The House of Stairs

By Barbara Vine

One day the main character, Elizabeth (Lizzie), sees an old acquaintance, Bell Sanger, on a London street. Bell, on the other hand, has just got out of prison after serving a sentence for a murder that took place in a tall boarding house, known as the House of Stairs fourteen years ago. Bell and Lizzie once lived in this house together with several other men and women. The house had several floors with a total of 106 stairs counted from top to bottom.

Lizzie decides to track down Bell and they slowly start to renew their old friendship. Little by little Lizzie reveals what happened in the house all those years ago and the events leading up to Bell’s arrest and why she was charged with murder.

The story is mostly set in the past but towards the end it skips back and forth in time between the past and the present.

This is not my favourite Barbara Vine novel. The storyline did not grip me and all I can say is that this was a very disappointing read.

Angel Falls

By Kristin Hannah

Mikaela Campbell is Liam’s wife and the mother of his two children. One day she is injured while horseback riding, and falls into a coma. Even though the doctors have told Liam not to expect a recovery, he still maintains hope. Day after day, he sits by her bedside, holding her hand and sharing the stories of their life together. Desperate to bring his wife back from the coma, Liam uncovers a secret in his wife's past: her long-hidden first marriage to movie star Julian True.

Liam is convinced that Julian is the only person who can bring Mikaela out of her coma. The fact that Mikaela responds to Julian's name convinces him that Julian may be the only person who can bring Mikaela back. Liam’s love for his wife is so great that he is willing to take the risk of bringing back his wife's first true love back into her life to try and wake her up. Liam is so desperate that he is willing do anything to get her back even if it means losing her to another man.

When Mikaela finally wakes up from her coma, she is unable to recognize anything except the name of her ex-husband, whom she thinks she is still married to. She does not remember Liam, or her children, at all. In fact, she cannot remember anything from the last 15 years of her life including her ten year old son, who has been so looking forward to the day when his mum will wake up again. He knows exactly what she is going to say to him when she sees him for the first time - only she cannot remember ever having seen him.

The story has its good moments but is rather average. Perfect for reading while on the road, but not a book I would read again.