This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

hank you to Netgalley & Alexandra Walsh for my copy of The Wind Chime (Time-shift Victorian Mysteries #1) for an honest review. Amelia Prentice is having a terrible time with life. In a short period of time her daughter and her parents pass away. She is left alone in the world and is terribly depressed. She is tasked with getting her family home ready to sell and is clearing out the attic, per her mothers dying request, she is overwhelmed with the job ahead and all the memories that are stirred up from the task.
She finds a box full of photographs that distract her and she starts to investigate the time and place of the photos. This is a dual time period book. It is set in present day and Wales in 1883. The large estate in Pembrokeshire becomes all Amelia can think of. She finds diaries from Osyth Attwater and cannot stop reading. She needs to know why her mother might have sent her into the attic and what secrets is she supposed to find. Also what is the significance of The Wind-chime? What does Amelia and Osyth have in common?
I really liked the writing and the setting of this story. The characters were compelling and I had to keep reading to see how all the secrets unraveled. This was a four star read for me. It was my pleasure to read and review. I hope you enjoy it too!!!

I found this story to be confusing. There were a lot of characters and it was hard to keep track of them. I liked the dual time lines and Amelia was a strong character.

It took a little while to get into the book. Told in two timelines but broken down into easy chapters. It is great to see Alexandra Walsh write a different kind of story.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC

There’s something so beautiful and lyrical about Alexandra Walsh's stories that I get drawn into them and almost forget that I’m reading in two timelines (although I have been known to read certain chapters in a row so that I stay in one timeline instead of jumping back and forth).

I decided to give this story ago because Walsh’s The Marquess Saga books are among my favourites and the cover of The Wind Chime just drew me in.

This is a dual-timeline story, running between 1883 Wales and 2019 England. It’s a sweeping family saga that has a bit of an ‘epic’ feel to it. While I have it listed in the ‘Historical Fiction” genre in my snapshot above, it also has heavy mystery elements to it as well.

The story revolves around the Attwater and Stone families and all their secrets, relationships, scandals and history of madness. I did find it a bit overwhelming as there are A LOT of characters and it was hard to keep track of them all. I ended up taking notes to keep track and that really helped.

The two main characters, Amelia in the present day and Osyth in the past, are both interesting and complex and are trying their best to unravel long-buried family secrets to discover the truth.

Since this book isn’t about any famous historical figures or set in a time period/location that I’m familiar with, I was a bit wary about not being able to keep track of things. One of the hardest things (for me) while reading dual timeline stories is keeping track of all the people and the setting. Walsh is pretty deft at keeping the narrative flowing, while jumping between two very different eras.

Regardless of the amount of time separating the two main characters, there are things that link them (aside from family secrets). Similar themes link the two timelines, including mental health, happiness and grief, the importance of family and friends, and how families are a mix of very different relationships.

Aside from Amelia and Osyth, the family is filled with interesting characters that all have their own secrets and stories. At times I was a bit overwhelmed, but the strength of the plot and the beauty of the setting kept me in the story.

Interwoven throughout the story is an underlying feel of magic and a bit of fantasy, fairy magic. It gave the story a light, airy feel and I loved the image of the wind chime “announcing” the gathering of the family and the sharing of stories.

There are lots of twists and turns throughout the plot and for me, one of the most pleasant surprises was that neither of the timelines held my interest more than the other – they were both captivating and I couldn’t wait to get to the end to see how things turned out.

*** Thank you to the publisher, Sapere Books, for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book took quite some time to get my attention and seemed to really be all over the place until a little over a quarter of the way in. It is written in dual narrative and took some time to really understand what was going on with each character and to find out how their stories combine. I really loved the tie in with the wind chime and the story of Osyth the best. I think the romantic elements really seemed forced and just did not feel natural . The ending of the book was just overall confusing to me. There were mentions of many characters that were not really covered in the book and it seemed to distract from the dual narrative voices. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley,

I liked other books by this author but this one isn't for me as I found it confusing even if it's well written.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a very engrossing read, the way each time period is broken down into different sections and chapters make it very easy to follow too.

It is easy to feel empathy for both Amelia and Osyth, both very likeable heroines.

I would love to read the follow up to this and More by this author

2 stars. I'm afraid this book just did not do it for me. I gave it an honest effort but the unending family tree/relations were distracting and unnecessary. None of it rang true for me or captured me enough to warrant the slog it had become. It's a pity, as it has all the elements that I am normally drawn to.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone. Ever.

UM.... where do I even begin with this story? Okay so I have to say that the cover design is beautiful... I absolutely adore it and I need to get my own copy to live on my shelves permanently because I truly think that it is a work of art. I also have to say that this... "Fairy maiden, draw near to me, take me far below the sea, water maiden, wild and free, with the fairies of the deep,,,,,, fairy maiden full of glee, ill tell my secrets for you to keep... water maiden, promise me, you'll keep them safe in the deep blue sea." is absolutely gorgeous. So melodic and honestly stuck with me. I adore the dual time line and different families and feel like it made the story that much more layered and gripping. I love Amelia and I love Edward and this might be a little greedy but I wish there is a second book so that we can have more of them. Overall I just loved this book. I honestly cant think of anything that I didn't like. I highly recommend.

It looks like I'm in the minority here, but this novel missed the mark for me. I don't mind multiple-timeline books, and I usually enjoy historical mysteries. But this one seemed unnecessarily complex, especially in the Victorian-era timeline, where there were so many characters and families that I actually drew out my own family tree. However, many of these characters were extraneous to the story and didn't contribute much except to my confusion.

Likewise, the portrayal of schizophrenic characteristics to be deadly (not once, but twice does a mentally ill character attack with a "small silver knife") is unfair and potentially harmful to those who do not fully understand mental illness.

Amelia has had more than her share of grief. She lost her mother, father and then her young daughter Molly within a few years. She has been coping with illness and death for so long that she now feels that a proper retreat of some kind is necessary. She also comes across whilst clearing and cleaning out instructions from her mother to clear out the attic.

Discovering that the attic was cleared and clean, only a few boxes very neatly packed leaves Amelia puzzled. Together with her friends who have stood behind her throughout her difficult days, she comes across a box of letters, photographs and memorablia which speak of unknown people, names which have a connection though indistinct and intriguing photographs. She also discovers her mother's will through her lawyer leaving her a inheritance of seven cottages which leaves Amelia very comfortably off for the rest of her days.

The story told in two sections of Pembrokeshire 1893 and present day 2019 London are in itself different. The stories of 1893 deal with a family
well established, in trade and very comfortably off but with a chequered history and very complicated characters. That those characters were related
to her mother is obvious and why her mother never spoke about them is what puzzles Amelia the most. She seeks to solve the mystery.
Present day 2019 Amelia is coming to terms with her losses, then she meets Edward part of the Pembrokeshire clan and she has to reconcile her feelings of today, with the history that she is faced with and which is not quite right and at times very unsavoury.

A little bit of the faery and magical mixed in the history of the story, the two time lines and the vast amount of history of the families involved added to the complicated story leading to the present times. May not be for everyone, as it was so many strands of a family but brought together the book was a page turner for me. Characterization was spot on, very descriptive at every turn it kept me going wanting to find out what happened to all the characters of 1890s.

A beautifully woven whimsical fairy tale.

I adored this story. A modern day fairy tale set in the backdrop of a sea side family home. The cast and characters include everything from fairies, a circus and a big boisterous extended family! The book was filled with beautiful descriptions, I could practically smell the salt in the air and hear the wind chimes ring. I found myself so invested in our heroine, Osyth and what would become of her.

It has been awhile since I felt captured far away between the pages of a book, but it happened with The Wind Chime.

This is one of the most original books I have ever read, I loved everything about it. The characters were so well developed, I finished it a few days ago and still find myself thinking about them.

Unpopular Opinion Alert: Almost all readers seem to be falling head over heels in love with this story. But it didn’t click with me at all.

Story:
The crux of the plot is a line oft-repeated in the writing: ‘Every family has their secrets.’ The events come to us from two distinct timelines:
2019: Amelia Prentice has lost 3 of her family members within two years and now has no surviving relatives. Her mother Joan’s final request is for Amelie to clear out the attic. However, in the documents there, Amelia finds some strange old photographs, of people she has never heard of. Curious, she begins to dig into details of the Attwater family, and soon finds a network of secrets that reaches even upto her generation.
1883: Osyth is the youngest member of the Attwater family. A dreamer by nature, she loves hearing fae tales and listening to the wind chime ring in the arrival of her large family. However, her faith is shattered when she overhears a conversation, thereby forcing her to confront her family and get the truth about the past.
What is the connection between Amelia and Osyth? Why did Joan make Amelia go through the documents after her death? Read and find out.

Ideally I should have loved this book. It has many elements I enjoy: multiple narratives (dual in this case), dual timelines, interesting lead characters, complicated family histories, mental health issues,… And yet I found it underwhelming. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make the story sound complicated and magical. The story seemed to be a mashup of genres as it incorporates elements of historical fiction, literary fiction, magical realism, and mystery. But I felt that the individual elements didn’t come together seamlessly to form a cohesive whole.

Amelia and Edward from the contemporary narrative seem to focus all their energies into digging up the past. Their story arc is quite limited. It would have been nice to see more of their rapport building up, perhaps a little bit of their backgrounds as well. Even Caitlin, who seems to be an interesting character, is hardly explored in depth. The 2019 timeline is very unidimensional in this respect.

The historical narrative is much more nuanced in comparison. Some of the characters have complicated personalities, especially Keiran. However, the content became really irritating after a point because the Attwaters seemed to say the same thing time and again to Osyth: there are secrets but we can’t tell you everything in one shot. It dragged the revelation of the secret so much that I almost ditched the book. Were it not for a couple of reader friends endorsing it strongly, I doubt I would have gone ahead till the end.

The number of extraneous characters in the book is too many. Right from the start, you see the first and last names of every single character (contemporary and historical), whether they are significant to the proceedings or not. And with the huge multi-generational Attwater family who is also linked to the Stone family and somehow to Amelia’s family, I was at a loss about whom to concentrate on and whom to let go for the entire first half. A significant part of the story dealt with Amelia creating a family tree to locate her place in the generational hierarchy. You will need to do that too if you want to experience the story in a slightly more sensible and non-mechanical way. The story could have easily proceeded with half of the characters taken out, and might have flowed better.

There are constant references to the faerie folk but I didn’t find these much relevant to the main plot; they serve only as exotic Welsh references to add to the mystical charm of the book.

On the positive side, the writing is lyrical and flowery. The insight into how people looked at mental illness in the past and how it is still a stigma at present is decently covered in the book. While I didn’t enjoy the portrayal of schizophrenia as depicted in the story (having a schizophrenic within the close family makes this a delicate topic for me), the hardships faced in the past by the supposed “lunatics” is realistically depicted. That was the biggest (and probably only) plus point of the book for me.

Overall, this was a disappointing experience for me. But as I said, I am an outlier in my opinion as a majority of readers seem to love this book. So do give it a try and decide for yourself.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sapere Books, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was really lovely. A story told between modern day Windsor and Pembroke in the 1800's to unearth family history and secrets.
It was beautifully told, really atmospheric and I felt totally immersed on both era's.
It's a fairly emotional read dealing with loss and grief, but written in such a lovely way.
A really gorgeous read I especially enjoyed it as Pembroke is one of my favorite places and it's easy to imagine yourself right there in the pages of this book.

4.2 Stars

The story begins in 2019, Windsor when Amelia has just buried her mother. She had seen three deaths in two years and is looking for a way to come to terms with her. Her mother leaves her with a quest that takes her to Pembrokeshire.
Amelia not only goes to the Cliffside house with the mysterious wind chime but also travels to the past to connect the missing links between her mother and the Welsh family of Attwaters and Stones.
As the narrative shifts between the past and the present, we see events unfolding and secrets being uncovered. How will these secrets affect Amelia’s life? Why did her mother want her to trace the roots and find things that have been left buried for a reason?
First of all, I would like to highlight that this book is not a mystery. It sure has elements of mystery and discovery but calling it one would create a different impression on the readers. Luckily, I went into the book, considering it Women’s Fiction. That helped me enjoy the storyline better.
The narration is beautiful, especially when dealing with the past. I loved Osyth’s character. She’s dreamy, determined, a bit pampered, and yet good at heart. While she does make some stupid decisions, it fits her age and temperament.
The shift between the past and the present is seamless. I like how the present acted as a breather when the past got too heavy and took the story forward to spare us excessive details. That said, the story does drag a little in the middle. Guess it was necessary with so many characters involved.
Here’s one book where it’s easy to get confused by the people waltzing in and out and their relationships with each other. That said, the primary characters are easy to identify and track. Family trees are fascinating for the secrets they reveal, and this book has plenty of them.
What I loved the most was the inclusion of faerie and fae folklore, the sound of the wind chime that can be heard across the spaces, and the hint of a magical atmosphere. As someone who loves faeries, the talk of the legend of Tylwyth Teg and the stone circle made me very happy.
The mystical wind chime plays a role throughout the book. I could picturize the wind chime each time Osyth mentioned it. I appreciate the cover design even more after reading the story. Such a clever inclusion of vital elements! The author’s note was just as lovely to read.
To sum up, The Wind Chime is a beautiful, emotional, and heartwarming story that spans across generations and locations. Pick it up for the feel-good feeling you get when you read a bittersweet book.
I’ve ignored a couple of typos and errors as this is an ARC.
Thank you, NetGalley and Sapere Books, for the ARC.

I couldn't get "into" this story at all. I didn't even get to the "past" part of the story because I found the female lead's friends so annoying that I didn't want to read any more of their conversations with her. Others may find the story engrossing. I found I didn't care for it at all. #TheWindChime #NetGalley

The Wind Chime by Alexandra Walsh is my first one by her, but it won't be my last! I love books which have dual timelines, a sprinkle of magic and fairy dust, some folklore andot has all of these and more!
The story shifts between Windsor ( 2019) and Victorian era in Pembrokeshire, Wales( late 1800s). It is the journey of a young woman who's struggling with loss and grief, and trying to find the missing pieces of puzzle that her mum left her as an inheritance. Every family has secrets in its history and some more than others, that's the case with Amelia's family here. In her quest to unravel the past, find more about the missing links in her family tree, she stumbles upon a Pandora's box where every layer that's peeled, brings forth new discoveries.
The book is engaging and flows smoothly between timelines and the author has included Welsh myths, the 'fae folk' ( fairy folk) and also gives peek into the legend of Tylwyth Teg, the land of fairies!
The magical wind chimes shows the way to the family in the story, and it left a tinkling musical note in my ears as the author wound up the tale perfectly.
Since I read an ARC, there are some errors here and there which took away some pleasure from an otherwise lovely read!
Thanks to Net Galley and Sapere Books for the ARC and waiting for the next in the series now😊

Captivating and enticing from beginning to end, I flew through the pages of this Victorian era mystery. Every page seemed to lead to a new revelation and I couldn’t wait to figure out the ending. This dual timeline story was easy to follow and equally as enticing in both timelines. I’m happy to add this to my list of historical fiction must-reads!

Thank you to NetGalley & Sapere Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.