The Doors of Riverdell by Marianne Rosen
Evening BookWyrms,
Being part of The Doors of Riverdell launch team has been a truly brilliant and fun experience. Thank you Marianne for letting me be part of this, especially during a year that has been so fraught with bad news and constant worry. A chance to read a debut novel and chat with amazing bookstagrammers has been uplifting and soul soothing, to say the least.
Like all my reviews this will be spoiler free and contain all the links needed to order your own copy of the book.
Lets jump right in with the cover reveal and blurb:
You might have seen this post before on my bookstagram page, but I am rather proud of it and so wanted to use it here, to show off this soothing and inviting cover that hints at the main stage of this novel.
And here is the back of the book, with one of the best tag lines I've seen on a contemporary family focused novel:
*****
Even the most beautiful home can't guarantee happiness.
Isabelle Threlfall has always called Riverdell House, in the historic rural town of Ludlow, her home. But home has its complications. There's her Aunt Elsa angling for commitment, cousin Hester to avoid and the failure of her long-term relationship to face. Working away seems the easiest solution but when Elsa's eldest son dies her two estranged grandchildren, Moth and Nat, arrive at Riverdell and Isabelle is called home to help.
Kit de Lavelle is hard on her heels. He's waited fifteen years for Isabelle to ditch her childhood sweetheart and adore him instead but he's about to discover that closing the doors to his own past is harder than expected.
As Moth and Isabelle form a close bond trading family secrets and avoiding their own, Elsa finds courage in her memories to face the truth she has hidden from them all. But as the future is decided will Moth and Isabelle still be able to call Riverdell their home?
Step behind the gleaming doors of Riverdell and into the troubled waters of the family.
*****
The Doors of Riverdell is described as a "sexy, gutsy modern family saga exploring the hidden impact of the past and the longing for home" and for some reason in my mind this translated to a slow, rolling, sedate family focused tale about home life in rural England....... I got some of that right! I got a lot of that wrong! When we use the word sexy here, we mean SEXY!
Whilst book one does focus on family and it is set in a rural-esque town in England - The Doors of Riverdell is anything but slow and sedate. With a cast of complex, interesting, bold and downright confrontational characters with questionable personal relationships this book caught my attention from page one.
Marianne has not shied away from being open and descriptive when it comes to the (many) sexual and intimate relationships within this series. Sometimes they make you hot under the collar and sometimes they give you raised eyebrows and new strange feelings about breakfast items (croissants and butter)!
Marianne has brought to life a complicated, intense family with secrets and pasts – which keeps you interested, if a little confused at first with who is related to who and how. Marianne did provide a lovely family tree for us, which she might be putting up on her website (links below) so that is something to look out for.
The Doors of Riverdell is told from four POV’s across two timelines - which I loved. And Marianne has done it well, with each character having their own clear voice. The past narrative gives us glimpses into Elsa’s younger years with her friends – teasing us with titbits of information about how things came to be whilst the present give us the next generation of the Threlfall family - blood and otherwise - and how they are coping with the fallout of their legacies and loses.
Character wise I started out not liking a single one of them, which isn’t a bad sign because it means the characters are flawed and real and three dimensional - after all wouldn't books be boring if we liked everyone we read about. However, the more engrossed I became in the story the more I came to respect Kit’s unapologetic, unashamed personality and his openness about his sexuality (yes this is an LGBT+ friendly book). The more I came to enjoy Moth’s determination and teenage watchfulness. I began to envy Isabelle’s creativity and Kate’s dedication. I never warmed to Hester though, who for me is the real villain of book one.
I found myself beginning to think of the characters more like people I knew and less like fiction. I began to have very strong opinions about the things the characters did and did not do or say - special mention to the worst Easter dinner ever!
But by the end of book one I have fallen for one particular character and that is Riverdell House. Marianne has used her expertise, to her advantage and our good fortune, because I could picture Riverdell in my mind. She has brought to life a sprawling, gorgeous home, rich with history and lives lived. I wanted to be there and walk those halls, sit in the kitchen, pop down into Isabelle's workroom or chat to Elsa in the study. I wanted to look upon the portrait gallery and see the generations of Threlfall's looking back at me. I wanted to go. And that is just plain good writing.
I am glad that this is book one of four - because the ending left me with more questions and a need to keep reading about Kit and Isabelle and Moth. And also because I think The Doors of Riverdell was the much needed foundation book, to get us to grips with everyone before launching us into their lives deeper.
To sum it up this is exactly what is was billed to be; gutsy, sexy, modern. I loved every moment of it, even the questionable parts, and can not wait to return to Riverdell in book two.
The Doors of Riverdell publishes on the 25th November 2020 and here are a couple of links to order your copy today but also don't forget to support your local, independent bookshops by ordering through them where possible:
The Doors of Riverdell - Amazon
Want to know more about Marianne? Here are some links for that too:
Once again thanks to Marianne for letting me be part of this journey and allow me to welcome you all through The Doors of Riverdell.
Until next time, keep reading,
Lottie
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