August 02, 2016

The House Between Tides - Sarah Maine


Atria Books, August 2, 2016.

 

Four Stars




The House Between Tides is an atmospheric debut novel that is already being compared to Kate Morton’s novels of multigenerational mystery, and the comparison is apt. Both Morton’s and Maine’s novels use dual timelines to gradually expose family secrets, in this case moving from the murky past of 1910 to one hundred years later in the present day of 2010. The movements back and forth through time are anchored by a gothic ancestral home filled with shocking secrets.

 

On a small island in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, the ancient house of Muirlan is isolated from the rest of the community during high tides. In 1910, Muirlan is inhabited by Theo Blake, a prolific painter of the natural world surrounding his home. As his fame increases in the art world, he finds a young wife named Beatrice and brings her home with him to Muirlan, thinking that time away from Edinburgh will bring them closer together. However, the isolation of the island creates a rift in their relationship – Beatrice finds herself sympathizing with Theo’s struggling tenants, and she is increasingly repelled by his thoughtlessly aristocratic way of life.

 

When Beatrice suddenly vanishes from the island, Theo withdraws from society. His paintings turn dark with emotion, and he rarely leaves the isolation of Muirlan until his death. In 2010, a young woman named Hetty inherits the crumbling, uninhabited house when her last living relative dies. She has no knowledge of her Blake ancestors, until human remains are found in the ruins of Muirlan, and she begins to unravel the secrets of the past.

 

A century after Theo and Beatrice’s arrival on the island, the mystery of their marriage is still affecting the residents of the island. Coming from the city, Hetty plans to turn Muirlan into a luxury resort, but as she gets to know the residents and their history, she begins to envision a different, more sustainable future for the island. Maine’s descriptions of the island setting are dark and beautiful, captivating in their complexity. The attention to detail shows a clear love of the land and its wildlife. Passages describing the salty air and crashing waves make you feel like you’re really there on Muirlan’s intriguing island.

 

With the help of a cantankerous yet attractive groundskeeper, Hetty searches for clues to understand her family’s past. For the most part, Hetty and the other characters are believable – they are imperfect and interesting. As is usually the case in dual timeline novels, one time period tends to be stronger than the other. In this novel, the characters in the early 1900s are more fleshed out and realistic – it is easier to understand their motivations and feel complicit in their decisions.

 

Hetty’s storyline is a bit weaker, and her romance is frustratingly predictable – she trades one man for another, and never seems able to stand on her own. Hetty is steamrolled by everyone around her, and characters such as her former boyfriend become tedious clichés. While the novel is slow at times, it is still a fun, intriguing story, with a surprising mystery that keeps you reading rapidly to the end.

  

I received this novel from Atria Books/Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

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