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The Girl From The Resistance by Imogen Matthews

Oct13

Extraordinary Bravery

The Girl From The Resistance by Imogen Matthews is a powerful historical novel. It is the first book in The Dutch Girls series which promises to be fabulous.

The reader enters Nazi-occupied Holland as we follow a brave young woman who refuses to sit back and do nothing. Her heart goes out to her Jewish neighbours as she is determined to make a difference.

When thrown in at the deep end we either sink or swim. The leading lady chooses to swim. She taps into a hidden strength and goes above and beyond what she felt she was capable of. She is determined to follow through on her promise to protect two young sisters after their parents were taken. She has a strong inner core.

We see extraordinary acts of bravery by ordinary people. The resistance draws many in, in order to help smuggle Jewish people or to sabotage the Nazis plans.

It is tense at times as action happens in the dead of night under the noses of the Nazis. My heart rate definitely rose.

There is love and loyalty with no thought to personal safety.

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The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith

Oct7

Totally Gripping

The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith is a totally gripping contemporary psychological thriller that I just could not put down.

Everyone grieves differently. A group of friends meet up one year after the death of a friend and sister, to remember her. All seem sincere in their grief – but at least one of them is lying.

The story is told mainly from the victim’s twin sister Sienna’s point of view and also in the form of a diary written by her late twin. Sienna has felt guilty since her sister died – but now she is angry and determined to seek out the truth.

Friends turn out to not be as true as they first seem. Covering up crimes in order to preserve the face of a company seems more important than letting the truth come to light.

Much of the tale is set on a remote wooded mountain in an isolated cabin. The landscape and the elements mirror the torments within. As a heated situation gets more and more out of control, the reader’s heartrate ramps up. Can anyone take control? Will the truth ever be known?

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The Secret Photograph by Siobhan Curham

Oct4

The Peacock & The Fire

The Secret Photograph by Siobhan Curham is the most powerful historical novel that consumed my every waking moment.

The novel is mainly set in Paris during World War II. There are also chapters set in 1985. Paris’ lights dim under Nazi occupation. It was a time of great cruelty with round-ups happening daily.

Against this backdrop we meet a brave, young female photographer who one day captures an image that spoke to her heart. It inspired her to become part of the resistance. The Secret Photograph tells her story.

We witness the abominable cruelty. Life was not sacred but cruelly snuffed out in an instant by the Nazis. Children were not treasured but slaughtered. The resistance grew as people held on to the hope that one day the Nazis would be defeated and the lights of Paris would shine once more.

There were still those characters who were larger than life, incredibly brave and retained an air of joie de vivre as they flamboyantly protested against the Nazis, offering a solidarity with the Jews. The vitality of Peacock has been perfectly captured by the author. He springs to life from the pages of the book.

Lives were snuffed out in an instant – lives not only blighted today, but future hopes and dreams gone. “They are stealing people’s lives and dreams.”

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A Child For Sale by Pam Howes

Sep19

Heart Wrenching

A Child For Sale by Pam Howes is a powerful, heart wrenching dual timeline novel that has its roots in fact. This novel will tug on your heart strings. It will make you angry at what happened and was deemed acceptable in the past. And it will make you feel grateful that we treat others with more tolerance today.

The action is set in1964 and 2015 in Cheshire and Manchester as we follow two couples who are celebrating forty nine years of marriage in 2015. One pair are childhood sweethearts, the other couple were thrown together by adversity.

In 1964 we follow the fortunes of the young girls who were unmarried mothers and found themselves admitted (by their heartless and judgmental families) to a home for unmarried mothers, run by Catholic nuns. We witness the daily cruelty and the harsh conditions as babies were whisked away to be adopted or sold. It was an abomination and one in which the girls (even if they had loving partners) were completely powerless.

For fifty years, hearts have remained broken, always searching, never healing. A gruesome discovery in 2015 (when renovations begin on an old house) re-open old wounds and a desire to find lost babies. Significant advances in DNA testing and social media re-ignite hope in long broken hearts.

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