The Heatwave
Ratings4
Average rating4.8
"A sultry, gorgeously written and hugely atmospheric thriller with a dark, compelling mystery at its heart."-Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party and The Guest List Under the scorching French sun, a tense homecoming unearths a long-buried family secret in this deliciously propulsive thriller of a mother's greatest fear brought to life. Elodie was beautiful. Elodie was smart. Elodie was manipulative. Elodie is dead. When Sylvie Durand receives a letter calling her back to her crumbling family home in the South of France, she knows she has to go. In the middle of a sweltering 1990's summer marked by unusual fires across the countryside, she returns to La Reverie with her youngest daughter Emma in tow, ignoring the deep sense of dread she feels for this place she's long tried to forget. As memories of the events that shattered their family a decade earlier threaten to come to the surface, Sylvie struggles to shield Emma from the truth of what really happened all those years ago. In every corner of the house, Sylvie can't escape the specter of Elodie, her first child. Elodie, born amid the '68 Paris riots with one blue eye and one brown, and mysteriously dead by fourteen. Elodie, who reminded the small village of one those Manson girls. Elodie who knew exactly how to get what she wanted. As the fires creep towards the villa, it's clear to Sylvie that something isn't quite right at La Reverie... And there is a much greater threat closer to home.Rich in unforgettable characters, The Heatwave alternates between the past and present, grappling with what it means to love and fear a child in equal measure. With the lush landscape and nostalgia of a heady vacation read, Kate Riordan has woven a gripping page-turner with gorgeous prose that turns the idea of a summer novel on its head.
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I don't want to write anything about this book so I don't ruin the experience for anybody. All I should say is that it is fast-paced, thrilling, unpredictable, and has some serious HOLY SH*T moments. Perfect to keep you hooked the entire time.
No quiero escribir nada sobre este libro para no arruinar la experiencia de nadie. Todo lo que debería decir es que es de ritmo rápido, emocionante, impredecible y tiene serios momentos impresionantes. Perfecto para mantenerte enganchado todo el tiempo.
I did not want to put this book down!
¡No quería soltar este libro!
Recently I saw a quote in pieladybooks' bookstagram that was so accurate for my situation:
Recientemente vi una frase en el bookstagram de pieladybooks que fue muy precisa para mi situación:
“Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from reading your book”
La vida es solamente una serie de obstáculos impidiéndote que leas tu libro
And it really was. Every spare moment you could find me devouring this book.
Y realmente lo fue. Cada momento libre podían encontrarme devorando este libro.
Now, if you trust me and want to go through the whole experience blindsided, DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT.
Ahora, si confías en mí y quieres vivir la experiencia sin prejuicios ni expectativas, NO LEAS MAS ALLA DE ESTE PUNTO.
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You've been warned.
Has sido advertido.
The Heatwave takes us on vacation to the south of France prompted by a letter Sylvie receives one day at her London house. A small fire has taken place at La Rêverie, her French village childhood home; for which she needs to go to look at the damage and finally settle the selling arrangements.
The Heatwave nos lleva de vacaciones al sur de Francia provocadas por una carta que Sylvie recibe un día en su casa de Londres. Un pequeño fuego tuvo lugar en La Rêverie, su hogar de la infancia de pueblo francés; por lo cual necesita ir a ver los daños y al fin terminar los acuerdos de venta.
After arriving, accompanied -against her better judgement- by her teenage daughter Emma, she inevitably goes down memory lane while going through all the things still stored in the house, but also feels the past creeping up to her in every room, where she can feel the much more palpable presence of her long lost first child, Elodie.
Tras llegar, acompañada -en contra de su mejor juicio- de su hija adolescente Emma, inevitablemente se ve envuelta en recuerdos al revisar todas las cosas aun almacenadas en la casa, pero también siente el pasado arrastrándose hacia ella en cada habitación, donde puede sentir la presencia mucho más palpable de su primera hija ahora perdida, Elodie.
This story is told using alternating times in Sylvie's life to which the author resorts to reveal details and information drop by drop, and also using beautiful descriptions charged with sensations, setting an ethereal atmosphere just right for this suspenseful tale.
Esta historia se cuenta usando épocas alternadas en la vida de Sylvie, a lo cual la autora recurre para revelar detalles e información a cuentagotas, y también usando bellas descripciones cargadas de sensaciones, creando una atmósfera etérea justamente adecuada para este relato de suspenso.
It all revolves around what happened at La Rêverie around 14 years before that she doesn't want Emma to remember, that dragged Elodie out of their lives, wrecked her marriage and drove them to cold and so-opposite-to-France London.
Todo gira entorno a lo que pasó en alrededor de 14 años atrás en La Rêverie que no quiere que Emma recuerde, que se llevó a Elodie fuera de sus vidas, arruinó su matrimonio y las empujó a un Londres frío y tan diferente de Francia.
I liked this book a lot, it was an awesome ride. The end felt a bit anticlimactic though, for which I give it 3.5 stars but rounded up to 4 because the rest was still very good.
Me gustó mucho este libro, fue un viaje increíble. Sin embargo, el final se sintió un poco anticlimático, por lo cual le doy 3.5 estrellas pero redondeadas a 4 porque el resto fue muy bueno.
