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When We Were Innocent by Kate Hewitt

Apr12

Emotionally Draining

When We Were Innocent by Kate Hewitt is a powerful and heart breaking dual timeline novel.

This is a book that will mess with your emotions as we follow a character through a myriad of emotions as her gentle father is charged with Nazi war crimes. All she has ever known about her father is in opposition and comes crashing down. “This is my dad, and I love him. I know I do, even if it’s hard. Even if I’m not sure I should anymore.” Her love for her father is in conflict.

The novel is set in 1942 – 1943 in Sobibor and also in present day America. It alternates chapters between the time periods and the voices – her father in 1942 and the leading lady in present day. The story is told in the first person so we get to know the characters intimately, their emotions and their fears.

We witness a life unravel in 1942 as choices are made with disastrous consequences. Undoing one’s choices was not possible under Nazi rule. “He made choices … Everyone must face the consequences of their actions.” A character has lived with his choices for seventy years. He kept silent but his guilt remains.

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The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh

Apr12

Closing The Circle

The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh is a marvellous dual timeline novel that delighted my senses as the past explodes to life.

The story links events in 1900 with present day and the dawn of time, as the reader accompanies the characters to an archeological dig in Crete. In both time periods the characters stay in the same house and visit the dig of Arthur Evans who was a real life person. Fact and fiction collide to weave a terrific tale.

In both time periods the leading ladies are escaping lives in Britain to heal from trauma. Both have been either physically and/or mentally abused and duped by men. In modern day we see the leading lady believing that the abuse is somehow her fault and that he will not do it again. There are some hard to read scenes as the reader realizes the state of the relationship before the character.

Both leading ladies are linked by dreams as voices from the past call to them.

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The Woman Outside The Walls by Suzanne Goldring

Mar30

The Price Of Silence

The Woman Outside The Walls by Suzanne Goldring is a powerful dual timeline novel that I just could not put down. It is a story that needs to be told in memory of the six million innocents, a quarter of which were children.

The novel is set in Germany mainly during World War II and in London in 2016. The young girl in the war has become the ninety year old in 2016. She has a life full of guilt and regrets, hiding a dreadful secret over the years. Her life has been a series of identities and fearful of a knock on the door. We could blame her youth for her silence, but we all have choices to make and innately know what is wrong and what is right. Innocent questions from a young teen, studying World War II send her back down the years.

The chapters alternate the time periods and voices to tell the tale. The narrative is powerful. We see that not all Germans were Nazis, but to remain silent was to condone events.

Suzanne Goldring shows the innocence and loyalty of childhood as two four year olds in 1929 Germany played quite happily together, even after the Nuremburg Laws were passed. Friendship not religion mattered until innocence is eroded by a disappearance.

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A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James

Mar30

Enchanting

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James is an enchanting dual timeline novel about love and life, guilt and grief, and memories that keep us warm at night.

The story is set in the summer of 1981 when the country was gripped by Royal Wedding fever, and also in the 1920’s moving forwards. We see the action in both the first and third person from alternating points of view.

We witness the passion for creating gardens that sees a character feeling at one with nature. And there is also a grande passion that not even death can break. Life is for living. We need to make the most of each day because we never know when life will be cruelly cut short.

There is a beautiful friendship between two ladies that has lasted almost a lifetime. Over the years they have shared each other’s confidences and kept each others secrets.

Guilt rears its ugly head as characters live with the fear that their individual actions caused a tragedy many years ago. Guilt binds us. We need to throw off the shackles and live free.

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