You cannot chose your family, can you?

Synopsis

Sometimes, it’s those closest to you who are hiding the most.

After the death of their artist father, Alex, Brenna and Cordelia Bellwood return to Slate House – the Victorian mansion in the Lake District where they grew up together. But the three siblings have very different memories of being there and of their relationship with their famous father.

For Alex, his passion for art was always overshadowed by his father’s fame. For Brenna, life was turned upside down when their mother left them, forcing her to grow up much too quickly. And Cordelia – once the beloved muse of her father – now questions her role after a shocking revelation that threatens the whole family.

Set against the beautiful backdrop of Grasmere, Family Portrait is a lyrical and poignant story showing that the things that tear us apart can also bring us together again.

My review

After losing their father, siblings Alex, Brenna and Cordelia Bellwood reunite at Slate House, their childhood home, to take care of what needs to be taken care of. In most cases, a loss would bring family closer together, but being the children of the famous artist that Nicholas Bellwood for sure didn’t make things easy for them. So there is Alex, who is an artist himself, but never managed to step out of the shadow of his father, even if he made the move to Greece. Brenna never was close to her father, and she feels that she had to grow up way to quickly after their mother left them. Cordelia is the youngest sibling, and she is the only one that has a close bond with their father. But when the will is read, there are revelations that will shake everyone’s world. Revelations that may tear the siblings even more apart than they already were, or is there a chance that in fact it will bring them all closer?

If you grew up in a happy family, it always makes you question what happened to a family to not be a happy one. Of course the explanations are limitless, as I could think of many reasons why a family doesn’t work. And in whatever book I read, it always saddens me to read how children are affected by the behaviour of the people that take care of them.

When I began reading this book, it’s so obvious that Nicholas Bellwood and his behaviour had and still has an effect on his children. Perhaps it even angered me a little bit, reading how different Nicholas was towards each of his children.

It truly broke my heart to see how distant the three siblings were from each other. You would think that such a distant father would bring the siblings together, yet it managed to tear them even more apart. Of course it’s not that they weren’t talking at all with each other, but for one reasons or another, their lives took them in complete different directions.

And perhaps it didn’t come to me, as a reader, as a complete shock to read about the secret that their father kept from them for years. It just fitted with the image of Nicholas I had in my mind. Yet it left me also a bit flabbergasted reading this completely other version of Nicholas. And I am not going deeper on this matter, otherwise I would be talking way too cryptic while attempting not giving away anything 😊.

Yet this isn’t a dark story. Yes, it shows us a complicated family, with complicated relationships. But no matter what, it’s clear that the three siblings love each other, no matter how scarred they are from the past and the present. And it was sweet to see that they take care  of each other, sometimes even with some tough love.

I absolutely loved reading how slowly the three siblings are growing closer to each other once again. They have lost each other time, but being together at Slate House gives them the chance to understand each other better again. And that warmed my heart, for real, because no matter what has happened, the love of siblings will always stand every test.

The focus is mainly on Brenna in this book, which I could perfectly understand. Of course the author had to make a choice, and because Brenna had the most complicated relationship with her father, it was also the most interesting storyline.

Brenna is truly on a journey in this book. Not only does she have to come to terms with losing her father, but she is also on a journey of finding herself again. And while on this journey, she has to be there for her siblings, each on their own journey.

I found myself devouring this book, wanting, no, needing to know more about this family that is trying to find each other again, but also finding themselves again after a childhood and upbringing that wasn’t easy.

Victoria Connelly once again managed to write a story that touched my heart, as it shows the difficulties of a family, but also the beauty of it, no matter what complications they may encounter!