When Caroline Alleyn inherits Wickham Grange, all she wants to do is sell up.

There are bad memories there, linked to her childhood as the daughter of a single mother – and to all the other mothers she knew in that house. But her grandmother Frances’s will means that it can’t be sold without the consent of five elderly women, and they all refuse. None of them will tell her why she has to keep a house she doesn’t want. Instead, she is given a stark warning: don’t look for Lizzie Sixpence.

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Though Caroline has other worries. Someone is watching her; the house’s elderly tenants are lying to her; and an old man is hoarding mementos of her past.

Then she finds the bones.

And Caroline is left with a choice: keep silent, or betray everything her grandmother stood for. Because there is one final secret to be revealed…

My Review

I almost didn’t read this but I’m so glad I did! I loved it from start to finish. It takes place in two timelines – 2006 when Caroline Alleyn’s beloved grandmother Frances has just died and Caroline has inherited Wickham Grange, and just after the war when we learn the history of the residents and why a group of five women all left on the same day in 1947. Unfortunately for Caroline, she is not allowed to sell the Grange without the permission of those women.

If they are still alive – they would be pretty old by now – Caroline needs to contact them. But when she does get hold of the women, she is met with outright hostility. The answer is a definite no. What is it they don’t want her to discover? She is told not to look for Lizzie Sixpence, the one Frances had said she couldn’t save. And the elderly residents of Wickham Grange, including Mr Harris, are also hiding something. And then she finds the bones…

As Caroline looks through her grandmother’s belongings, she finds a number of interesting things, but why are some personal items, including her own graduation photo, in Mr Harris’s desk drawer?

As we go back and forth, the story begins to unravel in ways that I could never have dreamt of, and becomes more complicated and sinister at times. It appears that the women and the residents are hiding secrets that Caroline could not have imagined.

The book is set near Bromley, just outside West Wickham, an area I know well as my son lived there for a number of years. I love reading about familiar places in stories.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Zoe has worked in education services for nearly 25 years, but her heart has always been in writing. When she’s not working, she enjoys baking, collecting antiques, and gardening. She is also slowly decorating and furnishing a large dolls’ house. Originally from Medway, she has a grown-up son and now lives in London with her husband and their enormous dog.

You can find Zoe here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoemanlowbooks/
Website: https://bedfordsquarepublishers.co.uk/book-author/zoe-manlow/