The Peacock Summer

This is one of those novels that sucks you in with a gorgeous cover and that you quite enjoy while in the midst of it but are more than likely to forget eventually as it has a plot that has been done many times before in various guises.

There is the dilapidated old house, Cloudesley, in the English countryside in desperate need of rescuing, its owner a frail elderly woman with secrets, and hope lies with a granddaughter returned from a life abroad but who had already run away previously due to romantic issues of her own. It also has the dual time switches that are now mandatory with such novels.
 
Lillian is the grandmother, and widow of Charles Oberon, owner of Cloudesley. In the mid 1950s, she falls in love with handsome up and coming artist, Jack Fincher, who is hired by Charles to decorate the walls of the nursery. With her lonely step-son, Albie, and doomed sister Helena, whom Charles supports in a care home, Lillian’s choice is stark when she has to decide between husband and lover. This is by far the better part of the novel.
 
Maggie’s contemporary story is less convincing as she displays indecision and unreliability and as a result she’s never quite believable as someone who would do anything for her grandmother let alone turn herself around and pull together the practical resources to rescue the old house from the developers. 
 
For the anachronism hunter, there are quite a few minor terms and words that were not around in 1950s. Women didn’t use “blusher” on their cheeks, it was still just called rouge in those days, nor did the term “toy-boys” appear until more than thirty years later.
 
[Spoiler alert!] Although I know it is often a plot device for both historical and contemporary women’s fiction, domestic violence is never pleasant to read particularly when it has no really satisfying outcome and for that reason alone is enough to reduce this to a three star rather than four star read.

With thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.

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