Once famous artist Charlie Finch summons his daughters to his family home in Cornwall to tell them a secret. Flora, Kat and Lauren are actually half-sisters, born to three different mothers within months of each other and haunted by the events that took place in Cornwall on the day of the eclipse twenty years before. Once they return it is clear that someone else remembers the events and wants to know the truth.
Whilst not necessarily to my taste, I can admire the plotting in this tale. The story is the age old plot device of the half-remembered secret tragedy and family mystery but it is saved by the setting and the twists and turns. Multiple narrators help to develop the mystery and little extra drops of information stop the reader becoming jaded. This will have legions of fans

I loved this, as I have every other Eve Chase book. Another beautiful house and location; complex, complicated and often unlikeable characters; and secrets and mysteries abound. I enjoyed the slightly more recent timeframe of this book, I would've been the same sort of age during the eclipse so it was almost nostalgic. The relationship between the sisters was so interesting and intriguing - I was hooked immediately and stayed up far too late each night reading. This would make a stunning TV series with the dramatic landscape and weather. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed Eve Chase's 'The Glass House', so it was great to be back into another family relationship drama read set around a house. This time it's Rock Point. This is an enjoyable read, with a split time frame, where three contrasting half-sisters come together, drawn by their artists father to unlock the past. Bubbling secrets lie rooted into the narrative linked to a night of an eclipse. I love how Chase creates atmosphere in her writing and the setting is almost a living thing for the reader through vivid, sensory descriptions. I'd definitely recommend this book.

I was sent a copy of The Birdcage by Eve Chase to read and review by NetGalley.
Having read The Glass House by the same author and enjoyed it immensely I was really keen to read her latest novel. I was devastated to find that I didn’t enjoy this read very much at all. While the premise of the story was good I found the writing to be rather messy and confusing at times and I really got fed up of the use of the – where a comma would have been more appropriate and easier to follow. I felt that ultimately there were too many characters telling their story, which meant that there was a fair amount of repetition, which is always a bit of a bugbear for me. One of the things that really galled was the apparent lack of research of Cornish ways as it is very well known that the Cornish put the jam on a scone before the cream and in Devon it is cream first. Getting this fact the wrong way round is a seemingly small error (repeated twice in the story) but having lived in Cornwall for 46 years I found it to be very irksome! Perhaps some of the issues I found with this novel were ironed out before going to print but the copy I had held so much promise but just didn’t deliver.

I enjoyed this novel which was a family style drama, thriller with some twists. We’ll written and a great ending I recommend

I loved this tense family mystery.
Three half sisters are returning to Rock Point for a family reunion after being summoned by their father. The last time they were there was 20 years ago when something sinister happened. What happened all those years ago on the night of the solar eclipse to have such an impact on all of their lives?

I was immediately hooked by this book. I loved reading from the perspectives of the three sisters. The story jumps between present day and 1999 (20 years ago.)
Slowly you unravel the events of the night as you become more familiar with each of the sister's dysfunctional lives. I loved finding out more about their relationships, upbringing and the rifts between them.
I actually guessed one of the main twists but there were lots of secrets to reveal along the way and I really loved the dark writing style. I found it such an immersive read and really felt like I was at Rock Point experiencing the remote Cornish lifestyle with them.
I have The Glass House ready to read by Eve Chase and will definitely be reading her other books too!

Three half-sisters, Lauren, Kat, and Flora return to their family home, Rock Point, in Cornwall. They have been summoned by their artist dad, Charlie Finch, who wants to make a big announcement. They left 20 years ago and subsequently are leading very different lives. They re-visit an occurrence that happened around the time of the solar eclipse, reverting to their childhood personas. The story is told in flashbacks between 1999 and 2019.

This story is chock full of secrets, revelations and shocking twists and the characters are colourfully drawn making them vivid in my mind, especially eccentric Charlie. Bertha, an African grey parrot, added further interest and was happy to repeat a secret here and there. The intriguing central mystery provides further enjoyment and I fully appreciated this riveting tale. Highly immersive and well worth a read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Penguin Michael Joseph UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was a real slow burn, infact it did take quite a while to get going. Much was made of the factured family and uneasy sibling relationship. I enjoyed the ethereal, slightly misty look back on their past.

The sister have been called back to visit their father at Rock Point for the first time in years and it becomes clear that the past has been waiting for them...

half sisters Lauren, Kat and Flora are brought back together to the house they spent summers in. They've all grown up now but have been held back by the past and specifically the events of the eclipse in 1999 but what really happened and how many other secrets are there?

This was an intriguing read. The story jumps from the past to the present. The past mostly being told by Lauren. The plot is a fairly slow burn with each flashback revealing a little more. I had figured out Gemma's part in the story but there were still a few twists and surprises along the way. The ending was well done and finished the story just right. The characters are a mixed bunch with no one standing out to me but they all blend well for the purpose of the story. An interesting story.

Three sisters with the same father but different mothers meet at the request of their father at his home in Cornwall as he has news he wishes to share with them all.

The sisters lead very separate lives avoiding one another but they do share a secret that comes back to taunt them on their precarious return . A family story with a twist.

I’ve read a few books by this author, all have been enjoyable but this was by far the best I’ve read. A captivating read that I just couldn’t put down.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful cover. I was drawn to it immediately. A well-written account of a sister's relationship-with deep secrets. Full of suspense and intrigue. Recommended.

Kat, Flora and Lauren have different mothers but share the same father: famous artist, Charles Finch. Summoned to Rock Point by their father, an unexpected announcement – and the arrival of an individual from the past – threatens to widen the rift that already exists between the sisters as well as bring back unwelcome memories of the dramatic event that occurred two decades earlier. It’s an event that hasn’t been spoken about since but which has lurked beneath the surface as unfinished business between the sisters. ‘It’s the secret they forged here twenty years ago that’s pushed them apart as it’s run through each day of their lives since. In each other they see too much of the worst of themselves.’

In Charles, the author gives us a portrait of a mercurial, rather self-obsessed artist who pours his energy into making art rather than sustaining relationships. ‘He has an ability to detach from his subjects; to see human beings as arrangement of form and flesh in space, volume and light; a technical challenge to be solved.’ His three marriages are not the only evidence of his inability to be faithful but his dedication to art has come at a cost.

In a striking metaphor, the sisters are ‘mismatching dolls, from different sets’. Kat is a high-flying successful entrepreneur (on the surface at least) and Flora is a wife and mother trying hard to live up to the expectations of her husband, Scott. Close to each other in age, Kat and Flora had a close bond when younger. Lauren, on the other hand, has always felt like the outsider right from the first moment she was introduced to her two half-sisters. ‘In the archipelago of the sisters, she’s still an island on her own.’ One other notable character is Bertha the parrot whose often ill-timed mimicry of snippets of overheard conversations proves key to what unfolds. ‘We all knew Bertha didn’t invent things, just repeated them.’

As with all Eve Chase’s books there’s a real sense of place – in this case the wild, expansive coastline of Cornwall. Rock Point’s remote location surrounded by moorland dotted with abandoned cottages and standing stones, contributes to the sense of unease. As Lauren observes, ‘Everything was bigger. Skies. Rooms. Feelings. There was more to go wrong’.

The present day story (2019) alternates between the points of view of the three sisters. Interwoven with this is Lauren’s first person narrative of events in 1999. The author skilfully ramps up the tension through fleeting references and tantalising snippets of detail about events on an August day in 1999. It soon becomes apparent that no-one has the full picture of what took place on the fateful day. It’s only when all the pieces are put together that the sisters – and the reader – find out what actually happened. Like me, you may have an inkling about the direction of some of the story but I’m pretty sure you’ll discover a few surprises.

The Birdcage’s combination of long-buried secrets and exploration of complex family relationships adds up to an intriguing, well-crafted and satisfying mystery.

Huge thanks to the publisher Michael Joseph and to Eve for my advanced digital copy of this new novel. After absolutely loving Eve’s previous novel The Glass House I couldn’t wait to dive into this new book set in Cornwall about 3 sisters with secrets past and present.
The story centres around the relationship between three half sisters, their artistic and loving but self centred womaniser of a father Charlie and their lives, both together as a somewhat dysfunctional family and their lives growing up with very different mothers and how they have all ‘turned out’ as adults because of it.

On the request of Charlie the sisters have travelled back to their childhood summer base of Rock Point in Cornwall, as their father has an announcement to make. It is the first time they have returned to the house after a traumatic event during the solar eclipse of 1999, which we learn about throughout the book via dual timeline stories of then and now.

With wonderful descriptive and evocative writing throughout, the secrets and suppressed emotions of the past start to unravel and its not just the sisters that had something to hide.

The setting of Rock Point, with its outward beauty but ever present hidden dangers and changeable weather and landscape wonderfully matches the story and the bohemian styled house makes a terrific reflection of Charlie and his carefree life style. Plus Bertha the parrot ever looking over the goings on of the summer is a great addition.

An hypnotic tale of three women, still struggling with their upbringing, with twists and mysteries involving a family who’s foundations look ready to shift at any possible moment. I really enjoyed it.

Wow ! What can I say ?
I have loved all of this authors books and always really look forward to them publishing.
This one was the best yet !
I didn’t want to put it down but at the same time I didnt want it to end.
Brilliant
5⭐️‘s

The Birdcage explores the relationship between three step sisters and how each one gets their own fears, insecurities and disappointments into the already complicated mix. It was a great read albeit a bit dark but highly recommended!

Eve Chase's writing is exquisite and this book takes you by the hand and leads you to Cornwall, fabulous scenery, outrageous relationships and intrigue. A perfect get away from it all read with plenty of mystery.

North Cornwall with its rugged landscape and shadowy coves come to life in this intriguing family drama which introduces us to half sisters Kat, Flora and Lauren. The women all have the same enigmatic father but very different mothers which has made life complicated for each of them.

As children, the girls met at Rock Point, their father's family home perched high above the Cornish cliffs, and in 1999, when the solar eclipse overshadowed the world, the girls sat for a painting which their artist father called Girls and Birdcage. This time of dramatic family secrets comes to life when twenty years later the half siblings meet up once again to spend time at Rock Point with their father.

There's a strong sense of unease which permeates right from the start and with a distinctly gothic edge Rock Point becomes a character in its own right however, it is the sisters themselves where the real strength of the story lies. They all have their faults and failings, one is rather more fragile than the other two but collectively they all keep their secrets about what happened during the summer of 1999 extremely close.

The story flows well and is beautifully reminiscent of this author's unique ability to convey time and place so accurately you feel as if you are staying at Rock Point with them. The languorous nature of the summer of 1999 is juxtaposed against the modern day setting when the Cornish coast is battered by storms and the family secrets which have been hidden away for far too long.

The Birdcage is a beautifully written family drama which moves effortlessly between past and present and which captures the essence of sibling rivalry alongside their deeply buried secret which if not confronted will continue to overshadow all their futures.

This book was a bit of a flop for me. I liked the setting a lot. It really captured the windswept cliffs of Cornwall well and the weather that was backdrop to the whole book was described really well. I also liked the characters. It was easy to get to know and care for them. But what really put me off was the way the cliffhangers were handled.

So every few chapters we'd leave the present day story and go back to see what happened to Lauren in 1999. A lovely way to drill up tension and occasionally leave the reader on a cliffhanger desperate to read on, right? Well it would have been if every single cliffhanger hadn't resolved with the characters all safe and happy and the author telling the reader how the cliffhanger had resolved. It's like every bit of action that happened was only half written. I'm not completely against telling. It can work in some circumstances. But in the case of this book, I wanted to stay in the drama and actually see how it was resolved.

There was also a bit at the end that didn't quite make sense. Something was explained about the grandfather and it was only in one paragraph without much detail. It seems like the sort of thing they might fix before the finished copy though.

All in all, not the best read for me.

This is my first book by this author and I did enjoy it. The writing is atmospheric and I definitely felt drawn into the world of the Finch sisters.

The storyline was a little confusing and you had to focus at points to fit things together. It is a intricate tale of Charlie Finch’s numerous off spring!

The characters are gritty and real and we learn the secrets they have all kept buried. When the secrets are shared each person starts to be released from guilt and the roles they felt they had to play.

A complex look at sibling rivalry, love, friendship, secrets and trauma.