📖 Book Review ~ The Echo of Loss by Katherine Webb

Lake Union
15 September 2026

Hallewell #2

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

 

A long-buried crime. A marriage built on lies. Could the truth be a second chance?

England, 1902. More than a decade has passed since a wrongful accusation sent a young man to the gallows, an injustice that shattered the lives of those left behind—including Theodora Hallewell and Toby Meriwether, whose chance at love died that same day.

Trapped in a violent marriage to an eminent doctor, Theo has endured the years in silence, while secretly pursuing a dangerous obsession with the past. Toby, burdened by guilt and grief, has built a respectable life as a journalist and prison reformer, though his own marriage has crumbled under the weight of things he cannot forget.

When their paths cross again, both are drawn back to the tragedy that shaped their youth. As Theo uncovers long-buried secrets about that fateful night, she discovers a truth more dangerous than she ever imagined. A truth that could destroy her—or finally set her free.

Spanning two decades from the dawn of the Edwardian era to the Great War, The Echo of Loss is a sweeping story exploring love, forgiveness and the courage to seek justice at any cost.

📖 My Review..

In this second book of the Hallewell trilogy we meet again with Theo Hallewell and Toby Meriweather some fourteen years after the momentous events of the first story. Both are now very different people, Theo, with a young son, is in an abusive marriage to an eminent surgeon and Toby is pursuing his  journalistic career but is seemingly without purpose. This emotional second book explores their lives in detail, separated by circumstances and time, Theo and Toby are unable to put the past to rest.

Primarily, it’s a love story about two lost souls who seem fated never to find each other and yet it also encompasses the traumatic years of the First World War with unbearable episodes of loss, trauma and grief. Theo feels she is being punished over and over and certainly the traumatic events of her marriage show that she is a victim of tragedy and yet she is also strong and stoical and is, undeniably, the pivot on which the books turns. Toby, comes across as less likeable, his indecisive nature is a burden he carries, and yet he is as deeply traumatised by past events as Theo.

Beautifully written, with a fine eye for historical detail and fascinating characters, it’s perfectly possible to read The Echo of Loss without having first read The Promise of Wonder however, as with any series it’s best to start at the beginning to appreciate the complexity of the story arc and to learn more about the central characters although the author does a great job of explaining what has gone before. The ending of this second book certainly lends itself to a fascinating conclusion as there are still a few loose ends to tidy up.

About the Author

Katherine Webb was born in 1977 and grew up in Hampshire before reading History at Durham University. Her eight novels include three Sunday Times Top Ten Bestsellers, and have been translated into twenty-six languages around the world. Katherine also writes crime fiction under the pen name Kate Webb. She lives in a farmhouse in Devon.

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