
Member Reviews

Small town Americana on the banks of the Hudson, a town of founding families, traditions, ice cream sundaes and beautiful orchards. A town on the brink of change as the sixties march onwards. And on the day Alice Jansen turns sixteen her life changes forever. Galloway in Scotland, a small boy lives hand to mouth with his clever eccentric father until an unknown aunt whisks him away to a London still recovering from bombings, a place of simmering racial violence and worlds colliding. Connecting the two is a small house in Wiltshire, Sevenstones, named for the standing stones which enclose it. A sanctuary, an escape and the holder of secrets.
The Treasures is the first in Harriet Evans new trilogy, which promises to take us through the second half of the twentieth century. Exhilarating, at times heart breaking, beautifully written, wonderfully human, I couldn't put it down. Bring on the next! Highly recommended.

A beautifully evocative and deeply moving multigenerational tale, The Treasures by Harriet Evans follows the intertwined lives of Alice and Tom as they navigate love, loss, and the significance of family heirlooms across three generations.
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen gathers her cherished treasures—keepsakes, figurines, and mementoes—that help her understand the fragility of her family. But when her world is shattered the very next day, and her final treasure—a gift from her father—is lost, Alice’s sense of security is torn apart.
Two years later, Alice receives a mysterious phone call from a stranger, prompting her to flee to New York in an attempt to leave behind the memories of her last golden summer at the orchard on the Hudson River. Meanwhile, Tom Raven is also wrestling with loss and confusion, unsure of what is missing from his life. After remembering a forgotten letter, he embarks on a journey to a strange city in search of answers, leaving Sevenstones, the one place that has ever truly felt like home, behind.
The Treasures is an unputdownable story that weaves together the past and present, with Alice and Tom’s lives intertwined in ways that become clearer as the narrative unfolds. Set against the backdrop of New York, Scotland, London, and Wiltshire, the book masterfully explores family secrets, the importance of home, and the treasures that shape our memories.
The setting of Sevenstones is wonderfully described—its significance to all the generations of this family is palpable, and the house itself almost becomes a character in its own right. The sanctuary it provides, with its history and beauty, is the perfect backdrop for the unfolding of family dramas and personal growth.
Alice and Tom’s journeys are poignant and relatable, each having endured traumatic childhoods, and the slow revelation of their deep connection is both surprising and heartwarming.
This is a book that beautifully captures the intricacies of family relationships, the weight of the past, and the enduring power of love and memory. The Treasures is a heartfelt and immersive read that will resonate with readers long after the final page.
Read more at The Secret Book Review.

I’ve always loved Harriet’s books in the past, but have to admit that I really struggled initially with The treasures and it took me a while to really get invested in the book.
Set between New York, Scotland, London and Wiltshire, multigenerational and full of long held family secrets!
Alice and Tom are the main characters who we see grow up as the book progresses, both having experienced traumatic childhoods, but both linked in ways that are revealed as the book progresses.
The wonderful Sevenstones sounds like such a lovely sanctuary and a wonderful respite for those who need it and plays such an important role in all the generations, wonderfully described inside and out you could almost imagine it!
Would love to read a sequel/ part two to see how Tom and Alice progress or if they do!
Thank you NetGalley for this early read

Tom and Alices world collide in this rather unique and unusual read.
Set in the times of WW2 and the swinging sixties this is an emotional and brilaint family drama that i think everyone will love.
The first in a trilogy I hope they don;t keep us waiting too long for the next instalment as I am hooked.

New York, London, Wiltshire, Dumfries and Galloway are all portrayed in this unusual family saga. Romance, happiness and sadness from the era of the Second World War to the 1960’s are depicted and the emotions involved will leave readers inevitably wanting more. Gloriously inventive story telling.

The Treasures by Harriet Evans
The first in a trilogy and it's got all the hallmarks of becoming an epic read.
I love how the author is so great at drawing you into quite complex family tales.
We firstly meet Alice on the cusp of womanhood and lives near New York , and her connection to a house located in England.
We then skip to a remote part of Scotland and then just after ww2 he is taken to London to live with an aunt .
The title takes us to the 1960s and wear are in the era of change for young people with the swinging 60s and all that it entails.
Very entertaining book. 5 stars.

The Treasures is a multi-layered,multi-generational novel stretching from New York to Scotland to London, with the compellingly attractive house ‘Sevensisters’ holding the family secrets of Alice Janson and Tom Raven, whose fates are linked as their lives intertwine over the years. Although some of the dialogue didn’t ring true, for me, I was still engaged enough to read to the end. I may even look out for book two in the trilogy!

I absolutely adored this book and it is a very promising start to a new trilogy. To begin with, I did think it was a bit slow but I decided to savour the build up and the latter half of the book does ramp up the action and set up future plot threads.
I loved the characters of Alice and Tom, we get to know them separately and then together as their lives converge and a gripping will they/won't they plot starts. Not in a long time have I ever wished for two characters to get together so much, here's hoping!
Evans has created a spectacular plot that pulls the reader in and leaves you wanting more and more. I adored the plot, locations and characters and cannot wait for the next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for an advance copy.

Harriet Evans is one of my ‘go to’ authors and I don’t think anyone is better at writing evocative stories of eccentric families and ancient, mysterious houses. She excels at world-building and drawing the reader into a compelling story. I particularly enjoyed the parts of this book that told the tale of Tom Raven and Sevenstones and could picture it all perfectly. The sections of the book set in Orchard and New York were equally well written but personally I found this section less interesting and the first third did drag a little. This is very much a personal opinion as the drug taking, free love / hippie era isn’t a period of history that engages me and so I found it hard to empathise with Alice. However, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys engrossing, well-written stories and I’m looking forward to the next part of the trilogy.

This is the first in a series of three family chronicles by Harriet Evan’s and I can’t wait to read the next ones.
The story is in several parts but is all have a link to n English house which we learn at the beginning is now up for sale after being in the same family since the Second World War.
The first part of the story is about a teenager, Alice, who lives in a small town near New York. We wonder how she could be connected to the English house, but things start to become clearer at the end of the book.
In the second part of the book we meet a young boy who has spent his early years in a remote Scottish hamlet but is taken by his aunt to live in post war London. There are some well written scenes and the author conveys the era extremely well. Bomb sites, teddy boys and the windrush immigrants all feature.
The third part of the story moves to New York in The 1960s hippy era and again, the writing is very good and the reader feels like they are there.
I devoured this book and am looking forward to the next one. I was disappointed when it ended and I have to wait to find out more,
Thank you to the publisher and net galley for this advance copy.

As ever an utterly engrossing story of the families that birth us and those we make ourselves. I was riveted and delighted to once again be immersed in one of Evans' stories.

I have always enjoyed Harriet Evan’s novels in the past and The Treasures is no exception. There are family secrets spanning the UK and America and a cast of interesting characters. At the heart of the story is a mysterious house set in the English countryside. While this is part one of a trilogy it can definitely be enjoyed in its own right. Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel

I'm glad the author, Harriet Evans has made it clear that "The Treasures" is book 1 of 3 in the Sevenstones Trilogy. As a result, it meant I could relax knowing that if I had any questions then they would be answered in future books. Saying that you could read this book as a standalone. This is very much a character driven family saga with Sevenstones (a house) very much at its heart. Set in the UK and the US this book spans many years and many miles. Looking forward to finding out what happens next with Tom and Alice.