I first heard of Iona Grey when her first book ‘Letters to the Lost’ was published, she featured in a magazine article and it inspired me to buy a copy, it was not my usual read at all but I loved it and have kept looking out for her next book every since. ‘The Glittering Hour’ does not disappoint, it’s a beautifully written story carefully intertwining the lives of Selina in the mid nineteen twenties and that of her young daughter Alice a decade later. It captures the emotion of the times wonderfully and is both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. It’s very well told in that it’s so easy to read between the lines of what appears to be happening and what is actually happening but so subtly done that events don’t have to be spelt out to you but aren’t a shock either - a difficult concept to explain without revealing too much but tremendously well written by the author to achieve this. The characters are well written and feel to be of that era, the essence of life in the twenties nicely captured - this is just a wonderful book and I have thoroughly enjoyed every page.

I couldn’t wait to get hold of a copy of The Glittering Hour, having been utterly blown away by the brilliance of Grey’s debut novel, Letters to The Lost, and I was not disappointed.

An epic love story, The Glittering Hour switches between two timeframes: aristocratic champagne-swilling, party-goer Selina Lennox in the 1920s, and Selina’s nine year old daughter, Alice in the 1930s.

Alice is ensconced with her grandparents at their stately home, Beechcroft, desperately missing her mother who is in the Far East with her cold and distant business man husband. Through her letters, Selina engages Alice in a treasure hunt which leads the little girl all over the property in search of clues to Selina’s past.

Selina is a character with great depth who glitters on each page. In the past, she is mourning her beloved brother Howard who had died in the trenches; Selina knows all too well what it is to lose a person you love. So when a drunken escapade with her friends one night leads to a chance meeting with the handsome, and talented yet penniless artist, Lawrence Weston, will Selina be able to let him go?

Their connection is intense, but a suitable marriage is beckoning Selina. Her tight-lipped, emotional redundant family expect it of her. Without a beneficial marriage, Selina will simply be cut off.

In the 1930s, Alice’s treasure hunt culminates in a beautiful discovery, but just hours later, her entire world collapses.

It took me quite a long time to really get into this story, but once Selina’s life had collided with Lawrence’s, I could not turn the pages fast enough.

Emotionally fraught, evocative and redemptive, The Glittering Hour has been well worth the wait. What a superb novel - Iona Grey really is back with aplomb.

A beautiful book. I love the author’s descriptions of the antics of the bright young things of 1920s, and then the outcomes of that lifestyle. Poignant, beautiful and sad. The twin timeline of 1920s and 1930s works really well and I really enjoyed the way that the story was told, following Alice’s discovery of her mother’s younger life. Beautifully written, with captivating descriptions, and completely engaging- I really loved this book and felt that I was completely immersing myself in the roaring twenties. A must read!

The Glittering Hour is a truly spectacular book that had me gripped from the very start. You are instantly intimate with Selina and Lawrence, a part of the post-war atmosphere in London, and immersed in all the dichotomy of rich, hedonism and suffering poverty and loss.

I loved the characters. I loved the history. I loved the backdrop of Blackwood, the house where Selina grew up and now where her nine year old daughter Alice finds herself insufferably bored, isolated and eagerly awaiting her parents' return.

I loved the gentle, enduring loyalty of Polly, Patterson and Edith, and the kindness they bring to soften the hard edges of the story.

This book is about grief, sacrifice and the tender moments between a mother and her child.

It leads us through a spellbinding story of shocks and scandal, wonder and devotion, and shows us that where there is love, there is forgiveness.

The Glittering Hour is one of my favourite books of the year so far, so well written, captivating, and one I can see making a wonderful TV or film adaptation. A must read I can't recommend enough.

From the very beginning of this book, I was captivated. A good prologue should catch your interest, ask you questions, then leave you hanging. The prologue in this book certainly does that. Who was the woman in bed with her lover? Whose was the wedding dress hanging up in another room across town? And why is the prologue entitled The End?

Like Alice following her mother’s clues, this book completely captured my imagination and I eagerly read about the young Selina. I liked the way their stories were connected with young Alice following a treasure trail of clues left by her mother and finding out more about her through her letters. From the letters, the story slipped into the past to reveal Selina’s story in more detail. And at various points of the story we hear from several key characters and their connection to Selina.

Society girl Selina is expected to marry Rupert Carew and settle into a life of respectable domesticity. But she is such a spirited girl that all this seems thrown into uncertainty when she meets impoverished painter and photographer Lawrence Weston one evening. Theirs was such an achingly beautiful love story but could it ever happen?

Iona Grey writes so vividly that it was easy to imagine the glamorous set of Selina and her friends in 1920s London – “The Bright Young Things” – the beautiful clothes, the decadence, the heady lifestyle. The rush of joy at being alive after World War One when so many didn’t survive or were badly damaged in different ways, both physical and psychological. In a way, it was a tribute to the dead to carry on living and making the most of every opportunity.

This is a glorious feast of a book to be savoured. It is gorgeously romantic and heartbreakingly tragic by turns and goes straight into my top reads list for this year.

Iona Grey wowed readers with her first book Letters to the Lost. I know that I am not the only one who has been eagerly awaiting for her to write a new book. Here it is, The Glittering Hour, I can say without hesitation that it is a complete triumph.

Everything is so beautifully done, the story, the characters, the cover, the title. I could not find fault with any of it.

The story takes place between the first and second world wars. England was facing great changes and in some ways, the higher classes of society were hit harder than others. Their way of life was scrutinised and picked apart in a way it had not been before. Socialite Selina Lennox is part of a group known as The Bright Young Things. Along with best friends, Theo and Flick, Selina is often photographed clutching a bottle of vintage champagne whilst falling out of well-known London establishments. We begin to learn the reasons for Selina's behaviour and it becomes clear that she is desperate to break free from the gilded cage that she was born into.

Selina meets Lawrence Weston one fateful night and the course of their lives is altered forever. Lawrence is from a totally different world, a poor artist and aspiring photographer, he struggles to pay his rent and Selina's glamorous world is alien to him. The connection between Selina and Lawrence is instant. He adores her and very quickly uncovers the person behind the tabloids and public perception. In Lawrence, Selina finds someone who loves her as she is without question. He wants the best for her without any pretence or ulterior motive. They embark on a dangerous relationship they they know cannot last and by the end of that glorious summer they are both undone.

Selina goes on to marry Rupert Carew, a friend of her brothers. He is straight up and down, exactly the respectable type of man that Selina's mother expected her to marry. Swapping one gilded cage for another, Selina welcomes a daughter, Alice who she is completely besotted with. The story continues nine years later, Selina is travelling abroad with Rupert and Alice has been sent to Selina's childhood home, Beechcroft to stay with her grandparents. Alice, as Selina did, finds Beechcroft cold and oppressing and she misses her mother terribly. With the help of Polly who has been a faithful maid and companion to Selina; Alice begins sending and receiving letters from her mother in the Far East. Selina wants Alice to know how she came to be and sends her on a treasure hunt. Each clue provides a piece of the story and reveals Selina's past whilst securing Alice's future.

I loved the treasure hunt idea and it tied the two parts of the story together beautifully. The relationship between Alice and Selina is so well portrayed, the little girl provided love in Selina's life when everything else was lost.

I felt that Iona Grey perfectly summed up the time period within the book. It was a time of such change with shifting attitudes and approaches to life. Country Estates such as Beechcroft begin to fall into disrepair as so many workers did not return from the war or simply chose not to once they had experienced a different way of life. Selina is desperate for change too but as a woman she is constrained by position and value. Her heart wants Lawrence and she pays the price for not being able to follow her true desires.

I can't write anymore without giving away spoilers so I shall stop. The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey had me sobbing by the last few pages. I was so invested in the characters and their lives that I felt a little lost when I reached the final page. The Glittering Hour has been more than worth the wait, I know that it is a book I will visit again and again.

As I've come to expect from Iona, this was an absolutely beautiful novel. It was clearly meticulously researched, and brought to life an era that can feel cartoonish and cliched in lesser hands. The final chapters broke me, and even the acknowledgements had me in tears.

A mesmerizing read full of love heartache friendship romance. A book that drew me in to the characters lives world relationships a book Inhated to end an englishbsaga at its best.#netgalley #simonschusteruk.