The Vanishing Tide

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
What a lovely book this is, I loved it!
The story is told by three characters: Isla, the daughter; Penny, her mother's best friend and Erin, who Isla met as a child. The setting is a beautiful beach where Isla grew up with her mother in a cliffside cottage. Their relationship was difficult, Isla spent most of her time alone; her mother was consumed by her painting, barely communicating with Isla. Isla fled to London as soon as possible. I think her mother suffered from agoraphobia.
Now her mother is dead and Isla has inherited the cottage and she's back in her old home.
Trying to understand her mother, she searches the house to find anything that could shed a light on both her mother and her past.
The story is haunting and even features a ghost, but towards the end all the secrets are bared and I was left with tears in my eyes; it was so poignant and satisfying, just lovely. Highly recommended!

The Vanishing Tide by Hilary Tailor was released on June 1, 2022 by Lake Union Publishing. I fell in love with the books cover the moment I saw it, but it’s the story inside that captured my heart. It’s about a troubled family that is keeping secrets. One of my favorite things was the location. It takes place in a family beach house right along the ocean where only one other beach house resides. Isla, the main character, returns home to the beach house after the death of Astrid, the woman and artist who she has always believed to be her mother. These two had a strange relationship, they were never close like a typical mother and daughter should be. There with the aid of Astrid’s friend Penny, she attempts to learn more about Astrid and why she was always so private and closed off. Why did she never speak about her sister Claire who had drowned in the ocean nearby? The fact that the author chose to add in Astrid’s spirit or ghost only added to the stories appeal. There are several different characters mentioned but Erin is the only one I didn’t care for. I did like how the story ends where Frankie seeks out Isla once she is grown and that all of the secrets are now out in the open. Towards the end it was an emotional read so I advise having tissues. I really enjoyed reading this story and would like to thank NetGalley for the arc that I received off the Read Now section. It’s a book I’ll be recommending to my friends and one I’d like to purchase and add to my home library. I’m looking forward to reading more of this authors work in the future and I’m giving this book a 5 star rating!

I love a book that makes me feel the emotions and this one did not disappoint and for me, it also had a fantastic sense of time and place.
Growing up was a lonely existence for Isla, now her mother who was a famous artist and recluse has died and she needs to find answers and acceptance to her life in her younger years.
This was a wonderful book that I became immersed in as soon as I picked it up each time. If life wasn’t so busy I could have easily read it in one or two sittings.
I felt so much for Isla. It was a slow moving book but it allowed me to savour it. Just loved it and can’t believe it’s the author’s debut. I see she has another that will be published next year and I certainly will keep her on my radar.
I felt the book club questions in the back of the book were very thought provoking and can see this as a good discussion book. I could say much more about the book but feel I would give too much away.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read

A story filled with secrets, insecurities, jealousy and mystique. The telling became tiresome and too drawn out. It is not until the last third of the book to really get going. Then it turns into a very interesting book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was lucky to receive this book TODAY from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I sat down this afternoon with the intention to read 'one' chapter and ended up reading for hours in order to finish it. OMG I loved it! You truly can't put this book down - everything else in my life had to wait until I finished it. Do yourself a huge favor and read this as soon as you can get your hands on it. You will not be disappointed.

Quick, heartwarming read set between a seaside town in England & central London. Perfect beach read or for a long weekend getaway!

My only critiques center on the personalities of the main characters. I found Erin's character to be almost unbelievably over-the-top. Holding a resentment from childhood over a seashell, then ultimately stealing the item years later, came off as childish & difficult to fathom as adult behavior. I found this part of the story to be silly. As far as Isla, I found her obsession with young Frankie to be odd & disturbing. Being that they barely knew one another and Frankie was of no blood relation to her, Isla's fantasies about keeping the little girl in her life long-term were bothersome to the point of creepy. I understand the Tailor was attempting to show a parallel in her relationship with Astrid in comparison to Frankie's relationship with her mother, Erin, but I didn't like how she went about it.

I did very much enjoy Tailor's vivid descriptions of both the English landscape & the artwork featured in "The Vanishing Tide." Worth picking up to take on your next summer adventure!

I read this book a while back and I forgot to renew it past my reading it. i enjoyed it and read all of it in 24 hours. Very suspenseful and I will probably read future books by this author.

The Vanishing Tide by Hilary Taylor is a fantastic debut novel from an author to watch. I really enjoyed this emotional and compelling story of a daughter returning to a seaside cottage after her mother's death, examining the tattered shards of their relationship and grieving for what was but also what wasn't. Have tissues handy!

Isla has returned to the seaside cottage she grew up in after the death of her estranged mother Astrid. Soon after moving back, she feels a faint shadowy trace of her mother. The Vanishing Tide is not actually a ghost story but more about family secrets and lies being revealed and learning to live in the present and not in the past. I found this an enjoyable read. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to author Hilary Tailor, Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley.

This was such a lovely read that is well written with a compelling storyline and riveting narrarive that is told through the point of view of three of the well developed characters within this book. This is a chillingly haunting read that will stay with me for a long time.

"It was the women who mattered in this family. Men added a layer of complication." I loved everything about The Vanishing Tide, except Erin! I think Ms. Tailor does an excellent job of making her characters real and complicated, and all too human; they grew and opened their hearts, acknowledged their imperfections and gave of themselves. But Erin holds fast to her selfishness, resentments and insecurities.

Ms. Tailor also does an excellent job with the sense of place - the sea, the houses resting on the beach, the smells; I also appreciated the bit of supernatural elements she infuses. This being Ms. Tailor's first book, it's excellent. Highly recommend.

P.S. Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC.

A book about family secrets…. This book was wonderfully intriguing; but it was the emotion in the story and the quality of the writing that sang out to me and loving the supernatural element!

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel which reminded me of the better works of Rosamunde Pilcher. It was a rich narrative of family secrets, social isolation, guilt, regret, trauma, and artistic genius.

Set on an isolated peninsula on the northern English coast, the waves and the salty air were almost tangible. This was a ghost story – but only if the reader wants it to be… It was also a mystery of sorts.

I relished the writing: “She had made a promise to herself to keep out of Isla’s way, but she was drawn to that house like a tongue seeking a loose tooth.”

All in all, the characters, setting, and story came together to create a novel that I won’t soon forget. Highly recommended!