Tag Archive | Sarah Hardy

Her Husband’s Return by Suzanne Goldring

Oct20

If Walls Could Speak

Her Husband’s Return by Suzanne Goldring is a powerful dual timeline novel that consumed me from the start.

The action is set in London during World War II and in present day. Chapters alternate between ‘then’ and ‘now.’ The time periods are linked by a large family home that is being renovated in present day.

If walls could speak, the house would reveal the secrets – but until then, they remain hidden.

Life during World War II was fragile. First Londoners faced the Blitz, and then there were the silent but deadly V1 and V2 rockets. Lives could be snuffed out in an instant. The landscape of London changed as many buildings were demolished.

Large family homes were called upon to house the homeless. The house within the tale echoes with warmth, love and laughter. Friendships are formed that will remain.

Opportunities for women opened up with war. The leading lady, Frankie, becomes an ambulance driver. War, surprisingly, brings freedom for her, and for many. Frankie is no longer shackled to the home and a verbally abusive husband. However, so deep-rooted is the abuse, that in her head, she still hears the words spoken over her by her, now MIA, husband. She is forever ruled by him until the day she finds the courage to live for someone else.

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Secrets Of Villa Eden (The Key To The Island House) by Amanda Lees

Sep25

All For Love

Secrets Of Villa Eden by Amanda Lees is a powerful dual timeline novel that I read in just two sittings.

The action alternates between present day and Cairo in 1943 as a young woman seeks to uncover her aunt’s wartime secrets.

As with many who lived through the war, lips are sealed. We witness the bravery of men and women who were spies seeking to hunt down and eliminate Nazis, as well as looking for the Nazi gold.

In present day, the search for the Nazi gold continues. For some, they just want to lay the past to bed. For others, greed drives them to despicable actions.

Women in both time periods have lost the loves of their life. “She loved him until the day she died, and yet she would never talk about any of it.” The reader’s heart is wrenched as we read; “I see someone whose whole world was shattered but who’s still holding on, doing her best to live for the people she’s lost and to do the right thing.” Both revenge and love have motivated actions.

We see the damage that adults can inflict on children. “I saw the little boy who had spent his whole life trying to fight his way out from under the blanket of shame his parents had cast over him.” In contrast, there are those who love and cherish children.

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The House For Lost Children by Marty Wingate

Sep16

Belonging

The House For Lost Children by Marty Wingate is a powerful historical novel that I enjoyed.

The novel is set during World War II in a large manor house in Suffolk. Following a bomb blast in London, children have been made homeless and are orphans. The kind hearted Lady Louisa Brightman opens her large house to the orphans and their two teachers.

Relationships are strained at first as assumptions and prejudices are made. Characters need to get to know each other in order to be able to work together. First impressions are not always correct. The way that life has treated people affects the way they treat others.

We witness the dreadful effects on one small girl, six-year-old Gracie, of being buried alive for two days, holding onto her dead mother’s hand. This was during the air raid that flattened her London home. She needs love, care and kindness to begin to heal. A beautiful bond is formed with Miss Moffet, the family cat. Giving her a purpose and something to love will help her heal.

Life in the countryside is not without risk as the odd stray German plane threatens to undo months of love and care as old traumas are re-visited.

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The Secret Locket by Catherine Hokin

Jul7

When The World Was Silent

The Secret Locket by Catherine Hokin is a powerful historical novel that I read in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep.

The novel is set in Germany from 1934 to the end of World War II. The action begins in a small village before moving to other locations – Munich, Warsaw, Dachau and more.

Within the village the bully-boy tactics of a powerful man sympathetic to the Nazi party, ruin the lives of the few Jewish residents. We see the power of one man to lie, manipulate, coerce and murder – and the crime of the villagers is to remain silent.

It doesn’t matter that the Jewish family do not practice their faith, their crime is simply being born Jewish. “Nobody would tell her why a faith she rarely practised and rarely thought about had turned overnight into the most important thing about her.”

Catherine Hokin has captured the atmosphere of fear and of liberties being eroded. Far too many fell for Hitler’s lies and had the belief that war was glorious.

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