Natalie Fergie uses the framing of a single house and the decennial census to tell a story about finding yourself.
The house at 25 Library Terrace becomes a character in and of itself, providing a space where people are loved and supported through all kinds of trials and challenges. It evolves with the characters, and gives them space for their feelings as well as their belongings (and pets).
I loved this book.
I have always been interested in the history of my own house, which was built around the same time as the fictional 25 Library Terrace, so I was drawn to this story from the start.
Natalie has clearly done her research on the time periods she covers, and the world she builds feels very rich and realistic without ever feeling like a history textbook. I loved that we got a floor-plan for the house, and ample description of the rooms and their decor through the years. I really do feel like I could walk up to the front door any day (although, of course, the real ones know to enter via the scullery).
I also liked how the characters are connected to the house and come back into the story at later points, giving the reader a bit of time to make the connection. On my first read, I had to pause a few times to figure out the family tree, which is something the characters themselves also have to figure out.
I enjoyed Ursula’s journey, and then seeing the impact she had on Annie and how that flowed through into Georgia. It felt like the good parts of Ursula (and Isobel) were still strong in the house even when Tess was there almost 100 years later.
I also like that we got to see the reality of both Ursula, as the lady of the house, and Isobel, as the housekeeper. Ursula is a flawed person who is trying very hard, but there’s still a gulf between them, even when they eventually manage to work as a team. Natalie is very clever at how she shows the changes to women’s lives and situations over the decades, such that when Isobel comes back to the house many years later, her becoming a friend and not a worker feels believable.
There’s not so much of a ‘plot’ in this book. It’s not a mystery or anything, but just a beautiful telling of the lives of the women in the house set against the backdrop of history.
I thought Natalie handled both wars extremely well – nothing felt over-written or exaggerated, and we got to see the long shadows cast by the men who went and the men who stayed behind.
This is definitely a book that I will revisit from time to time. It feels comforting without being cloying or shallow.
“Ann listened as the room filled with stories and ideas, and thought that perhaps she was creating a family of a different kind”
| References to Cancer or Brain Cancer | Towards the end of the book (Tess’s arc), a minor character is dying of breast cancer. It is handled well and only lightly touched on – we meet her at the point where she has accepted that she is dying and has made her peace with it. |
| Focuses on Death or Dying | Two stories in this book overlap the end of World War 1 and the missing and dead haunt the remainder of the story. The deaths themselves happen off screen, but the characters are affected by them and this impact shows up in how they choose to live their lives thereafter. However, this is largely presented in a positive way. |
| Happy Ending | I think so. The book is not plot heavy, but the characters do have clear arcs that resolve in satisfying ways. |
| Does the Dog Die | Baxter is a very good boy and not harmed in any way in this book. |
| Did I Cry? | A little, but more because I am sentimental than because the book was written to induce crying. I became very attached to the characters and their triumphs and challenges. I did not cry over the loss of the earlier characters as the novel progressed. |
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