What I've been reading in December

 First up this month we have The Birdcage by Eve Chase.

This story revolves around three sisters, Lauren, Kat and Flora, sharing the same father but three different mothers.  They are returning to Rock Point in Cornwall at the request of their father twenty years after their last visit.  

The first visit is in 1999 at the time of the solar eclipse.  It is obvious from the start that something awful and dramatic happened on that day which has affected them all.  To the extent that none of them have felt able to return.  The girls have grown up and moved on with their lives over the twenty years, each one very different to the others.  The descriptions of the wild coast of Cornwall and the house in which the story is located are excellent and perfectly atmospheric.  If you've ever been to the windswept, remote areas of Cornwall, you will feel immediately transported there. 

I really enjoyed this book.  The clues to what happened that day of the solar eclipse are drip fed into the story line and it was not until very close to the end that I had a sneaky suspicion about the final reveal.  In fact even when you learn about the event that happened, it is not the end of the story.  The characters have all been deeply troubled by that day and the title of the story refers not only to the painting which their (totally unfaithful and, in my opinion, unpleasant) father has painted of them but  alludes to the fact that they have all subsequently been locked away behind invisible bars which have stopped them moving on.

I've been very lax with my reading this month, I would normally read at least a chapter before I go to bed each night but I've been too tired to stick to that regime lately!  So this is the only book I have finished this month - I promise that in the new year I will be back to my normal routines.