The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh - Book Review

Publication Date: 12th April 2023

Genre: Historical, Contemporary Fiction, Dual Timeline

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: Got some good aspects but still a mixed read 

1900, London 

Alice Webster made a huge mistake. Her family is furious but also wants the best for her. When Aunt Agatha plans a Grand Tour, Alice joins her. They go from London to Paris to Crete, and Alice finds herself fascinated by the archeological digs at Knossos. Soon, her life is entwined with the past and others from the present. 

Present Day, London

Eloise De’Ath is supposed to be a grieving widow, but only she knows the truth about her husband. She escapes to a house in Crete, inherited from her history-loving father-in-law, Quinn. Eloise begins to heal with the help of friends and discovers treasures in his study. She also finds Alice's diaries and feels like her life is linked with women from the past. 

What connects Ariadne, Alice, and Eloise? 

The story comes in the limited third-person POV of Alice and Eloise with a sprinkling of random diary snippets. 

What I Like: 

There’s no denying the research that went into the book. The author’s note at the end is probably more interesting and explains what’s real and fiction. 

The beginning is solid for both tracks. The setting, especially Crete, is just how it needed to be, neither extensive nor vague. Aunt Agatha’s kids add good bits of humor to the plot. The side characters are well-established and handle their roles with great success. 

The book deals with domestic abuse and shows how even women with successful careers make mistakes and prefer to ignore abuse as they don’t want to acknowledge that they are victims. It shows how the need to be a ‘strong and efficient female’ overrides personal security and can lead to life-threatening situations. I like this observation. 

There are quite a few references to theology, especially Madam Blavatsky. As someone who grew up with bedtime stories about the Theosophical Society, this appealed to me in many ways. Also, the core concepts of life, birth, death, and reincarnation in theology are attributed to Hinduism and Buddhism as they should be. 

Another aspect I like is the observation about how even scholars are not without biases shaped by their culture and upbringing. During a discussion between two characters, one of them (a woman, unsurprisingly) points out how even a world-famous archeologist re-constructs older civilizations based on their knowledge of their culture. So, it’s not surprising that goddesses and priestesses with independent positions get pushed back and limited to their roles next to male Gods and kings. 

What Could Have Been Better for Me: 

I’m not sure why this is advertised as a time-slip novel. It’s just a dual timeline book with a few bits and pieces of diary entries to make the plot seem intriguing. The connection between the timelines doesn’t make the impact it should. Furthermore, the personal lives of the characters take more space than the actual connection between them. 

There are several characters in the book. So many that I stopped noting down their names after a point. With as many characters in each timeline, tracking them got a little too much. 

I love history and mythology, but when I read fiction, I want a story that doesn’t rely on me remembering everything I read about Greek mythology, nor do I want a crash course on it. I don’t mind the story leaning on these aspects. I just don’t want so much of it in the book that it reads like a chapter from a textbook. Some readers will enjoy it. 

In dual timeline books, I’m prepared to like one track more than the other. Usually, it’s the historical track that fares better. Here, I wasn’t particularly fond of Alice (what she did was plain stupid for someone who claims to be logical and a scholar). Moreover, by trying to suppress information for a big reveal, Alice’s character ended up shallower and bratty. What little sympathy she had got diluted because of this. Eloise’s track was marginally better, though I couldn’t sympathize with her either. 

The writing is clunky and heavy in many places. This can be edited (maybe they did edit for the final copy; mine is an ARC). On the plus side, it’s easy to speed-read and not miss anything. 

To summarize, The Forgotten Palace has some good points to ponder and presents a tale of two women divided by more than a century. However, it also gets heavyhanded and tiring at times. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #TheForgottenPalace