A quietly delightful, if a bit meandering, story about a house and a family that occupies it and the land its' on (don't forget the hares!). The juxtaposition of the interwoven times is well-done and illuminates the present day story that bookends the entire novel. ( )

Books where a house is a major part of the plot seem to have an invisible rope attaching them to me. They pull me in immediately and I'm rarely disappointed. So you can imagine that The House at Ladywell was a great draw for me. And I'm pleased to say that it didn't disappoint, in fact I loved it.

Freya Gibson is a woman who has been through a lot and had a really difficult time of it. She then finds herself working for bestselling author, Patrick Underwood. All is going well and then one day she hears that she has inherited a house from a relative she didn't even know she had. And this is no ordinary house. The scent of flowers seems to linger there, despite there being no flowers in the house. There's a feeling of belonging for Freya and she straightaway feels a connection and a desire to be there. Right at the beginning she is told she must make a wreath from the rowan tree in the garden and then say an incantation to 'restore the balance'.

The house is a major character in this novel. We hear of its past through the tales of Freya's long-gone ancestors. These sections are scattered throughout Freya's narrative and I did wonder if it would have helped to have the relevant dates and a family tree, but in fact I could fairly easily work out an idea of the timeline and at the end there is some information about the characters and the years their stories are from. I think the dates weren't provided so that the story could flow and the historical elements could intermingle with the present day ones and that certainly did work well.

The parts from the past were fascinating, so interesting, and they provided a background to the house but I did enjoy Freya's story most of all as she was the one discovering things about the past, the house and her own life.

There is quite a bit of folklore in this story. Hares play a big part and are revered in fact. I love hares so I liked that they were so important. There's also a well with water that heals and a real sense that the house and the land are important.

I liked Freya and Patrick as the main characters, but I thought the supporting characters were fabulous too. Mary Draper was just brilliant, and all the other people that Freya meets when she moves to Ladywell add something to the story, however large or small.

This really is such an appealing book. It has modern elements mixed with historical, a love story, and mysteries galore. It's fabulous! ( )