‘Marina leant forward, her gaze moving between tall pillars, capped with carved stone dragons, the lodges either side. Weeds pushed their way through the gravel, and dust covered the windows in a grimy film’
The Pieces of Us
[ About The Pieces of Us ]
Marina and Hugh were once madly in love. But after the loss of their beautiful little daughter, grief has created a distance between them that feels impossible to bridge. Marina knows leaving Italy is the only way they will be able to move on, but Thorncliffe Hall, Hugh’s family home in England, is so grey and unwelcoming.
Just when life feels like it may never regain colour, Marina and Hugh come across a striking china coffee pot in a London shop window, adorned with a fox flying through the night sky. The coffee pot comes attached with a mystery, one that is connected with Hugh’s own family many years ago.
By digging into the past, Marina is about to discover a story far beyond her wildest dreams. But will the past help her heal the present?
[ My Review ]
The Pieces of Us by Caroline Montague published in paperback with Orion February 15th and is described as ‘a heartwrenching, utterly unforgettable story for fans of Sally Page and Amanda Prowse.‘
Being from Ireland I knew absolutely nothing about the British Pottery industry and how it transformed itself over the years. The Pottery Industry was originally very much a man’s world where women were second-class citizens. In 1918, women over the age of 30 were given the vote, but the challenge remained to achieve recognition in the workplace. The Pieces of Us takes the reader on a fascinating journey, interweaving the present day with those tumultuous years of the 1920s. In the acknowledgments, Caroline Montague describes this novel as one ‘that celebrates the achievements of women, their fight for equality and their perseverance.’
Marina and Hugh are trying to come to terms with a terrible loss. Having crossed paths and falling in love, their passion for each other was evident to all. When they married they were blissfully happy living a dream existence on Marina’s family estate in Italy. Hugh was an artist but his heritage was linked to the pottery industry back home in the UK. In their grief, the decision is made to return to England, as Hugh has inherited an estate that needs to be tended to. Marina is torn leaving her beautiful Italy behind her but she is also very much aware that change might be the catalyst to help them struggle through.
When Marina arrives to Thorncliffe Hall she is staggered by its enormity and with the work that needs doing. Hugh jumps right in, glad of the distraction but Marina is unable to accept that this is her future. Hugh is battling his own demons but is very private with his feelings, maintaining the stiff upper lip that Marina, as an expressive Italian, is struggling to cope with. With tempers frayed, Hugh suggests a break in London thinking it might help them rediscover each other. What they do discover, by a random coincidence, is a beautiful piece of pottery in an antique shop that has a mystery attached. On investigation, they discover that this piece is connected to Hugh’s family, who were potters in the past.
As the distance between Marina and Hugh widens, Marina attempts to unravel the mystery of the pottery piece. In her research she stumbles upon the name Elody Cole. The discovery of an old memoir hidden away in a locked cupboard in Thorncliffe takes the reader back to 1925, to a country in shock, still mourning the losses of a nation from the devastation and brutality of the First World War.
Elody Cole has had a tough childhood. Her father never returned from the war, leaving her with her mother and her young cousin. But Elody’s troubles continued, following the death of mother from plumbism and with the return of her cousin to his family, leaving her alone. Plumbism was caused by lead poisoning which many folk succumbed to in the pottery industry from their work environment and from licking their brushes to get a finer point. Women’s rights were non-existent in those early days of the 20th century and Elody made a promise to her mother that she would continue the fight for women in the workplace to have fair pay and conditions.
Through a twist of faith Elody was taken in by the Derringtons, a local pottery family but she felt an outsider, not having been born into wealth. Stuck between wanting to help her potter friends fight for their rights and wanting to fit in with the Derringtons, Elody is frustrated and confused. How can she live with herself if she ignores her potter friends? Yet how can she betray the Derringtons who have taken her under their roof?
As Marina and Hugh struggle with the conflict in their relationship, so too is Elody struggling with the conflict in her life. Both tales are seamlessly woven together creating a fascinating dual-time narrative that highlights the struggles faced by women in the past and today. Marina and Elody both have had very different experiences in their lives yet both are strong and complex individuals with a grit and a determination to see justice done.
The historical element of the story particularly interested me, with descriptions that were very vivid and, at times, heart-breaking. There are tough issues highlighted in certain sections of the tale, but Caroline Montague has handled them sensitively and with respect. Strangely, at times, I did feel that I was reading a book that had been written years ago and I mean that as a compliment. There is a gentleness to Caroline Montague’s writing. As a reader, you know that she really cares for her characters.
The Pieces of Us is quite a stirring read, an engaging and educational novel, one that will certainly appeal to all lovers of the saga genre and historical fiction in general.
* I would like to thank Caroline Montague and Orion for my copy of The Pieces of You in return for my honest review
[ Bio ]
Caroline Montague lives with her husband at Burnt Norton House in the Cotswolds made famous by TS Eliot in the first of his four quartets. She is also a designer and mother to seven children and step-children.
She divides her time between England and Italy.
X ~ @CMontagueAuthor
