My enormous thanks to Caitlin Raynor at Headline for a copy of The House on Sunset Lake by Tasmina Perry in return for an honest review. The House on Sunset Lake was published by Headline on 25th August 2016 and is available for purchase from all good booksellers including Amazon, Watertones, W H Smith, and Love Reading.

The House on Sunset Lake

Casa D’Or, the mysterious plantation house on Sunset Lake, has been in the Wyatt family for over fifty years. Jennifer Wyatt returns there from university full of hope, as summer by the lake stretches ahead of her. Yet by the time it is over her heart will be broken, her family in tatters, her dreams long gone.

Twenty years later, Casa D’Or stands neglected, a victim of tragic events. Jennifer has closed the door on her past. Then Jim, the man she met and fell in love with that magical summer, comes back into her life, with a plan to return Casa D’Or to its former glory. Their reunion will stir up old ghosts for both of them, and reveal the dark secrets the house still holds close…

My Review of The House on Sunset Lake

When Jim Johnson’s boss buys up Casa D’Or, a house with memories for Jim, he finds he is forced to face the past.

I really enjoyed The House on Sunset Lake and I thought it was a perfect summer read. Reading it felt a bit like being on a long haul flight – just when you think you’re settled there is turbulence, and the plot of The House on Sunset Lake flows along with several twists and turns and secrets revealed, keeping my interest throughout. I was totally absorbed by the narrative and several times found myself thinking ‘Oh! I hadn’t expected that’, especially in the later part of the story.

I thought the quality of the writing was very evocative. Whilst some readers may feel the style is different to what they are used to from Tasmina Perry, I feel her writing has matured and is more graceful and assured. I could picture the scenes really easily and found the variety of sentence length, the natural dialogue and the descriptive passages wove a tapestry of experience just right for a beach read or a cold winter’s afternoon by the fire. Against my prejudices, I was swayed by the two time frames and Tasmina Perry has made me review my opinion that I don’t enjoy this kind of structure because I loved the two eras she has created. I felt they were clearly defined and easy to relate to.

There are interesting themes in The House on Sunset Lake that don’t intrude or dictate to the reader so that the story can be enjoyed for pure escapist entertainment. However, Tasmina Perry explores how we are affected by time and place, how love can endure or be destructive and how we are sometimes not true enough to ourselves.

But what I enjoyed most about The House on Sunset Lake was the creation of Jim. I’d define The House on Sunset Lake as women’s fiction and it made a refreshing change to have more of a male perspective, even though I loved reading about Jen too. Jim is by no means perfect and it is his flaws that made him all the more real to me.

The House on Sunset Lake is a super book and I highly recommend it.

About Tasmina Perry

Tasmina Perry is a former attorney who gave up a career in law to move into the more glamorous world of women’s magazine journalism. She has written on celebrity and style for many magazines, including Marie Claire and Glamour,and most recently was deputy editor in chief of In Style (UK). She lives in London with her husband and son.

You can follow Tasmina on Twitter, visit her website and find her on Facebook.