Reviews: The Treasures (32)
“Beautiful intense intelligent!! This is epic!!!”
(Hardback)
Wow!! This is just epic!! What an absolute joy this first in a new trilogy from Harriet Evans including American culture of the 1950’s and 60’s then over to the wilds of Scotland and London in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The writing is intense intelligent astute tive yet it flows beautifully.
Alice has a collection of treasures mostly given to her by her beloved father but her life changes forever in the eve of her sixteenth birthday, growing up fast until she can make her own decisions and escape.
Tom Raven has grown up with his dearest father in a sheltered existence in Scotland when his life is changed completely by an aunt he has never known, taken to London for a new life school and upbringing.
The cottage of Sevenstones in Wiltshire unites Alice and Tom and draws them together from their pasts.
An ambitious heartfelt story spanning across the post second world war generations in the Uk and the USA, the culture, politics and community. Full of reminders of how far we have come in such a short time. The details and atmosphere is described brilliantly, at times I could feel the smog and grime of post war London with the bombed out houses. So too I could feel the oppressive heat in Alice’s world.
Beautiful intelligent moving and totally gripping from the first page!! This book is exquisite and relatable! I have treasures passed down too!!
Can’t wait for the second in this trilogy!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Viking books for the early read!
“Beautiful story”
(Paperback)
This was the first book that I have read by the author and I will definitely be reading more by them. It was such a beautiful and well written novel that had me hooked from the very first page and I kept reading until the end as I wanted to know what happened. I loved the dual time lines in the story which made for an interesting and entertaining read. There was a great cast of characters and the pacing was just right. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by the author.
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
“A wonderful family saga”
(Hardback)
What a wonderful read. The first book in The Sevenstones Trilogy spanning 1940 - 1960’s and introducing us to Alice Jansen and Tom Raven. The books opens with sale particulars for a house called Sevenoaks and a prologue in spring 2004 where Emma Raven is clearing the house and finds a little bag full of treasures; china animals, stones and other oddities. A slow burning but completely compelling story, beautifully written and surprisingly uncompromising.
Briefly, Hudson Valley, New York June 1965 where Alice lives with her parents. It’s the day before her 16th birthday and she wants another treasure to add to her collection. After school her father takes her for an ice cream and on the way home he steps in front of a train and Alice sees it all. Two years later she runs away to New York. Galloway, Scotland 1955 and Tom is about to turn 9. He lives with his father but his world is about to be torn apart when he is taken to live with his aunt and uncle in London.
Two wonderful main characters both of whom have less than pleasant childhoods. I don’t want to give any spoilers but I have to say that there is one character, a big part of Alice’s story I absolutely hated! Despicable in just about every way you can imagine. There are some very tough issues dealt with in the book from racism and sexism to rape and drug use, but all dealt with sympathetically. I really enjoyed this book, it’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measures, and I very much look forward to book 2.
“A slow-burn captivating story, the first in a trilogy”
(Paperback)
Orchard, America, 1960s and Alice Jansen has been given treasures by her father every birthday, ornaments of dogs, elephants, a raven, a mouse, just little items that she treasures. But the day before her sixteenth birthday, her father tragically dies and she never gets to find the last treasure he hid for her.
As life for her and her mother becomes increasingly hard, and with their landlord and author, Wilder, threatening to evict them from his property, she agrees to his request. He's struggling to write his next book and wants Alice for his muse. She will visit him once a week to tell him about her life, and in return they can stay on at the property. But when things take a dramatic turn, Alice escapes to live in New York where she joins in with the hippy, peace and love movement.
Meanwhile, Tom Raven's life is about to change. He's been living with his father in rural Scotland, but at the age of nine he's sent to live with an aunt and uncle in order to receive a better education. After an incident where he loses some of his sight, his childhood is far from idyllic and now a young man, he stumbles across a family secret.
A promise made, he heads to America in search of Teddy, Wilder's sister, and finds himself in New York with Alice. But will Alice help him find Teddy? What happened to Teddy that Alice feels she needs to protect her?
I love Harriet's books and this was another wondrous story and so beautifully written. As Alice and Tom's stories play out, there is a sense of foreboding as they both struggle with their grief and we begin to see how their pasts are connected. My heart ached for them and Teddy as we start to realise what happened in the intervening years.
This is the first book in a trilogy and thank you so much Insta Book Tours and Viking Books for gifting me this copy.
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
“Family Secrets”
(Hardback)
The story begins with Alice in America, and how her childhood was brought to an abrupt end. It then moves to Scotland where Tom's childhood is also brought to an end on his ninth birthday. The two strands are then pulled together as both our main characters try and unravel family secrets that have been buried but still affect the next generation. It is the house named Sevenstones for the seven standing stones that surround it that pull the stories together and connect all the characters.
I found I enjoyed Tom's side of the story more than Alice's until New York when Alice comes into her own. Both characters are well described and their many relationships are authentic and sympathetic. Essentially this is a love story, or several love stories, but it is also about joy, sorrow, loss, grief and it touches on many themes of the day like the Vietnam war and racism in England and America, the Windrush generation, flower power, anti war sentiment, and the assassination of Martin Luther King. And the music of the time. The background to Tom's story is very sad and quite hard to comprehend in this day and age.
The ending is quite understated and I had to go back to the prologue to reread it and understand what finally happened. A heart wrenching and beautiful read and I look forward to the next in the trilogy.
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an arc copy in return for an honest review.
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The Treasures: The Sevenstones Trilogy: Book One
Fiction & Poetry, Modern & Contemporary Fiction
Harriet Evans (author)
Hardback Published on: 12/06/2025
Price: £16.99