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Kristy Cambron has written a delightful split-time novel in The Lost Castle. I thought I’d seen it all with the split-time device, but Cambron uses the technique in an intriguingly different manner.
The book begins in the present with Ellie at the castle. “A forgotten photo had been taken there in the summer of 1944. The very place her grandmother had once stood. The scene where her story had begun.” Intriguing beginning-I expected to be taken back to 1944, but instead, we jump back to 1789 to discover Aveline Sainte-Moreau having received a very disturbing letter. She is at the castle for her engagement announcement, but all is not well in that world.
Back to the present, and Ellie called to the nursing home where her grandmother resides lost in the depths of Alzheimer’s Disease. But this day is different. Her grandmother, Viola Carver, or Lady Vi as she’s been known, seems more aware of reality. She pulls out a book written in French, from which falls a picture of Lady Vi and a handsome young man-not the grandfather she know. Lady Vi tells her she must go to the Sleeping Beauty castle in France to find him and tell him she’s ready-to become his wife!
Now we go to 1944, to meet the young Viola Hart, who has volunteered to work with the Baker Street Irregulars during the war. And back further to 1789. As Cambron weaves the story, we are drawn into each woman’s life, to the decisions she must make, to the loves of their lives. Once I started reading, I read through the night to finish the book. Five Stars! You’ll want to buy The Lost Castle, so you can read their stories and take joy in the ending. This book is book one of a series-can’t wait for the next one!
Kristy Cambron calls herself a vintage-inspired storyteller. She’s written several novels that touch on the secrets of the past and how those secrets affect the present. She has a degree in Art History and lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons.
Thomas Nelson gave me a copy of The Lost Castle, but I was in no way obligated to write a review.