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Last week, I enjoyed Lucy Worsley’s true crime podcast called Lady Killers.

Book: The London House by Katherine Reay
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Harper Muse
Publication date: 2021

Source: E-book borrowed from library

Summary: The London House tells the story of Caroline, a young woman who.is named after a great-aunt who died of polio when she was seven.

Caroline lost a sister to a car accident when she was a child. Her family never fully healed.

Mat, a former friend from college, arrives with the news that upends the fragile peace in Caroline’s family. Her great-aunt didn’t die of polio as everyone was told. Instead, Mat has evidence that she defected to Germany during World War II.

Why did everyone lie about what happened to Great-aunt Caroline? What really happened to her? The answers lie in the family home, known as The London House.

Thoughts: Thanks to everyone who ever recommended The London House. This book ticked all the boxes for me:

• Americans in London
• Childhood troubles carried into adulthood
• A history told through diaries, letters, and archives
• World War II backstory

I loved all the characters in this book. The father is grumpy, distanced, and dying of cancer. The mother rebuilt her life in London, far from the rest of the family in Boston. The older brother has a wife and a baby and a happy life but wishes something better for the rest of his family.

Mat and Caroline are awkward with each other, but there’s clearly some unexplored romantic interest leftover from college. Will that interfere with their shared project to find the truth about the past?

Appeal: Besides the above ticked boxes, I think that the The London House will appeal to lovers of genealogy (a path for some of the research) and Paris (which makes a delightful appearance in the story).

Have you read The London House? What did you think?