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The Three Miss Allens by [Victoria Purman]

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Victoria Purman

The Three Miss Allens Kindle Edition

by Victoria Purman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

88 ratings

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From a bestselling Australian author comes a compelling narrative set in the 1930s and modern-day South Australia.

How much of who we are is destiny and how much chance?

In 1934, the three Miss Allens – Ruby, Adeline and Clara – arrive in the seaside town of Remarkable Bay for their annual summer holiday. It's the last time they'll spend summers as a family. Adeline is engaged, Ruby is weighing up an offer, and Clara is just eighteen and about to start her life. But by summer's end, the lives they have known will change irrevocably and a mysterious secret will tear the family apart.

Eighty–two years later, Ruby's great–granddaughter Roma Harris moves to the now sleepy Remarkable Bay, retreating from tragedy. Roma's distant cousin Addy arrives too, fleeing a life with too much drama. It's only when the women discover an old guest book that they start asking questions about the mysterious third Miss Allen. Who was she? Why has she disappeared from the family's history?
If they solve this mystery from their past, could it change the women's futures?

Length: 387 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Language: English

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Product description

About the Author

When Victoria Purman woke up one day and realised she'd spent most of her working life writing for other people, she decided it was finally time to tell stories of her own. She's worked as a speechwriter, a television and radio journalist, a public servant, a publicist, a communications consultant and a political adviser. Not to mention mum, chef, taxi driver, volunteer and problem-solver. She now very much enjoys creating dialogue and happy-ever-afters for her imaginary characters. Her Boys of Summer trilogy is set on the south coast of her home state of South Australia, somewhere she feels compelled to do a lot of research. When she's not writing, Victoria spends time with her husband, three sons, a disobedient dog, her loving, extended family and dear friends. She is still determined to learn how to surf. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B01E83Q634
Publisher : Mira (1 November 2016)
Language : English
File size : 658 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 387 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 42,221 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 376 in 20th Century Historical Romance (Books)
- 1,203 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- 1,684 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
88 ratings

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5 star		48%
4 star		29%
3 star		18%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Sue H

Very satisfying read

Reviewed in Australia on 25 May 2020

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I’ve enjoyed this author’s books that were set in Australian history. Great characters and very enjoyable read. Look forward to reading her next novel

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An enjoyable read

Reviewed in Australia on 16 June 2017

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I enjoyed this story, the two stories really, set in two different times but merging into one, stories about family, secrets and love.

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Amazon Customer

A wonderful story which made my heart sing!

Reviewed in Australia on 23 May 2018

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Thoughts of sea changing into a life depicted in this story gained momentum with each passing page.
I loved this book!

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Alice

Wonderful

Reviewed in Australia on 27 January 2018

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A great read,I couldn’t put it down... it’s wonderful reading with lots of family and life lessons and set where I live.

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Sandra Richards

Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 6 June 2019

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Really enjoyed it mystery and romance my kind of novel

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HELEN PHILLIPS

Good read.

Reviewed in Australia on 27 September 2020

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The Three Miss Allen’s was a good read.

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Michelle

A stunning step outside the comfort zone for Purman

Reviewed in Australia on 24 October 2016

The Three Miss Allens is a step outside the comfort zone of author Victoria Purman, it's like nothing she has written before and it is amazing. I love this story, I love these characters and the setting is just divine.

Once again Purman keeps us in her home state of South Australia and much of the story takes place on the coast a couple of kms along from Victor Harbor. We aren't heading to Middle Point this time though; the three Miss Allens spend their summer holidays in Remarkable Bay.

The story opens in 2016 with Roma Harris packing up her Adelaide life to move to Remarkable Bay and hide out at Bayview, the dilapidated old house she's bought. Roma spent many childhood summers in Remarkable Bay with her family though never staying at Bayview, by the time she was summering on the coast the house was already in its twilight years and used as a squat.

Roma has been doing it tough for a few years and she finally got to the point she needed an escape, and something drew her to Remarkable Bay. With no long term plans Roma leaves her job, packs up and sells her house and makes her sea change. She's happy to cocoon herself in her new house, insulated from the world and live in isolation. That's not what life has in store for her though...

Leo is Roma's brother and he's worried about her; he's worried about why his sensible and cautious sister would leave everything and move to Remarkable Bay after sinking a small fortune into a house that even the real estate agent thinks is better off knocked down to subdivide the block and build modern townhouses. His concern sees him call a distant cousin who was once quite close to the family and ask her to head down to Remarkable Bay and check on Roma.

Addy takes a much needed break from her Adelaide life and heads down to Remarkable Bay, the film she had been working on had just hit a delay anyway. Bayview is far from anything Addy is used to but she pitches in to help Roma tidy and refresh the place; it's her that finds the mysterious old guestbook that lists three Miss Allens staying in the house in 1934.

This is where the story forks into two time periods, we continue to follow Roma and Addy in 2016 but we also head back to 1934 to enjoy the summer with Ruby, Adeline and Clara Allen at Bayview. The distant cousins happen to be joined by the Allen sisters; Roma is Ruby's great-granddaughter and Addy is the great-granddaughter of Adeline but neither of them ever remember hearing mention of a Clara.

That's as much of the story as I really want to tell, actually it's probably more than I want to tell, but it's late on a Friday night and I had trouble starting this review.

The Three Miss Allens boasts quite an impressive cast and I think this could convincingly be stretched into a series that completely fills the gap between 1934 and 2016, telling us how the close knit family that was the Allens expands through the generations into a family whose branches don't keep in touch; it was by pure coincidence that Addy and Roma ended up connecting because they went to school together.

There are two complete casts in this story, one in 1934 and one in 2016. In 1934 the Allen family heads to Bayview to holiday for the summer, the girls are at a marrying age so there are fiances and future in-laws as well as the Remarkable Bay community, many of whom are also Adelaide families on holiday. 2016 sees us get to know Roma and Addy as well as some of the Remarkable Bay community.

I think one of the things I love the most about this book is the connections; familial and generational. But really there is a lot that I love about this book and trying to put it into words without spoiling the intrigue and the suspense is really difficult, regardless of the fact that I should be sleeping.

The biggest mystery is this third Miss Allen, who is Clara Allen? She wasn't written with the other sisters so was she family, how common was the name, could it be coincidence and if she is related why has no-one heard mention of her? This is a question that runs right through the story.

The parallels between the generations are uncanny which is something I got a real kick out of, it wasn't necessarily a case of history repeating so much as time throwing up similar situations and demonstrating how different the decisions can be depending on the time.

Each of the characters have secrets, as do each of the families, and sometimes those secrets are best left buried. Time has a way of sorting things out in the end.

The Three Miss Allens took me through the complete range of emotions, all the way to rage and anger in stark contrast to the heartbreak and the empathy.

What begins as a run and hide defense mechanism slowly transforms into something completely different, something beautiful and empowering even.

The Three Miss Allens is a gorgeous tale of new beginnings, the circle of life, the restorative power of the South Australian beaches and the importance of family.

It addresses the way that women often compare themselves and measure themselves against someone else; never seeing themselves reflected in other eyes and never being able to see yourself the way other people see you. That person you are so envious of for whatever reason could have on a mask as convincing as your own and they too only see the face you are projecting, not the real you.

The secrets we keep aren't always for the best, of anyone, but all people and all families have secrets and sometimes you just can't tell what damage unearthing them could do.

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Kira

though there is still plenty of that to keep romance readers happy. This story contains a few more heart wrenching ...

Reviewed in the United States on 25 February 2017

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The Three Miss Allens is different from Victoria Purman’s usual contemporary romance, though there is still plenty of that to keep romance readers happy. This story contains a few more heart wrenching and hard hitting themes than her normal stories, but I won’t discuss them at length here because I think it’s better to discover them yourself as you read in this instance.

Roma, Addy, and Ruby’s viewpoints are all captivating enough to hold your attention, with their unique voices and problems distinct and interesting enough to keep the pages turning. On a few occasions in Ruby’s storyline, her name was accidentally changed to Roma, but that aside, I didn’t have any trouble understanding which viewpoint I was in. As usual, the characterisation was extremely well written. I felt drawn to Roma’s predicament, and sympathy for Addy, even more so towards the end of the novel when the truth about her life is finally revealed.

Very little information was given regarding the mysterious Clara, even in Ruby’s viewpoint, so I was a little perplexed when it seemed to take a long time to find out much about her and why she disappeared. I had guessed her big secret early on, but I wasn’t prepared for the twist at the end. I love it when an author can keep me on my toes.

Another great read by Victoria Purman, and highly recommended.

9 people found this helpful

Mrs. Helen Sibbritt

Such a fabulous story

Reviewed in the United States on 14 November 2016

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What a fabulous story strong characters that leapt off the pages and became so real the setting is beautiful with such a great name Remarkable Bay and it was so remarkable to bring generations together without knowing they had all been there, there is a definite pull for this family to return.

Three Miss Allen sisters growing up in the 1930's and at Remarkable Bay for their summer holiday and it will be their last time together like this with Adeline about to get married Ruby contemplating marriage and young Clara hiding a devastating secret that will change all of their lives forever.

Then eighty odd years later Ruby's great granddaughter Roma buys the guest house that they had stayed in and Adeline's great granddaughter comes to stay as well and when a guest book is found and there is a mystery to try and uncover another Allen sister that no one had heard about, new people to meet who all have ties with Remarkable Bay and the Allen family and perhaps links with past generations makes this one a story that will keep you turning the pages.

This is a compelling story that covers some tough issues like domestic violence and secrets that have been kept by past and present generations hard decisions to be made on whether these secrets should be kept or told and of loves that are true or not. All in all this was a story that I savoured every word it is beautifully written and there were tears and joy with the past and present. I cannot highly recommend this one enough do yourself a favour and get compfy while you read this one because you are not going to want to put it down yes this one is going to stay with me for a while it already has me re thinking about it and the characters while doing tasks around the house fabulous story.

4 people found this helpful

L. Lowe

Fell Flat

Reviewed in the United States on 15 June 2019

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This book has such good bones, much like Bayview. But MAN did that ending fall short. You've got a good story with the original three Miss Allens and you're building up to a good story with the next three, but then it ends in sappy romance without joining the two storylines. I had it pegged by the middle of the book when Keira came on board and a casual mention of an adopted grandma, but then nothing happened with it. The house could tell an incredible story but it is left in the dust.
Addy Obfuscate (if you're going to use a $5 word, six times in the same context is distracting) and Roma Lemon Slice spent way too many pages in their own heads, telling and retelling and telling again their mental angst over the lives they've lived.
I really wanted to see how the author could tie up the ends and connect the two stories so you'd see how the old three Miss Allens evolved into the new three Miss Allens. And it fell flat into a squishy emotional ball of marriage and men. Blah.
A lot less introspection and a lot more Cain and Clara would have gone a long way.

Sharon Lee

Interesting and different

Reviewed in the United States on 16 March 2020

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As love stories go, this one wasn't bad, and there was a bit of mystery as well. It did have a couple of major editing issues (in one instance using the wrong characters names), but it didn't complicate the story too much. I'm not a prude, but the "f" word was thrown around freely in places where it didn't seem highly appropriate, and didn't somehow seem fitting to the rest of the book. The vulgarity could have been done away with, or at least tempered. Still it was a decent story.

Kindle Customer

Unusual

Reviewed in the United States on 7 September 2019

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This was a great story line and example of how the world has changed. The flash backs coordinate well and the story flows. All the people in both generations have similar problems and have such different ways of solving them. I really liked this because it doesn't mimic any other story that I have read. So often I pick up a book and think I have already read the story only to find that when I check my list, it was by a different author. This was totally new to me.

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