Ebook: 435 pages
Genre: Fiction, Family Saga, 20C Historical Fiction.
Publisher: 2025 by Headline Review
Source: NetGalley
First Sentences: Emma Raven sat by the window, listening for the sound of the cab. Her back ached, as it did when she sat for too long.
Review Quote: ‘Razor sharp . . . an enjoyable family saga with some modern twists . . . quite delicious’ THE TIMES
My Opinion:
This author has been a firm favourite since I first read one of her novels back in 2018 and discovered that she writes just the sort of family drama that I love immersing myself in.
' Treasures' is the first novel in The Sevenstones Trilogy, a multi generation family saga set around a very special house ' Sevenstones'. Following the lives of Alice Jansen and Tom Raven, it is not always an easy story to read as there are some traumatic themes dominant in both their lives.
To start with I found the story rather slow but eventually found myself fully immersed in this beautiful novel. The ending definitely left me wanting more, so am delighted this is the first in a trilogy. Highly recommended,
With thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books Ltd and Harriet Evans for the opportunity to read and review.
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
Every family’s story starts somewhere.
Alice and Tom’s begins here.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen collects her treasures – the keepsakes, figurines and momentoes that help her make sense of her fragile family. But the next day her heart is broken, and the final treasure, a gift from her father, is lost. Two years later, Alice answers a phone call from a stranger and runs away to New York, and tries to forget her last golden summer at the orchard on the banks of the Hudson.
Tom Raven can’t understand why he keeps losing so many of the things and people that really matter to him, but he knows for certain that something important is missing from his life. One day, he remembers a forgotten letter and makes a phone call, then leaves Sevenstones, the only place that feels like home, for a strange city . . .
An enchanting, unputdownable new novel about two people finding one another and the sweeping family story that follows, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wildflowersand The Beloved Girls.
Previous Reviews: The Wildflowers. The Beloved Girls. The Stargazers
Author Profile:
Autobiography in the author's own words from her Goodreads Profile
I was born in London and grew up there. I was very bookish, and had a huge imagination which used to cause me to get rather anxious at times. Now I know it's a good thing for a writer to have. I loved musicals, and playing imaginative games, and my Barbie perfume making kit. Most of all I loved reading. I read everything, but I also read lots of things over and over, which I think is so important.
At university I read Classical Studies, which is a great way of finding out that the world doesn't change much and people make the same mistakes but it's interesting to look at why. I was at Bristol, and I loved the city, making new friends, being a new person.
After university I came back to London and got a job in publishing. I loved working in publishing so much, and really felt for the first time in my life that when I spoke people understood what I was saying. Book people are good people. I became an editor after a few years, working with many bestselling novelists, and in 2009 I left to write full time.
I've written 13 novels and several short stories and one Quick Read, which is an excellent way of getting people into reading more. I've acquired a partner and two children along the way.
In 2019 we moved to Bath, out of London, and I am very happy there. We live opposite a hedgerow, and I can be boring about gardening, and there's room for my collection of jumpsuits and all our books. We have lots of books. Apart from anything else they keep the house warm.
More interesting facts from her life story can be found on her author website Meet Harriet
Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.
Goodreads Profile Harriet Evans - Official Website Twitter Profile
Harriet Evans - Facebook
