Sometimes keeping a secret is a good thing; it can save a person’s life or their reputation. Other times, though, it can have unexpected consequences. Such is the case with half-sisters Kat, Flora and Lauren in Eve Chase’s emotional new novel, THE BIRDCAGE.

Kat and Flora have secrets that have remained between them. They share the same father, but each has a different mother. Their past is complicated, and none of them live together. Kat and Flora see each other on a fairly regular basis, but Lauren tends to keep her distance from them.

"Chase’s writing is lively and descriptive, and her characters are well-developed.... Readers will be glued to the pages as the mystery unfolds slowly and all the secrets are revealed."

The girls’ father grew up in Rock Point on the Cornish coast, and his parents continued to live there for many years. But now they are gone, and he uses the house as both a studio and a vacation getaway. His daughters used to spend summers there and sometimes would visit during the winter holidays. They have not been back to the house since Gemma, the daughter of the woman who used to clean Rock Point, died there 20 years ago. That all changes, though, when their father summons them and asks them to stay with him for a few days.

There’s a big birdcage in Rock Point that houses Bertha, the parrot that belonged to the girls’ grandmother. Lauren loved to spend time with Bertha, but after Gemma’s death, she zoned out and suppressed the memories from that awful day. However, as she spends more time in Rock Point, and around Bertha, the pieces slowly start to fall back into place. As a result, secrets are revealed --- ALL of them. She both welcomes and dreads finding out the whole truth.

THE BIRDCAGE goes back and forth in time from 20 years ago to the present and is told from multiple points of view. While this enhances the novel in many ways by filling in the backstory and giving different characters a chance to tell the story from their perspective, it can be somewhat difficult to keep up with at times.

Still, Chase’s writing is lively and descriptive, and her characters are well-developed. Sometimes they can be quite predictable in their thoughts and actions, but more often than not, they will surprise you. Readers will be glued to the pages as the mystery unfolds slowly and all the secrets are revealed.