Summer at Hadlyme (1914) by Willard Metcalf
Greenbanks is the most recently released Dorthy Whipple title from Persephone and is one of the books the husband got me for the holidays. I'm not really sure how to describe this book. Some people on Good Reads explain the plot as being a story about the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. While this is true, it reduces the main root of the story, in that it encompasses the entire family and how each person's actions effect the family as a whole.
Relationships are placed in strain, other relatives are made closer, others still rediscover themselves...all due to actions by other family members. The story's main focus is on the grandmother, but I wouldn't say the entire story is about her.
You are placed in a passive role as you watch the years pass. You are dropped into the lives of this family for a few years in the role of voyeur and are just as quickly taken out of it. So while there isn't swash buckling action or a huge issue that resolved, this story is extremely engaging to read. Several times I found myself staying up way later than I intended because I wanted "just to read the next chapter..."
If you enjoy peaking into other's lives or reading about the everyday actions of previous decades, this book is a gem. It starts off slow, but it quietly becomes an addictive read, leaving you wondering just why you were so compelled with the lives of these characters.
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