowly but surely get to the truth of the matter was a fun ride.
There were times where I felt Sarah's story flipped and flopped between her pursuit for the truth and her pursuit of self and at times it didn't feel organic and almost whiplash. I wanted more of Sarah and how her personal life really fueled the flame of her journey and how this may change her completely.
As a lot of series feel complete as a trilogy, I will assume that this book completes the set. I wouldn't mind following this author through another trilogy where the characters loosely connect and the stories weave in and out of past and present.
Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row
Ebook 2020 Challenge: 117 out of 100
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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