The Lindens

I received a free copy of this book from the Librarything's Early Reviewer's Club. The story spans 150 years in the life of a house in the English countryside weaving together the tales of its inhabitants over the decades. There is a dairymaid with big dreams, a lonely evacuee, a damaged army veteran and aging hippies. We also have teenagers partying on midsummer’s night eve, grown-up kids coming home for Christmas and a bored Slovakian housewife receiving some unexpected visitors. This is an epic novel about home and family, love and loss, vengeful goats and mushroom trips.

I particularly love reading long sagas so I knew I would enjoy this book. It did not disappoint.  Each era told a new story with new characters and new plot. They were basically different books to read. It was obvious that the author did a lot of research into each era. I enjoyed reading about the details of life in each time period. What didn't I like? There wasn't much to dislike but at times the story was sad. 

The first era was my favorite. Here we have a rich boy who falls in love with a beautiful but poor girl. His family is dead set against them getting married but they go ahead and marry anyway. To everyone's chagrin, it's a successful marriage. This story was super sweet.

All in all, The Lindens is a fantastic novel. I am rating it 4 out of 5 stars.