We’re delighted to be sharing Elena’s thoughts about A Wartime Secret by Helen Yendall.
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- ASIN : B09LRSDHSB
- Publisher : HQ Digital (14 Jan. 2022)
- Language : English
- File size : 2414 KB
When Maggie’s new job takes her from bombed-out London to grand Snowden Hall in the Cotswolds she’s apprehensive but determined to do her bit for the war effort. She’s also keeping a secret, one she knows would turn opinion against her. Her mother is German: Maggie is related to the enemy.
Then her evacuee sister sends her a worrying letter, missing the code they agreed Violet would use to confirm everything was well, and Maggie’s heart sinks. Violet is miles away; how can she get to her in the middle of a war? Worse, her mother, arrested for her nationality, is now missing, and Maggie has no idea where she is.
As a secret project at Snowden Hall risks revealing Maggie’s German side, she becomes even more determined to protect her family. Can she find a way to get to her sister? And will she ever find out where her mother has been taken?
An emotional and heartbreaking wartime novel for fans of Diney Costeloe, Dilly Court and Mandy Robotham.
Book Review
It’s the middle of WW2 and in London, Maggie is living with her father, alone. Her sister has been sent away as an evacuee and her mother has gone into hiding just in case anyone were to find out that she is German. When Maggie’s job takes her from her office in the city to Snowden Hall in the Cotswolds, Maggie’s life changes dramatically.
Desperate to hear from her sister Violet, she receives a letter from her one day which is unfortunately missing the code that they’d agreed that Violet would add to her letter in order to show that everything is going well. Maggie is beside herself with worry. And where is Mutti, her mother? On top of all this is the constant worry that her colleagues at Snowden Hall will find out that she’s half German.
From the very beginning of A Wartime Secret we are thrown into life in wartime London as Maggie is heading to her first day at a new job. There’s an air raid that makes her late and which adds to her nerves at starting her job. I found Maggie to be quite naïve but likeable and as the story progresses this naïvety turns into strength and determination.
There’s a real sense of the importance of family and in particular during wartime. To Maggie it really is everything and I felt sorry for her as she tried to hide her German roots from her colleagues.
A sense of danger pervades each chapter and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story ended.
I love the style of writing the author has, which makes it so easy to picture the characters and events.
I love historical fiction and this book is no exception.
A fantastic read.
Helen Yendall has had dozens of short stories and a serial published in women’s magazines over the past twenty years and now writes female-focused WW2 novels. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
She studied English and German at Leeds University and has worked in a variety of roles: for a literary festival, a university, a camping club, a children’s charity and in marketing and export sales. But her favourite job is the one she still has: teaching creative writing to adults.
Although a proud Brummie by birth, Helen now lives in the North Cotswolds with her husband and cocker spaniel, Bonnie. When she’s not teaching or writing, she likes reading, swimming, tennis and walking in the beautiful countryside where she lives.