Emma's Review: The Telegram by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

1943, London: Elizabeth Carmichael is rushing to work in her smart army uniform, worrying about her fiancé in the RAF, when she collides with a tall man in the middle of the street. She instantly recognises him from a faded photograph on her mother’s mantlepiece. This chance meeting will change everything Elizabeth thought she knew about herself and her family.

1960, London: Violet Carmichael wipes the dust from her husband Charles’s antique writing desk, and is amazed to find a hidden compartment with diaries nestling inside. As the story of Carmichael’s war years unravel, she is led to an old telegram. Will Violet finally understand the mysteries of her husband’s past – or will the discovery of a tragic secret shatter her family forever? 

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The German Mother by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley  

1941, Germany: There’s a man in uniform outside my door. They’ve come for her. My beautiful little girl is wrenched from our home and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. But I vow to find Clara… no matter what it takes.

Minki Sommer strokes the blonde curls away from her daughter’s face and her heart swells. Clara is the most precious thing to her and each day she whispers a promise to keep her safe…

Before the war began, Minki had everything – an attentive husband, three adorable children, and a successful career as journalist. But all that changed in an instant.

Her sweet Clara, with her blue eyes and porcelain features, started having fits. Since then, Minki hasn’t been able to sleep properly because she knows children with illnesses like Clara’s are being stolen away in the night.

Her husband’s connections high up in the Nazi Party make the situation even more dangerous. Minki tries to escape the city with her children, but finds she is unable to leave. And then the moment she’s feared arrives: her husband has betrayed her.

Minki is devastated as her darling girl is ripped from her arms. But she vows she will use every last breath in her body to find her missing child, no matter how dangerous it is to cross a country at war…

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The German Wife by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Germany, 1939: Annaliese is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband Hans has become cold and secretive since starting a new job as a doctor at Dachau. Every morning she watches from her kitchen window as he leaves in his car. The sight of him in the dark uniform of the SS sends shivers of fear down her spine and she longs to escape…

When a tall, handsome Russian prisoner named Alexander is sent from Dachau to work in their garden, lonely Annaliese finds herself drawn to him as they tend to the plants together. In snatched moments and broken whispers, Alexander tells her the shocking truth about the camp. Horrified, Annaliese vows to do everything she can to save him.

But as they grow closer, their feelings for each other put their lives at risk. And Annaliese finds herself in grave danger when she dares to fight for love and freedom…

America, 1989: Turning the pages of the newspaper, Annaliese gasps when she recognizes the face of a man she thought she’d never see again. It makes her heart skip a beat as a rush of wartime memories come flooding back to her. As she reads on, she realizes the past is catching up with her. And she must confront a decades-old secret – or risk losing her only son…

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Italian Girl by Debbie Rix

 Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Each morning Livia Moretti makes her way from an apartment overlooking Florence’s famous Duomo to a nearby café, where she drinks espresso and reads the newspaper. To the crowds of tourists who pass by, snapping selfies, nothing about Livia will be memorable. She is simply an old lady. They walk on without knowing the part she played in ensuring the future of this beautiful city. And to Livia now, those dark days feel very far away too.

But today, when she opens the paper, she sees a name she has not heard for a long time. A name that will bring memories flooding back of Nazi troops marching through the city and the dangers she faced as a young woman, carrying out secret missions for the resistance.

Isabella Bellucci.

A siren of the silver screen, Isabella cultivated all the right connections to ensure her rise to stardom. But when Rome falls to the Nazis, Isabella is suddenly faced with the choice between protecting herself, and all she has worked for, or sacrificing everything to save the man she loves.

As the war rages across Europe, a terrible misunderstanding causes the fates of Isabella and Livia to become forever intertwined. And each woman must decide what they’re willing to risk, to protect the ones they hold dear from a brutal enemy. 

Amazon Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

2018: When ninety-four-year-old Imogen receives a letter addressed to her in neat, unfamiliar handwriting, she notices the postmark is stamped from Germany – and it sends shivers down her spine…

1939: Thirteen-year-old Magda is devastated by the loss of her best friend, shy and gentle Lotte, cruelly snatched from her and sent to a concentration camp – the Star of David sewn on her faded, brown coat. As the Nazi’s power takes hold, Magda realizes she’s not like the other girls in her German village - she hates the fanatical new rules of the Hitler Youth. So Magda secretly joins The White Rose Movement and begins to rebel against the oppressive, frightening world around her.

But when an English RAF pilot lands in a field near Magda’s home she is faced with an impossible choice: to risk the lives of her family or to save a stranger and make a difference in the war she desperately wants to end. Little does she know, her actions will have the power to change the life of another girl, on the other side of enemy lines, forever…

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: The Photograph by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Italy, 1958: Rachael is a young widow with a small child. After a lifetime of running for survival, of not knowing who to trust and where to call home, she finds herself in a place of safety. On a sun-drenched Italian island for one carefree summer the troubles of her past fade away and she falls in love. But will Rachael’s new-found happiness bring her further heartache?

England, 2017: Sophie has a handsome husband, a gorgeous house in the English countryside and a successful career as an anthropologist. But the one thing she longs for is a baby of her own. As she struggles to conceive, cracks begin to appear in her marriage. So Sophie throws herself into her work and tries to seek comfort in childhood memories of her beloved grandmother Rachael. 

One afternoon, Sophie finds a forgotten letter and an exquisite silk bracelet hidden in Rachael’s old writing desk. Intrigued, she begins to unravel the extraordinary story of her grandmother’s past - and a secret that has the power to change everything…

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Silk Weaver's Wife by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

2017: Millie wants more from her relationship and more from her life. So when her boss Max abruptly ends their affair, she takes the opportunity to write a feature in Italy.

Staying in a gorgeous villa, Millie unexpectedly falls in love with the owner, Lorenzo. Together they begin to unravel an incredible story, threaded through generations of silk weavers. 

And Millie finds herself compelled to discover the identity of a mysterious woman in a portrait…

1704: Anastasia is desperate to escape her controlling and volatile father and plans to marry in secret. But instead of the life she has dreamed of, she finds herself trapped in Venice, the unwilling wife of a silk weaver.

Despite her circumstances, Anastasia is determined to change her fate…

Amazon link: Kindle 

Emma's Review: Daughters of the Silk Road by Debbie Rix

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

'She crossed over to the shelf where her father kept the dragon vase. He had placed it there when they first arrived in Venice. She took it down carefully, feeling it cool and comforting under her shaking fingers.’ 

Venice 1441: Maria and her brother Daniele arrive in the birthplace of their father, Niccolo dei Conti. An Italian merchant who has travelled far and wide, Niccolo has brought spices from India, lengths of silk and damask from the lands east of India and porcelain; a vase of pure white, its surface decorated with a cobalt blue dragon, the Chinese symbol of good fortune. 

Maria settles in her new home, watching the magnificent and bustling city come to life each morning from her bedroom window. But while her father is away travelling, she soon finds herself and Daniele in terrible danger. She must protect her brother at whatever cost, and she must guard the delicate vase. 

London 2015: Single mother Miranda is struggling to make ends meet and build a new life for her and daughter Georgie. When Miranda meets the charming but mysterious Charles, she is intrigued. Could he be her second chance at love? And why is he so fascinated by the old vase sitting on her hall table… 

Amazon link: Kindle

Author Interview: Debbie Rix

This morning I'm delighted to welcome author Debbie Rix to the blog to talk about her debut novel Secrets of the Tower which Emma reviewed earlier this week.  After reading Secrets of the Tower Emma was given the chance to ask Debbie a few questions to discover a little more about her novel and writing process. 

Two women, centuries apart, bound together by the secrets of one of the most iconic buildings ever created. 

Pisa, 1999
Sam Campbell sits by her husband’s hospital bed. Far from home and her children, she must care for Michael who is recovering from a stroke. A man she loves deeply. A man who has been unfaithful to her. Alone and in need of distraction, Sam decides to pick up Michael’s research into the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Immersing herself in the ancient city, she begins to piece together the mystery behind the creation of the tower, and discovers the woman that history forgot… 

Pisa, 1171 
Berta di Bernardo, the wife of a rich merchant, sits in her chamber, dressing for a dinner party. A gathering that will change the course of her life and that of a young master mason, Gerardo, forever. 

A strong, intelligent woman, Berta’s passion for architecture draws her to Gerardo. As she embarks on a love affair, her maid Aurelia also becomes spellbound by the same man. Yet for Berta, her heart’s desire is to see the Tower built, and her determination knows no bounds… 

Can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel  Debbie ? 
Secrets of the Tower tells the story of Berta di Bernardo – a widow who left the money to build the Tower of Pisa. The novel is set in two time periods – 1170 when Berta was alive, and 1999 – the year the Tower was finally re-opened after engineering work had been completed to make the Tower safe at last.   I have two heroines – Berta of course, and a modern heroine Sam Campbell, a journalist married to a TV producer who has a stroke whilst making a film about the Tower. Living in Pisa, caring for her sick husband she is drawn to the story he was researching. The narrative interweaves the stories of these two powerful women and explores the complexities of their lives.  Both wrestle with loving a man other than their husbands but they are bound together by something more – a passion for the Tower.

Did you always want to write historical fiction?
No – I don’t think I did to be honest. I think my inclination was to write about the present day.  But there was something about the story of Berta di Bernardo that compelled me to write about her.  I’m now a complete convert. Historical fiction enables the writer to learn so much about a period as you research it and hopefully pass that on to the reader.

Guest Book Review: Debbie Rix - Secrets of the Tower

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Two women, centuries apart, bound together by the secrets of one of the most iconic buildings ever created.

Pisa, 1999
Sam Campbell sits by her husband’s hospital bed. Far from home and her children, she must care for Michael who is recovering from a stroke. A man she loves deeply. A man who has been unfaithful to her. Alone and in need of distraction, Sam decides to pick up Michael’s research into the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Immersing herself in the ancient city, she begins to piece together the mystery behind the creation of the tower, and discovers the woman that history forgot… 

Pisa, 1171 
Berta di Bernardo, the wife of a rich merchant, sits in her chamber, dressing for a dinner party. A gathering that will change the course of her life and that of a young master mason, Gerardo, forever. 

A strong, intelligent woman, Berta’s passion for architecture draws her to Gerardo. As she embarks on a love affair, her maid Aurelia also becomes spellbound by the same man. Yet for Berta, her heart’s desire is to see the Tower built, and her determination knows no bounds… 

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback