Emma's Review: The Sicilian Secret by Angela Petch

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

England, present day. Paige is devastated when her reclusive but beloved Aunt Florence dies – the only family she’s ever known. Inheriting her crumbling cottage, Paige finds an unfinished note. ‘I am sorry, Paige. It’s time to tell you everything. It all began in Sicily…’

Beside the note is a faded envelope – addressed to a woman called Joy – with an Italian postage stamp from 1943. The letter inside is made up of Roman numerals and snippets of sentences written in Italian. But who is Joy? Was someone sending a coded message? Paige is desperate to piece together the truth. But she soon discovers it will change everything she’s ever believed about her aunt, and her family history.

1943. Lady Joy Harrison may have grown up in a manor house, but she’s determined to fight for what’s right and use her fluent Italian to help the Allies. Breaking code on a long night shift, Joy reads a secret message that makes her whole body shake. A dark-eyed young man she once loved is in terrible danger on the shores of Sicily. Was the message sent by him? And will she ever see him again – or will the war tear them apart for good?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Sicilian Secret to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

The Sicilian Secret is easily the best book that Angela Petch has written. It was definitely an engrossing page turner that I read in as few sittings as possible. It’s a dual timeline story set during World War Two and the more modern aspect is set in 1973. The book introduces the reader to Florence who has lived in Squirrels Cottage for many years. She is putting her affairs in order as she knows she hasn’t much time left. She is eager for her niece Paige to arrive as she lots that she wishes to share with her that she should perhaps have already told her. But better late than never as they say. As Florence walks to the local village shop she is hit by a van and is killed. The brief time she had left has been snatched from her. What ever Florence or Aunt Flo as Paige fondly calls her, had to share will remain a secret. Or will it? 

This life changing event for Paige sets in motion a whole new chain of circumstances that lead her on a fascinating journey. When she returns after the funeral to the cottage to try and heal from the trauma of losing the woman who brought her up following the death of her parents she finds a piece of jewellery which has an unusual design and was definitely not made in England that Flo has left to her. A notebook is soon discovered where Flo had attempted to write down what she wished Paige to know but there is scant information within it. A birth certificate is located and the information Paige gleams from it turns her world upside down. The name on it is not one she would have expected and alongside the birth cert is a letter with a Sicilian postmark with details inside which Paige can’t decipher. Having so many unanswered questions and no one to offer the answers she so desperately wants she grabs at the merest of hints and sets out upon a quest to discover who was her mother and in fact her true family. She takes a sabbatical from work and regarding her fiancée Jeremy, well she finally deals with the niggles that have plagued her for some time and soon he is gone from her life. She is free to begin her journey and it takes her to several places and soon a fascinating, incredible and heart-breaking story starts to emerge. 

From this point on the story moves seamlessly back and forth between the past and the present with the past having a more dominant focus which I really didn’t mind at all because it was completely gripping. At times I became so lost in the story of Savio and Joy that I forgot that Paige featured too and I found myself jolted back to her timeline. She was the conduit between the two timelines and a necessary part to the story but I found myself totally caught up with Joy and it was this aspect of the book that I preferred the most. That’s not to say that Paige didn’t go on a journey that was worthwhile. It most certainly was but the details of the war and the romance that emerged and what the characters went through at the time had my attention from beginning to end. Paige worked tirelessly to join the dots together to try and bring her life full circle and find out who she really was and reading about her piecing the puzzle together was very interesting.

Two main characters feature in the timeline set during the war. Savio is British by birth but his parents originally came from Sicily. They have set up a barber shop in London and work hard to make a living in the hopes of one day returning to their beloved island. Savio has been there on holiday and has a deep connection to the island but when war is declared and all Germans and Italians living in Britain are declared as enemy aliens things are not good for his family. Savio is tough, steadfast and loyal to his family but war sees them torn apart. They are sent to the Isle of Man where internment camps had been set up. I had recently read another book where this set up had also featured so I was familiar with the details but still I found it compelling to read about. A disaster sees Savio lose his parents and his fiery Italian spirit comes through which I couldn’t blame him for at all. He certainly had a temper about him and battled hard to control his emotions. His anger and energy was best corralled and centred into something else and he finds himself in trouble but if this had not occurred he would perhaps not have gone on to meet Joy under the circumstances in which he did.

I loved the way the chapters inter flowed between Savio and Joy. Theirs was a brief but intense union the circumstances of how they meet and what they go through I will not go into. Suffice to say they are involved in clandestine essential war work and sealed lips are mentioned for a reason. Savio was such a very well written and developed character that went through a lot of progression and development but getting revenge for the loss of his parents was at the forefront and doing his bit for his heritage and I suppose his true homeland was always at the centre of his mind. When the setting regarding Savio moved to Sicily the story came even more alive than it had already been. I felt I was there alongside him under the hot Italian sun as the tides of war were changing for the Italians. The setting was richly described and you could tell the author had been there and done her research and wanted to get everything down on paper so the reader would feel as if they had had the same experiences. I did have an inkling as to how things would turn out and what connections there were to the modern story and I was correct but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story in any way at all. Without doubt Savio has been one of the best male characters that I have read about in this historical fiction genre in quite some time.

As for Joy she had a totally different upbringing and life experiences from Savio. Born to wealthy parents she resides at Somersby Hall with her mother. She lost her father several years previous to when we meet her and to say her relationship with her mother was not a loving and comfortable one would be an understatement. Her mother Cecelia is cold, uncaring and manipulative and further on in the story she shows her true colours. In fact, I found her to be truly despicable and a woman who should never have had a child. As Somersby Hall is to be requisitioned as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers Joy decides she needs to do her bit for the war effort. She feels guilty being stuck at the hall when everyone else is doing everything in their power to rid the world of Hitler and his army. Joy goes on a very emotional and intriguing journey which sees her put her talents to good use. Her war work was brilliant to read about and again the details given were well researched and helped bring the emotion and dedication of the time to life from the pages. 

Through her time away from the hall she meets Savio and the intensity of their connection radiates from the pages. They are from two completely worlds but when together they are strong and powerful. Their time together leaves an indelible mark on each other and the consequences will be felt for some time. I felt desperately sorry for her in the later half of the book as she battled with emotions and a situation she had no control over. I know what outcome I wanted for her but how this would be achieved I was at pains to try and figure out. I thought she showed such strength, determination and loyalty at a time when all these feelings were called into question. But Angela Petch had everything so carefully plotted out and I felt the last quarter was magnificent as everything started to come together. I loved The Sicilian Secret from beginning to end and would highly recommend it. It’s a fabulous story expertly told and the author had me in her hands right from the opening chapters.