To sum up there are three sisters and their spouses (although one of the sisters was prevented from attending due to work and also a cousin. I think one of my earliest, and clearest feelings was that at the start of the read quite a number of characters are introduced and personally I didn’t feel like they stood out well, for me they were a little confusingly similar. I’m not going to overly elaborate on the plot but instead give a recap of my various feelings throughout the read. It appears to be a fairly clear cut case of accidental death except there are little irritating issues and these are compounded when a second death occurs.

Elin is called to the island to investigate the death of a guest at the retreat. We once again follow Detective Elin Warner who is once again beset with personal issues as well as still struggling with a former incident at work. Here we have a rather exclusive retreat set on a small island (with something of a back history). The Retreat follows a very similar style to The Sanatorium. However, it was an entertaining read and I certainly didn’t struggle to complete it – just more that I was left feeling slightly dissatisfied and to be honest I had the same feeling at the conclusion of the Retreat. I read The Sanatorium and it did give me certain issues. The Retreat is my second book by Sarah Pearse. Published together, these two novellas celebrate the legacy of one of the twentieth century’s great writers.My Five Word TL:DR Review : Unfortunately, Mixed Feelings for This Deeply evocative of a bygone era, and intensely erotic, it shows Vogel at the height of his powers. Their idyllic holiday, however, ends up testing their relationship in ways they never thought possible. Written in 1932, Facing the Sea tells the story of a couple spending the summer on the French Riviera. In his depiction of the sanatorium’s hothouse atmosphere, Vogel masterfully portrays the far-reaching effects of the decadence that was so prevalent in early-twentieth-century Europe. It is set in a charitable Jewish hospital for consumptives, where death is always close, desire is heightened, and breaking the rules is exciting. In the Sanatorium was Vogel’s first published work of fiction, translated here into English for the first time.

David Vogel has long been regarded as a leading figure of Hebrew literature, and his work has been compared to that of Joseph Roth, Thomas Mann, and Franz Kafka.

The sanatorium book 2