"What if you could write a new ending for yourself?

England, 1898. When Evelyn first married the famous novelist William Aubrey, she was dazzled by his brilliance. But their newlywed bliss is brief when William is gripped by writer's block, and he becomes jealous of Evelyn's writing talent. When he commits the ultimate betrayal - stealing a draft of her novel and passing it off as his own--Evelyn decides to write her way out of their unhappy marriage.

California, 2006. Abigail always wondered about her father, his identity forever lost when her mother unexpectedly died. Or so Abigail thought, until she stumbled upon his photo and a message that her great-great-grandmother was the author Evelyn Aubrey, leading Abigail on a journey to England in search for answers. There, she learns of Evelyn's shocking disappearance and how London society believed she was murdered. But from what she uncovers about Evelyn, Abigail believes her brilliant great-great-grandmother had another plot up her sleeve.

Rich in atmosphere and emotion, The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey tells the story of literary secrets, a family curse and the lengths women will go to take charge of their future."

Family secrets and mysteries, yes please!

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick is a tale with dual, alternating narrators: Evelyn Aubrey is the first and speaks through her mysterious, lost journal at the turn of the 20th century, and her great-great-granddaughter Abby (Abigail) Phillips, who has been desperately seeking her father ever since her mother died when Abby was just a teenager, is the second. With the chance finding of a book and a photograph in her grandmother's dresser drawer, she's off first to England, and then back to America (this time the East Coast) in order to meet relatives and forge connections she's dreamt of for most of her life.

The narration and the difference of style between Evelyn and Abby helped to make the characters feel real, and the descriptions of the surroundings grounded the reader even more into the story. I confess to having been far, far more interested in Evelyn's story, even though I easily guessed what she would do. I suppose it only spurred me on to read quicker, to watch her exact her revenge against all those who had harmed and used her.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick is a twisting, dual POV, mystery that kept me guessing until the very end.

The story is told from two timelines: Abby’s story in 2006 and Evelyn’s story in the early 1900s.

I very much enjoyed this story! I was definitely more interested in Evelyn’s story than Abby’s, though. I found some of the family background confusing. Maybe I didn’t read closely enough, but Nicholas/Henry/Sally’s lineage was very hard to follow. Also, some loose ends were left with Henry, Lesley, and Marion that didn’t sit well with. I would have loved a little more in the epilogue about Evelyn since I was far more invested in her story than Abby’s.

I loved the plot of the book and how the story unfurled. The writing was good and I could hear a clear difference in the two narrators, which was great, as that is something that I feel is hard for a writer to pull off.

I encountered some annoying formatting problems in the e-ARC that was I provided. There was a weird space between every “f” and “l” in words with those letters. Ex: f lood, f leeing. Some sentences and paragraphs were hard to read because they were broken up with the title of the book randomly inserted. I’m certain this won’t be a problem in the final product, though.

All in all, The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey gets 4/5 stars from me. Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a dual timeline story. It alternates between Abby in present day and Evelyn in the past. Evelyn married William thinking she was going to have the perfect life. Little did she know of what laid ahead.
Abby has always wondered who her Dad was. One day she finds a picture and it leads her to England for answers.
It’s a good story, both timelines interesting. It has a bit of a gothic feel to it at times and a mystery surrounding a lost journal.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This was an enjoyable read. The transitions between Evelyn's story, starting in 1896, and that of her great-great-granddaughter Abigail in 2006 were smooth and effective, and the two threads worked together to propel the narrative forward.
I'll definitely recommend The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey to fans of historical fiction, those who like books written from multiple perspectives, and anyone interested in creative women, complex mother-child relationships, or family curses and secrets.

A time split read starting with Evelyn marring William, a life of happiness, well not quite. Then we meet Abby her Great Granddaughter, and her journey to find family!
We travel from California to England with Abby, but also we journey the life of Evelyn, and just when you think there are answers, well, no! Keep page turning and looking for answers and what happened to Evelyn and to the rest of the Aubrey family!
Are there answers, yes, but don't take the first one! There are surprises, and new members of the family, well, new to Abby, and then the family curse!
This did become a page turner for me, I wanted the real answers! There are so many twists and turns here!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

This book has two plot lines. Evelyn, starting in 1896, is great great grandmother to Abigail, whose story is told in 2006. Evelyn happily married William and they are both writers. Shortly after their marriage he turns morose. She disappears and is believed to be murdered by William. Abigail runs across Evelyn's journal and believes Evelyn may have faked her disappearance to get away from her husband.

I was really hoping for an unforeseeable plot twist to be unveiled chapter by chapter through Evelyn’s perspective. However, I found this book to be quite slow and predictable. I really enjoyed reading Evelyn’s chapters more than Abigail’s. The supposed curse of women in the Aubrey line was a compelling story element, but I think more could have been built upon this initial conspiracy throughout the story.

The first half of the book was extremely difficult for me to get through since it was slow. The second half picked up a bit more for me as the truth began to be uncovered, but ultimately since it didn’t hold my attention throughout the entire story I rated it three stars.

I love a book that flips between POV and time. I think it's a premise that keeps me engaged and it worked really well for this book. it was well written, and kept me guessing until the end. I think it definitely takes talent to be able to handle multiple timelines in different POV's, and Serena Burdick definitely has that skill set. It was easy to follow, but still kept me guessing until the end. Thank you so much netgalley for my copy of The Stolen Book fo Evelyn Aubrey

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this story. The POV flips back and forth between Evelyn's story in the past and Abigail's story in the present. As Abigail tries to discover what really happened to Evelyn, she grows into her own just like Evelyn did.

The characters develop throughout the story. The writing style is lovely and easy to follow. Plus it's full of women are strong and independent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for this ARC!

I love a good mystery with a split timeline. The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey has a secret rooted in the past with far reaching implications. In England in the late 1890s, Evelyn married William Aubrey, a famous writer. As a writer herself, she was madly in love and imagined a bright future for them. When William suffers writers block, he becomes abusive and mean and, ultimately, betrays Evelyn by stealing her novel and passing it off as his own. In a world where women have few rights and are controlled by men, there wasn’t much Evelyn could do. But there was something she could do, so she did.

In California, near present day, Abigail loved with her grandparents after the death of her mother. She’s never known her father and nobody speaks of him. She finds a picture and a name that connects her to Evelyn Aubrey, who disappeared on the same day her husband’s last novel was published. Abigail throws caution to the wind and journeys to England to look for information about Evelyn and her family. While all of England thought William murdered Evelyn, Abigail has another theory.

I LOVED this book. So well written with plot twist after plot twist. It kept me guessing until the end. Highly recommend!!

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey was such a treat to read. It will absolutely be one of my top recommended reads in my library's Fabulous Fall Reads program. It has a little bit of everything...romance, historical fiction/mystery and family drama with two main characters, one in the present, Abby, a thirty-something still trying to find herself, and one in the past, Eva, a young woman whose story unfolds in the late 1800s as grows into womanhood. Their tales intertwine in a beautiful, seamless narrative that illustrates the influence family on each of us, even when don't fully understand its significance.

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey was oh so very good. It read as if it were true. It's the story of the life of Evelyn and William Aubrey. Evelyn left her love, Peter, for William. Their marriage was fine in the beginning. Both of them were writers. After a short while, William became moody and abusive.

In that day and age, female authors weren't taken as seriously as male authors. Evelyn had written a manuscript that William stole and submitted to his publisher as his own. And it was published with tremendous acclaim. After that, he made her continue writing for him under the threat that if she didn't he'd reveal to her mother her father's dalliances. Finally, she concocted a way to escape. She wrote a book that described a murder. In it she used hers and William's first names. In the book, William murders Evelyn. She then flees their home and goes to Peter. William is arrested for murder, but the charges were dropped because they didn't have a body. Nevertheless, his reputation was ruined, which is exactly what Evelyn wanted.

This all takes place in England. Peter makes plans to take Evelyn to New York in May, 1907. He has left her to live in his mother's house. He remains in constant touch with her. In his final letter he tells her he's coming home and he gives her a date. But he doesn't return. She waits days and then weeks to no avail. Then one day his mother receives a letter from his lawyer partner indicating that Peter has died from typhoid fever. Evelyn is devastated.

Peter had scheduled their departure for May 10, 1907. Evelyn has kept a journal for many years in which she chronicles everything that has happened to her, including William's deceit. She wants to leave it for her son, Henry. So she sneaks back home the night of the 9th, writes a letter to her son and hides the journal in another book that she has cut the pages out of. On the 10th she boards the ship bound for New York.

In the present day, Eva's daughter, Abby, has lost her mother. Her mother has never told her who her father is. One day, Abby finds a picture of a man that she is sure is her father. She also finds a book that was written by Evelyn Aubrey. In the book is a picture of Evelyn. Abby looks just like her. She does the research and learns exactly where Evelyn lived. Knowing that this is her father's ancestry, she boards a plane for England.

When she arrives, she goes to Evelyn's homestead where she meets Sally and her brother Thomas. They are the proprietors of the mansion. She ends up staying there and learns all about her father's ancestors. It turns out that his name was Little Willy. She eventually learns that Willie's father emigrated to the US. So she boards a plane to her father's hometown. She finds out where he lives and goes there. Lillian answers the door but discloses nothing. Abby finds out where her father works and goes there where she finds him. She follows him back to the house. When she knocks on the door, this time her father, Bill, answers. She introduced herself and tells him that he's her father. He invited her in where she meets her step sister, Lillian again. They forge a friendship.

Bill is terminally ill with cancer but refuses to do anything about it. He has a very short time to live. Abby spends his final days with him. During this time, she finds Evelyn's journal for which she had searched high and low while in England. She decided to send it back to England where she believes it belongs.

There are many side stories but this is the gist of the book. The characters were very well developed. And the story was easy to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will read it again. I would definitely recommend it for book group.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the electronic copy. This is a quick fun read...family dynamics with a hint of mystery. Love and romance...friendship...red herrings abound...although the book does move slowly at times, it comes to a resounding end. This author is a talented and gifted writer...it would be fun to read a sequel to this book...I liked this story...