Firstly thank you to Netgalley andSpaere and the Author fore a copy of this book.

The wind Chime by Alexandra Walsh first took my attention by the cover ! and I must say it is very suited to its contents. The plot was intriguing and once I got all the characters sorted ( there is a lot of characters ) I was on my way.
I love anything with Journals or diaries , so knew I would be sure to like it. Its always so much better if you read a book and it can touch you in many different ways. With out giving away anything , the inclusion of metal illness throughout both time lines was not only clever but so very much needed in our world today. It can effect anyone!
and showing that even in previous times it was very much around , shows just that.

If you like dual time lines and lots of characters then this is a book you must read.

This is a beautiful, well crafted dual timeline mystery set both in present day (well, 2019) and Victorian times, with a touch of magic and romance. I haven’t read any books by this author before but I was drawn very much to the description and I am very happy to have been provided with a copy of this to read.

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 will look into the author’s previous books too.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

A wonderful book which was difficult to put down. The characters are well crafted and very believable and the dual time setting well established and absorbing with enough details to make the past sequences come to life.
I shall definitely look forward to reading more books by this author.

I can't say enough good things about this book. It has everything you could possibly want. Let me start at the beginning. The cover is gorgeous, the characters are so realistic you feel as if you know them, the story has dual timelines (which is always a plus for me,) and the writing style is meticulous. The story has lots of things going on in this extended family and it truly shows how important our connection to each other is. This is a great book and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this amazing arc for my honest review

I have not read anything by Alexandra Walsh before, but this definitely won’t be the last. I adored this magical, dual time story of love, deceit, family and friendship, so much so that I read it in a couple of sittings as the tale drew me along. I felt invested in Amelia, Caitlin and Edwards tale as they investigated the past secrets of the Attwood and Stone family and their connection to the sprawling Cliffside. An adventure across time and continents. Thoroughly absorbing and highly recommended!

Another very enjoyable book by Ms Walsh
I love the way the past and present blend seamlessly and there is always a little surprising ooh! near the end of the book. If you have read The Marquess House books you will devour this one.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this. A great read I couldn't put down until I was finished. I highly recommend.

“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,
I’ll tell my secrets for you to keep…
Water maiden, promise me,
You’ll keep them safe in the deep blue sea.”


It was the beautiful and enchanting book cover that drew me first to this book and then the blurb got me excited as it was my favorite genre of dual timeline historical fiction. The best thing about these stories is the ability to connect to the history of the era thru the eyes of a protagonist in the current times and obviously the research and search for the unraveling of the mystery adds a delicious thrill for fans like me.

Down the rabbit hole, I went with the lavish world created by Alexandra Walsh into the lives of Attwater and Stone families, so many of them that it takes time to untangle the relationship lines between the cousins, nephew, nieces, uncles, and aunts. But once that is established, get ready to be transported to this tale of secrets, madness, love, and scandals.

Amelia is glad that her mother left her with a task to do before her death and along with a close circle of friends discovers a photograph of a house in Pembrokeshire and a journal of someone named Osyth leaving her wondering and intrigued. The mystery deepens further when she realizes that her mother has left her with a set of cottages that had a secretive clause attached to it. Losing her daughter, and her parents in quick succession have left her traumatized so when she finds out that the Cliffside House is currently a therapeutic retreat, she takes it upon herself to visit for both rest and investigation.

Like in most books that deal with dual timelines, the historical era becomes more vivid thru the journals of Osyth and like her beliefs of magical fairyland Tylwyth Teg with its fae and fairy folks. But the past is not as magical as Osyth believes as she discovers secrets hidden by her family which shatters her innocent heart.

“A secret at home Is like rocks under the tide and they had more secrets than the sea has tides.”

The author has captured the changing timelines brilliantly, showing the differences in subtle ways like how mental illnesses are perceived by the people in 1883 and 2019. Amelia’s grief is open and palpable but the experiences that shape Osyth and her story are kept subdued as like most things in that era when in fact what Osyth and Angarhad suffer at the hands of her cousin is beyond cruel and brutal. Both timelines however emphasize the importance of family, friendship, and love. Osyth and Freddie in 1884 and Amelia and Edward in 2019 are both endearing couples but I did wish for a little more from Amelia and Edward's story. Aunt Caitlin is another lovely character about whom I wanted to read more, well there’s something about every member in the family, and expanding it further with all those secrets being unearthed and the threads that bound the present with the past would have added another 100 pages.

This is my first book by the author and I enjoyed it immensely.

Absorbing⛈️⛈️⛈️⛈️⛈️

Many thanks to Net Galley, Sapere Books, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I love dual timeline novels and Alexandra Walsh does this beautifully in THE WIND CHIME. That cover had me at “hello” — sooooooo gorgeous! And the story set in Victorian Wales and contemporary England drew me in. Lush writing fleshed out each era and the story of family secrets, unearthed in the present with found photos and an impactful diary, kept me rapt. I found the story especially moving when it depicted the way mental illness and grief were treated then vs. today. A poignant must-read, out now.

5 of 5 Stars

Thanks to the author, Sapere Books, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheWindChime #NetGalley

The Wind Chime by Alexandra Walsh

Full feature for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

I have a soft spot for Alexandra Walsh’s books as The Catherine Howard Conspiracy was my very 1st Netgalley approved read. I really enjoyed her Tudor trilogy and was thrilled to see that she has branched out to a Victorian dual time series.

The story follows Amelia who has had a tragic few years, losing her young daughter and parents in a short period of time. While cleaning out her parent’s house she finds a box of pictures that her mother left for her to find. The pictures show a stately home called Cliffside in Pembrokeshire, and pictures of people from Victorian times that are somehow related to her family. Amelia is intrigued and starts to investigate. She discovers that the house is still standing and is a retreat for people suffering from addiction and grief. Amelia decides to visit the house and see what she can find out about the mysterious family and their connection to her. Like all of Alexandra Walsh’s books there is a big cast of characters to keep up with, but once the reader figures everyone out, the story flows. I really enjoyed the journey between the past and present storylines and how solving the mysteries of the past, can help resolve the grief and sadness that can be felt in the present.

I really enjoyed this book and have already received notice that their is a 2nd book in this series scheduled for release in November.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sapere books and the author for the chance to read ad review this book. I am really glad I did.

I enjoyed this novel. It’s very well written with lots of historic detail and clues interspersed throughout the novel. The dual timelines kept me interested and wanting to read more. All in all a solid read, recommend!!!

Thank you netgalley and Sapere Books for giving me an ARC of this amazing book in exchange for an honest review. Cleaning out the attic after her mother’s death Amelia discovers a box containing photos of people and places totally unfamiliar to her. Intrigued she sets out to find out why these photos were so important to her mother. She begins an internet search using the names on the back of one of the family photos. She discovers the estate is still standing and operating as a retreat center for those who need to get away and recover from grief, addiction, or other problems. Hoping to learn more about the family, Amelia books a stay at the Cliffside Retreat Center. Thus start a journey into the past, a journey of love, loss, tragedy, mental illness and long buried family secrets. Told in two interwoven time periods, the first in 2019 as Amelia searches to discover why she was drawn to the retreat center and its people and the second the story of those who had occupied the residence in the late 1800s, the story kept me engaged from the first chapter through the epilogue. All the characters in each period are well drawn and by the end I felt I knew them personally. This is a wonderful tale of the importance of family and discovering one’s ancestral heritage. Highly recommended.

Rounding up to three stars


Overall I enjoyed the story of this complicated,yet loyal and loving family.
Sometimes though,it just felt like too much was being thrown at it,especially the last bit.
At times I felt like it was aimed at a much younger audience than me too.

But as I said,overall ,enjoyable. Good strong female leads in both timelines,and good connections throughout.
A large family well explained,that I never got muddled once.

I have read all three books of the trilogy the author wrote before, so I was looking forward to a new historical novel from Alexandra Walsh. I was not disappointed, this one is an even better novel than the last three, which were about Elizabeth Tudor, and Catherine Howard and Arbella Stuart. The author grows more accomplished all the time, and I really enjoyed it, especially the characterisation. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Sapere Books for the opportunity to review the ARC of this book. The opinions are my own.

I know they say never judge a book by its code, but I have to tell you that as soon as I saw this cover I was so intrigued I had to take a gander at what the blurb was about. After reading it, intrigued was putting it mildly. I was dying to get my digital paws on an electronic copy of it ASAP.

I was so excited to be able to review this advanced copy, so much so that I started reading it as soon I downloaded it. I'll tell you I did have some trepidations about the dual POV being told over two periods of time. I have read books where authors have tried to make this type of time-line work and have ended up failing, utterly. A couple things allow it to work for this story.

The first is the compellingness of the story's content, in both time-lines. Grief and mental illness is something that is universal through time, societal classes, and all ages. The only thing that has changed through the decades is how we treat it. Reading how Amelia's grief is treated in 2019 as opposed to Penny's in the early 1800's is eye- opening. Not to mention the Victorian approach on mental illness, especially in females. The connections really hold the story together

Secondly, the characters are really engaging in both eras and have really, almost lives bigger than their personalities. The quality and dimension make them seem so vivacious and real. The only down side is that Amelia and Edward's story almost becomes secondary to the Stone/Attwater bigger than life adventure. This by no means detracts from the story as a whole, I just found myself forget about the 2019 time-line and getting caught up in the 1864 one.

Overall, this book shows the importance of family. Through thick and thin, they are there. Sickness and in health, family should always be there to welcome you home.