#BookReview | Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

Tigers in Red Weather

Summer seemed to arrive at that moment, with its mysterious mixture of salt, cold flesh and fuel.

I loved Villa America, the second novel by Liza Klaussmann, (Review HERE ) and once finished I went out to my local book shop and purchased a copy of Tigers in Red Weather, Liza Klaussmann’s debut novel.

It has been sitting on my bookshelf for way too long, so I finally picked it up this week to read. Today’s review is a lot shorter than I normally would write but with the festive season upon us, I’m afraid my words have to be reduced somewhat!! I hope you can feel my enthusiasm for Tigers in Red Weather in the few words I have written.

I also hope you get the opportunity to read this some day and if you do please do let me know. Meanwhile here are my thoughts and some details about the book.

[ About the Book ]

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summers at Tiger House, the glorious old family estate on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. As World War II ends they are on the cusp of adulthood, the world seeming to offer itself up to them. Helena is leaving for Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is to be reunited with her young husband Hughes, due to return from London and the war. Everything is about to change.

Neither quite finds the life she had imagined, and as the years pass, the trips to Tiger House take on a new complexity. Then, on the brink of the 1960s, Nick’s daughter Daisy and Helena’s son Ed make a sinister discovery. It plunges the island’s bright heat into private shadow and sends a depth-charge to the heart of the family.

Summer seemed to arrive at that moment, with its mysterious mixture of salt, cold flesh and fuel.

Magnificently told from five perspectives, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut: a simmering novel of passion, betrayal and secret violence beneath a polished and fragile facade.

[ My Review ]

I finished Tigers in Red Weather last night and I’m still processing it to be honest. I hadn’t planned on reviewing it here at all but I really wanted to share this book with you. The vivid descriptions, the atmosphere. You can feel the burning, sizzling heat of the sun off the pages. The characters are wonderfully depicted…all with issues, all very complex.

This is a book that requires a moment to sit back and think about what you have just read…. It’s quirky. It’s intriguing. It’s quite a powerful read..

There are many quotable lines in this novel but for me this one stands out

‘As she unpacked their boxes, dusted off wedding silver, hung his shirts, she imagined herself running away to Europe, renting an apartment on the Champs-Élysées or the Via Condotti, drinking small dark coffees and dancing in the cafes until dawn. But aside from buying a very expensive set of French lingerie, she made no move to get away, except in her head. If she knew he was trapping her, she also knew that she loved him, or rather she had him under her skin, like a fever……she wasn’t sure how it happened, but she had stopped fighting it…’

Tigers in Red Weather is a very evocative book. It’s got glamour. It’s got secrets. It’s very intense and it has quite a cultured feel to it. It wonderfully depicts that era, post WW2, when the world was turned on it’s axis and folk were experiencing a different kind of freedom.

A very compelling read folks!! I really look forward to the next book from Liza Klaussmann.

Purchase Link ~ Tigers in Red Weather

[ Bio]

Liza Klaussmann worked as a journalist for the New York Times for over a decade. She received a BA in Creative Writing from Barnard College, where she was awarded the Howard M. Teichman Prize for Prose.

She lived in Paris for ten years and she recently completed with distinction an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, in London, where she lives. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Herman Melville. (via Goodreads)

Twitter ~ @LizaKlauss