Member Reviews
This was a really enjoyable read. Loved the split timeline story. Very well written with lots going on that had me hooked from the start. Another great read from Jane Corry.
Highly recommended and deserves the 5 stars.
Thank you Netgalley
I thought this was a great read. Two characters, Elizabeth , whose story begins at the beginning of the Second World War and Nancy, whose story is present day. Both stories set in the same house years apart. A really enjoyable read.
The books starts with a serious crime, not just murder but the murder of your mother and step father by your stepbrother. The press would be all over a story like this so Nancy decides to escape the press circus by escaping to her old family home 'Tall Chimneys' a home on the Devon Coast. Although the house has been in the family for many years and Nancy has spent much time their when she was younger, she had not previously noticed the engraving of two names in one of the bedrooms.
with strong female leads and tragedy. The two stories are blended together with well developed characters in a way that draws you in.
With thanks to #NetGalley and Penguin General
UK-Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for this copy of #CommingToFindYou
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.
Jane Corry always writes great books and this one was up there with the others.
Told between two timelines, Nancy in the present day and Elizabeth during WW2, gives the story a great narrative. Both womens lives revolve around past secrets and the grand old house Tall Trees. What are the secrets that tie the two women to the house and will past secrets come back to haunt them.
A really great read.
I really enjoyed this story, the first by this author for me. The dual timelines added to the gripping plot and I really enjoyed the gradual revelations. Some difficult subjects were tackled and it was a tense read at times. Well written with real characters- one I’d recommend
A story about a house in two half’s. Nancy and her mismatched family and Elizabeth coping during the war with an unforgiving husband a missing son and evacuates. But underlying both stories is murder.
I really enjoyed this novel, it's the first book I've read by this author, but would absolutely read more. I really like her writing style, the novel was easy to follow and events made sense. I liked the story being told in the past and present, how the past laid the necessary history for the present story to come together. The characters were well developed and described and likeable (or not), I connected with both main characters.
An enjoyable read. The two time lines worked, they don't always and it was well written and made me want to continue and find out what happened. Good character development.
I have enjoyed this one by a favourite author of mine. I liked how the two timelines of World War 2 and 2020's blended together nicely into a single story over the course of the book. The main story centres around a house called 'Tall Chimneys' which is located in Sidmouth in the south west of England. The house and its occupants feature in the story and I found myself captivated as I read about their lives. The ending was very fitting and it was certainly a happy ending, which was nice.
I look forward to reading other books by this author and can certainly recommend this one to others.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4 Stars from me
I’ve read and loved several of Jane Corry's books, so was excited to read this one. Coming to Find You centres around Nancy and her desire to hide away from life, death, and the press, in the old family home known as 'Tall Chimneys'. This brings her to the Devonshire coast, where she plans to retreat and restore herself among old family memories and out of the public gaze.
Tall Chimney's has quite the past and the story follows three threads, Nancy's timeline, Elizabeth's wartime story in 1941, and also 'the night of the murder'. The flitting between these just made me read quicker and I found that just as I was fully immersed in one thread, the author would move the story onto one of the other strands - as clever as it was frustrating but it built the tension well.
The wartime aspect added a historical slant to what would otherwise be a whodunnit style thriller, and I loved the story of Elizabeth and the children and their teacher that she gave a home to during the war - that whole thread was great.
For me, I read this keeping the title in mind - who is coming to find who? Nancy has a step-brother and an ex-fiance and I was intrigued to see how they would feature as the story unfolded.
It is all cleverly pulled together in the end and overall this was an engaging and thought-provoking read.
Tell Chimneys is a lovely Regency house in Sidmouth. The book is about two women who have lived there and it is told in two timelines, the past and present. Nancy is looking to escape from London and the media who are hounding her after her stepbrother Martin has been convicted of murdering his father and her mother. She decides to move to move to Sidmouth as her grandmother has left her Tall Chimneys. But things do not go as planned as she starts toreceive intimidating calls from Martin and the press also turn up in her doorstep. She meets Vera, an elderly neighbour who reveals to Nancy some of the house’s past history. Tall Chimneys was originally owned by Elizabeth and Henry. We then hear Elizabeth’s story and how this has impacted on Nancy’s life. This was a compelling read and had me completely hooked. It combined mystery, murder, secrets and suspense with the two stories merging well. A really enjoyable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Jane Corry is an author who just gets better and better with every book. This is quite possibly my favourite to date.
I love the idea of looking at the impact of crime on the offenders loved ones. These, often the forgotten ones when crimes hit the headlines. This has really been a thought provoking element of the book for me.
This is compelling and so well-written, the reader is instantly transported into the pages of this one. I loved the dual timeline, this was unexpected and I adored each glimpse back to World War Two.
Corry has created an uneasy atmosphere for the reader as you get into this one. You cannot help but get caught up in the emotions and feelings of those that fill the pages.
I loved this book, I’ve read a number of books by this author. This is my favourite yet. I have adored this one.
This is a book I cannot recommend enough. I have devoured this in just one sitting. This is a must for the TBR.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dual timeline story,one set during World War Two ,the other in the present day. Not keen on the main characters and the WW2 part of the story was better.
Coming to Find You - Jane Corry
Having previously read The Lies we Tell and I looked away, I was really looking forward to reading this new title by Jane Corry. This book was slightly different to the other books I had read, as it was set across two timelines, present day and WW2. I found the one timeline held my attention better than the other. There were still plenty of twists and turns but it did not grab me as much as others I have read. Thanks so much Netgalley, Penguin General UK, Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton and Viking for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.
Proof that you can have too much of a good thing (3.5 stars)
I've said it before, and I see no reason to change my mind now. Jane Corry is a master at writing a character-driven novel. And if the character in question is one to which I can relate, then the book may turn out to be something special. The Lies We Tell, and especially I Looked Away were wonderful, memorable reads for me.
The trouble with this, however - and I know I've said this before too - is that it's impossible even for Jane Corry to create a character to whom every single reader in the world can relate in this way. But when that relationship doesn't form - as was the case for me in Blood Sisters and also in her last book, We All Have Our Secrets, the books end up lacking something.
However, because I know just how good her books can be, I start each new one - perhaps more so than with any other author - with an almost nervous sense of anticipation. Will she, won't she nail it for me with this one?
Well, in her latest book, Coming To Find You, she gives herself two chances. Because we have dual timeline stories that both take place in the same house in an English seaside village. In the present day, Nancy is fleeing to the house that used to belong to her grandmother to try and escape the unwanted media attention following a family tragedy. Alongside Nancy's story, we are introduced to Elizabeth and her life during the Second World War.
And with Elizabeth ... slam dunk. I loved her. What an amazing woman she was. Intelligent and strong, yet kind and compassionate, she finds inspiration in the events going on around her to step out from the shadow of her domineering husband and do what is right for others as well as herself - even if it's not what she's being told she should be doing. I could almost feel myself alongside her, cheering her on and keeping everything crossed for her at every step of the way. It helps also that the true historical events, insofar as they relate to Elizabeth's story are perfectly described, being made to sound as frightening and unnerving as they no doubt were without seeming sensationalised.
I didn't like Nancy quite as much - in comparison to Elizabeth, she seemed a little too self-centred - but I loved her storyline. It's one that offers mystery, fear and intrigue. I found myself easily able to share her feelings of longing for a peaceful life, mixed with trepidation that everyone she meets will recognise her and already formed their own opinion.
By about half-distance I was thoroughly engrossed in the book, convinced it was going to be a five-star read, and I couldn't wait to see how the two storylines came together. But then ... there's a problem.
Think of your two favourite dishes that you'd like to have for an evening meal. For me, in case you were wondering, that would be a lamb jaipuri from my favourite nearby Indian restaurant, and the home-made lasagne served in my local pub. On their own, either one is more than enough to leave me feeling thorougly satisfied. However, if I was given both of them to eat at the same time, there's just no way I could do justice to them both before my stomach threatened to explode.
And that, really, is the issue with Coming To Find You. The second half of a 320-page book just isn't enough to conclude both storylines and bring them together successfully. As a result, it all started to feel rushed and fragmented, to the point where it seemed to begin to unravel. I'm having to omit details for fear of spoilers, but an event that could have been used to fill a substantial part of the book on its own is dealt with in just a couple of chapters, a character that I'd been longing to read more about ends up being swept aside and ultimately, the convergence between the two narratives that I was enjoying so much seems to rely on a big coincidence - because there just hasn't been the time to introduce or explain it well. One revelation towards the end felt almost amusingly improbable whilst I wondered if a second was necessary at all.
It's such a shame, because I so wanted to love the second half of the book as much as I did the first. I think I could still have loved it if either one of the two storylines had been given prominence over the other. But as it is, I'm afraid my conclusion is simple and succinct. Sometimes, less is more.
My thanks to the author, Netgalley and Penguin Books for the digital ARC of this book, which was published on 22nd June 2023, along with my apologies for not having reviewed it sooner.
Two / three timelines merge in a range of coincidences, but I found the main character annoyingly naive and weak. The WWII narrative is far superior to the present day timeline and the novel seems to slow at the end
I’ve said this before and I stand by it, Jane Corry doesn’t just write a book, she tells a story. A powerful and compelling story that will take you on a thrilling but at times emotional journey. I would love to carry on reading about the characters in this book, I didn’t want it to end!
Nancy needs to escape after her stepbrother is sent to prison for the murder of their parents. She decides to go and stay at Tall Chimneys, a house in Sidmouth that belonged to her Grandmother and that she has now inherited from her Mother. Nancy is hoping to start afresh where nobody knows her or her secrets, but things have a way of catching up with you!
Tall Chimneys has a history all of its own and we also follow Elizabeth in this story, who owned the house during World War II. Elizabeth and Nancy have a lot in common and I took to them both so well, I know they will both stay with me for a long time to come.
Initially, I was concerned that part of this book was historical fiction. It’s not a genre I’d normally read, but I thoroughly enjoyed this side of the book, not only did it work extremely well alongside the part of the story set in the present day, but it was incredibly interesting and fascinating too.
This story is much slower-paced than I’m used to and took me a while longer to read than some other faster-paced books, but I really enjoyed taking my time with it. I don’t feel it’s a story you’d want to rush, the characters deserved my time and that’s what I gave them.
This book may come under the thriller/mystery genre but it’s so much more than that. I feel Jane writes in a genre all of her own. I find I connect with her books and characters in such a special way. Jane is a truly talented author.
Thank you so much to Jane Corry, Penguin Books and NetGalley for my copy of this book.
What a beautiful story despite the tragedy’s it portrays over the years. We begin with Nancy the farmhouse slaughter daughter who has suffered immensely growing up in a blended family but holidayed in the most beautiful home Tall Chimneys.
To Elizabeth during the Second World War who is stuck in a loveless marriage and wants to be helpful and give back to her community only to get herself into all sorts of mischief and danger.
The story shows how strong women can be regardless of their age and how women will help each other till their death beds. So well written and a joy to read. These characters will stay with me forever.
I absolutely loved this book, it was typical strong Jane Corry. Addictive story and good characters, i really enjoyed it
Coming To Find You by Jane Corry was a beautifully written book with parts of the story thats set in WWII & the other parts in the current day. this book had a wonderful story line that will draw you in from the beginning till the end, it was a great page turner that will have you up to to the early hours of the morning; I found this book very hard to put down once I started to read it. Plus, you will need tissues and lots of them! it is an emotional journey.
I highly recommend Coming To Find You by Jane Corry and a great holiday read.
I loved it.
Big Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for my copy.