Review: THE WINTERS, by Lisa Gabriele

THE WINTERS, by Lisa Gabriele

Penguin Audio - 2018

Audiobook - 11 hours   
Narrated by Emily Rankin

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well, let's start at the beginning shall we?  What an opening line!

There has been a lot of hype about this book being a retelling/re imagining of the book REBECCA, by Daphne du Maurier.  I have not read that book, so for this review there will be no comparisons.

This story was taut, suspenseful, and well written.

One thing to know about this book, is that in the entire time you reading (or listening), you will never know the protagonist's name! You will hardly notice it though. Honestly, I didn't really clue into that until I came to write this review and I couldn't remember it. A quick GOOGLE search told me why. It was never revealed.

The story follows a  young woman, alone in the world after losing her parents at a young age, working a menial job at a fishing resort in the Caymans.  Along comes the charming senator Max Winter who takes notice of our heroine and sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind romance. When it is time for him to leave, he proposes to her and she accepts.  

Any comparison to a fairy tale end quickly at this point.  It starts when Max's teenage daughter Dani declares that she will kill herself if Max brings home his "fling", and her attitude only gets worse from there. Dani is doing her worst to make sure her father's fiance does not feel welcome and drive her away. The new Mrs. Winters-to-be becomes more afraid of what her step-daughter can or will do as each day goes by. 

On top of that, Max is away on senatorial business a lot of the time, leaving our protagonist alone at the opulent Asherley Estate. Well, alone except for the "ghost" of Max's late wife Rebekah.   Her presence at the estate is strong. Her photos are everywhere, all the decor choices, the rooms and the aging greenhouse that remain untouched since her tragic death. The estate seems to be protecting her secrets - and others as well. It seems though, that Asherley cannot keep its secrets anymore, and those secrets may mean that our heroine is in danger.

This taut, gripping page turner had me at the first sentence and kept me right to the end. 

Narration by Emily Rankin was a good match to the story, and very well done with a solid range of character and emotion.

Happy Reading,

Christine