Emma's Review: The Key to the Island House by Amanda Lees

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Egypt, 1942. After her husband and baby son are killed, Nadia flees to Villa Eden in Cairo. The gorgeous scents of the blooms and calming water garden soothe her aching heart… and give her the strength to keep fighting.

With a group of other young Europeans at the villa, she works undercover against the Nazi threat to Egypt. Friendships form as they host extravagant parties for ambassadors and generals – and gather vital information whispered in quiet corners.

Until betrayal snatches yet another person she loves from Nadia. And the villa’s high walls may be the only place to keep a dark wartime secret safe…

Cairo, present day. After the death of her fiancé, Sophie arrives in Egypt, clutching an old photograph of her aunt. Sophie always loved her stories, but all Aunt Nadia would say about the villa was that she could never return.

Sophie hopes that solving the mysteries of her aunt’s past will help her deal with all the loss in her life. But when she finds a note in her aunt’s handwriting, tucked in the villa’s library, it seems Nadia has lied to her for her whole life…

Sophie is left questioning everything. Will the truth from the war tear her apart, just as it did her aunt? Or will facing these secrets help heal not just her own heartbreak, but also one from decades ago?

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Emma's Review: The President's Wife by Anna Stuart

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Eleanor Roosevelt takes a deep breath. She knew this day was coming but now that it’s here she needs every ounce of courage to face it. She’s stood by Franklin’s side through thirty years of marriage and three terms in the White House but entering the war that’s been raging across the world will be their greatest challenge yet.

Eleanor watches thousands of women as they embrace their husbands for what could be the last time before they go off to war. She knows she needs to put aside the troubles in her own relationship for the sake of the country. But will the latest threat to her marriage finally tear her and Franklin apart?

The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. This is a moment that history will never forget, and all eyes are on them. Will Eleanor succeed in her role as the president’s wife and help to save her beloved country as well as her marriage? Or will tragedy strike before the war is won…?

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Emma's Review: The Last War Orphan by Jenna Ness

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 1940. Lucie is the last child left at St Agnes’ Orphanage when the building is taken over by German soldiers. Forced to cook and clean for the men using her beloved home as their headquarters, she has stifled her instinct to rebel, instead scrubbing floors in the silent halls that were once filled with warmth and laughter. But when she finds a tiny baby bundled up in blankets on the front step, everything changes…

Desperate to protect the child, Lucie finds an unlikely ally in one of the officers living at the orphanage. From the moment he steps in to shield her from a group of soldiers threatening her on the street, she can tell that Klaus is different. There’s an unexpected warmth in his smile, and the quiet kindness he shows her and the baby is a world away from the cold indifference she is used to.

But Klaus has a secret. And when Lucie discovers that he has been helping the Parisian resistance efforts against the Nazis, her heart leaps at his bravery, but aches at the terrible danger he is in. Holding the baby close, they run for their lives in the dead of night, desperate to start a new life together. But before they reach safety, they hear shouts behind them… Will they make it to freedom? Or will their love story be stamped out before it’s even begun?

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Emma's Review: The Lost Garden by Angela Petch

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

It hides a family secret that could change the course of the war.

Italy, 1930s. Tina lives in the crumbling castle of Montesecco with only her strict father and their maid, Allegra, for company. She’s never been allowed to ask questions about her mother, who died in childbirth. But the day Tina discovers a hidden, crumbling door, everything changes.

Inside is an overgrown garden. Ivy and roses adorn the stone walls. Fresh water springs from a fountain and the scent of wild herbs fills the air. How did she never know this beautiful place existed? Excitedly begging Allegra for answers, the elderly woman’s face turns pale. ‘You must never mention this to your father. It’s not safe. You’ve found your mamma’s garden.’

The Count believes Tina’s mother died because of the garden: but Allegra refuses to say more. Certain she can feel her mother watching over her, Tina secretly tends to the garden herself. And when war breaks out, Tina’s encounters with local resistance fighters mean the garden becomes a place of refuge, a place of hope – and a place of great danger when Tina must prove where her loyalties lie once and for all…

Will Tina ever discover the truth about her mother? Or was the garden, with all its secrets, never meant to be disturbed?

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Emma's Review: A Baby for the Homefront Girls by Susanna Bavin

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

When Betty and her best friend Sally discover a baby tucked in a blanket amongst the rubble at the Manchester Salvage Depot, they can barely believe their eyes. As Betty holds the baby in her arms, she feels a familiar longing stir in her chest. Might she and her husband be allowed to care for this abandoned child, and create the family they have always longed for?

Sally is shocked when she realizes she too has news: she’s pregnant and the two friends begin planning for the new arrival. But with her husband Andrew serving overseas, and Sally’s health a cause for concern, she must do everything she can to care for the precious life inside her.

When the grandparents of the abandoned baby are found, Betty’s heart breaks. She has grown to love this child as if she was her own, and she’ll do whatever it takes to provide a safe home for this baby. Then Sally’s health takes a dramatic turn for the worst, and an anxious night is spent waiting for news as the residents of Star House rally to support one another.

With two precious lives to fight for, the future feels more perilous than ever before. Will Betty finally become the mother she has always wanted to be? And will Sally be able to give her husband the most precious homecoming gift of all?

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