Reviewed by Emma Crowley
England, 1940. When Rose sees a parachute crash into the woods behind her house she rushes to help. Finding an injured young soldier, Rose’s first instinct is to care for him. As she pushes the hair back from his handsome face, Rose feels an instant connection. But when he speaks, her blood turns to ice.
His name is Walter, he’s German and he’s an involuntary spy. He wants to turn himself in, even if it means he’ll be executed. As the pair share stories of their hopes and dreams after the war is over and their feelings begin to deepen, Rose knows she has to do whatever she can to save Walter’s life. Hiding him in an abandoned cottage in the woods, Rose prays he will be safe.
But after hearing the Germans are planning a deadly attack, Walter disappears and Rose fears the worst. Has he been discovered by the British, or has he been taken by the Germans and shot for desertion? With her heart in pieces Rose must decide – if she really loves Walter, how much will she sacrifice to save his life?
1990. When Emma unexpectedly inherits a cottage in the middle of a forest from her Great Aunt Rose, she wonders how anyone could live in such isolation. Searching the house for clues about the aunt she never knew, she’s shocked to discover old bones carefully wrapped in cloth, hidden in the cellar. As Emma begins to unravel the connection to Rose, will everything she has ever known about her family change forever?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Her Secret Soldier to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Her Secret Soldier is the debut historical fiction novel from Julie Hartley. It’s told in the dual timeline format and this works really well throughout the book. The story opens with a brief prologue that definitely aroused my interest as a woman named Rose arrives in London during the Blitz. She is following a man and instantly I wanted to know who the man was? Why was Rose following him and why is there a significant focus on the word betrayal? From this point on, the plot deftly moved back and forth between 1940 and 1990 as two stories begin to merge into one. I love books told in this format and this was easy to follow, and everything felt as if it was occurring at a nice and relaxed pace. It’s brilliant to have a story that focuses on a slightly different angle of the war. I read heavily in this genre and at times I can become slightly jaded with the same story being rehashed perhaps with a different character or setting but essentially the same plot is there. Here, a different viewpoint was explored and one which gave much food for thought.
In the present day plot, it is 1990 and Emma lives in Toronto and is married to Mike. There is an uneasiness in her marriage and it soon becomes evident that herself and Mike want different things. He longs to move to the Canadian wilderness. His panic attacks and anxiety are intensified by the city and he craves peace and tranquillity and to connect more with nature. The trips they venture on don’t suffice for him. Whereas Emma loves her job as a journalist and feels the city is the best place to further her career and it is where she feels most comfortable. Emma has decided it's best for herself and Mike to part ways and the timing is perfect for the separation to begin as she has just received a letter. Said letter contains information that will set Emma on a path she had never thought possible as an unusual and exciting story in her family history is about to be opened up. Emma apparently is now the owner of land and a dwelling in England as a Great Aunt Rose, that she never knew existed, has passed away and Emma is the only surviving relative. As Emma’s parents are both dead she can’t find out much information but a vague memory surfaces of her mother saying that her grandmother’s sister left home one day and never returned.
Emma decides to travel to England to see what she has inherited in the hopes that she can sell the land and have enough money to buy Mike out of the condo they share. She is surprised to discover the land is in fact an ancient forest called Silvervale and the dwelling is a cottage in the centre of it. Emma is transfixed by what she discovers and can sense there must be a deeper story at play than at first meets the eye. When she encounters Tristan who has taken up residence at the edge of the forest in a caravan well this really sets the cat amongst the pigeons as a startling discovery is made which makes Emma think selling the land won’t be as easy as she thinks. I enjoyed Emma pulling back the layers to uncover the secrets of the past and specifically what happened to Rose but I would say Rose’s storyline in the past held me in the palm of its hand. At some points regarding Emma’s aspect of the plot it just became a bit too much focused on the magic of the woods and connecting to nature and truthfully it just wasn’t for me even though I could see the message the author was trying to portray but I just wasn’t that bothered with it and wanted more of the historical aspect of the story.
As mentioned above it is Rose and her story that had my attention for whatever chapters that focused on it. Rose has a tough life. Her sister has recently left home and is engaged and working in London as an ARP warden and Rose feels abandoned and left to pick up the pieces. She craves a life of her own but knows that she can’t leave her mother who is very ill. Her stepfather Norman is an utter tyrant who makes their lives a misery and believes Rose’s role is to mind the house and care for her mother. Of course, she would do anything for her mother but Norman is a different story altogether and even though to the villagers working in the police force he is seen as a beacon of light and he does his duty to his country, Rose knows the other side of him. I wanted Rose to stand up for herself and get out there and do what she wanted to do and pursue her painting but given the situation with the war only at its beginning and loyalty to her mother how could this be achieved?
One night as she secretly paints on the beach she sees a Messerschmitt release something into the forest. Curious she ventures into Silverwood Vale which she knows like the back of her hand. It having been her playground since she as a child and as with Emma in the present she feels a strong affinity and connection to it through nature. There amongst the trees is a wounded German soldier, Walter. She releases him and hides him in a cottage in the woods. His story is soon revealed and he claims he is an involuntary spy but how can he be trusted? Here is where the moral aspect of the story comes into play and it really makes you question what would you do if you were in Rose’s situation? Should she stand by her morals and ethics and loyalty to her country in a time of great peril for millions of people? Or should she follow her heart which slowly starts to open up towards Walter and a connection is established. Is she venturing along a line that if once crossed there won’t be any coming back from?
So many questions filter through the reader’s mind and it really is a game of cat and mouse as to whether Walter can truly be trusted or can any word that he utters be taken as gospel. I’ll be honest in that I thought this all happened too quickly that the couple fell in love and were planning for after the war. It was almost as if Rose was so desperate for love and affection and to break free from the shackles that bound her at home that she jumped at the first chance she got. So what if it was a German and they were at war? My conscience wrestled as to whether Rose was doing the right thing and it was good to see her go back and forth with her emotions, loyalty and her heart as new elements to the plot made things more complex not that they were straight forward in the first place. Rose was lovely, brave and compassionate and Walter kind, sensitive and a lover of nature like Rose but was this enough for the pair of them? Will Walter be discovered? Can love that starts off with a divide, weather the storm that it is amidst? You’ll have to read Her Secret Solider to discover the answers.
All in all, I did really enjoy Her Secret Soldier. It was a quick read and a very good debut. Yes, there were one or two things that I found slightly implausible, specifically how could someone evade detection for so long considering how close they were to their original family home and also how did Tristan never meet Rose? There was never really anything specifically mentioned about this to give me a solid answer and even now it still niggles away at me. The ending did feel rushed considering the wonderful story that had been developed. A chapter or two more would have been very welcome as I would have loved for Emma to have been given an opportunity to explain her reasoning and her final stance in even more detail than was provided. It was almost as if the book for some reason needed to be wrapped up in a hurry whereas reading it I would have loved for it to have continued on for slightly longer. But look, these are minor issues which really didn’t detract majorly at all from my enjoyment of the story. I love discovering new authors and certainly Julie Hartley is one to watch out for as she publishes more books as I sense there is a lot more lying in wait to come forth from the pen of the author.
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