Emma's Review: A New World for the Irish Daughter by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

San Francisco, 1893: When Maggie O’Halloran steps off the train in California, she knows she must be brave for her friend Brendan and her brother Danny. Having fled both New York and Chicago, they all have broken spirits and fear having to start again. Can Maggie find courage and strength for them all?

Maggie soon finds a boarding house that will take them in. In a lively part of town, and with a colourful clientele, it is not somewhere she ever imagined staying. Until one night when they are woken by a distressing cry, and Maggie finds herself assisting a doctor to save a young woman’s life.

Working through the night by candlelight, Maggie realises this may be her true calling. When the doctor asks if she would consider training as a nurse, she says yes immediately, hopeful she might have finally found her purpose in life. Will this now give her the courage to tell Brendan how she truly feels?

But before she can risk her heart, Brendan reveals that Danny is in trouble once more. They are leaving at dawn for Alaska to mine for gold, and Maggie is both shocked and heartbroken. Should she stay, and continue the work that has given her life such meaning? Or should she sacrifice everything, and follow those she loves even further into the unknown?

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Emma's Review: A New Home for the Irish Daughter by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Chicago, 1892: Maggie O’Halloran knows she is lucky to have escaped New York City with her life, after a notorious gang threatened her and her brother. Now, twisting the wedding ring on her finger, she knows her friend Brendan O’Donoghue’s plan to pretend to be married is sensible. But can she really pretend to be his wife when she doesn’t love him with her whole heart?

Walking Chicago’s cobbled streets, Maggie is more resolved than ever to rebuild her life and when she secures a job at the famous department store, Marshall Field & Company, she is delighted. But when ghosts of her past appear in the millinery department, she knows her true identity could be revealed at any moment, and her dreams once more reduced to ash.

When a chance encounter leads to Maggie making hats for Chicago’s World’s Fair, her desire to become fully independent feels closer than ever. But as gossip swirls about her relationship with her benefactor, can Maggie keep her head held high in this city she now calls home?

When Brendan finds himself in a perilous situation, Maggie’s courage is tested more than ever before. With danger looming, can she and Brendan survive it together? Or will they once more need to flee their home to find safety, and a chance to begin again? 

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Emma's Review: The Irish Daughter of New York by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

New York City, 1891: Stepping off the boat she boarded in Ireland, Maggie O’Halloran’s heart is filled with hope for this brave new world. But when her father isn’t waiting at the docks as planned, her excitement vanishes with the terrible realization she and her brother Danny are utterly alone—homeless, penniless and without a friend in the world.

Life on the Lower East Side is hard and grindingly poor, but Maggie is determined to survive. As she gazes longingly into the windows of Manhattan’s famous department stores, she dreams of owning her own millinery shop and becoming independent at last. And when fellow Irishman Brendan O’Donoghue offers her and Danny refuge, Maggie finally feels hope for their future.

Finding work with a wealthy family on the Upper East Side, Maggie’s dreams begin to feel closer than ever before. But just as her fortunes finally change, her brother’s involvement with a notorious New York gang brings terrible danger to both her and Brendan’s doors. Facing a heartbreaking decision, can Maggie save her brother and protect the new life she’s built? Or will the American dream she has held so close to her heart be lost forever?

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Emma's Review: The Girl Who Never Gave Up by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Germany, 1939: When Rachel Blau’s husband Franz is released from Dachau, she barely recognizes the man she married. But she knows in order to keep him safe they must leave the country they call home and pray a life far from the Nazis will heal him. Until he is better, she must be brave for both of them…

As Jewish refugees in the Netherlands, terrified and without a word of Dutch, Rachel and Franz watch helplessly as the Germans march closer to the border. And after the Nazis invade, they are forced, with the help of courageous Corrie ten Boom and her family, to hide from the Gestapo. Then their worst fears are realized when they are sent to a camp and—with a final whispered “I love you”—separated.

In the darkness that night, Rachel makes a wondrous yet terrifying discovery. Brushing a hand over her stomach, she realizes she has more than just a memory of her husband. In a heartbeat, she becomes determined to survive for the sake of her unborn child. But with the Nazis showing no sign of defeat, how will she protect the precious life inside her?

If the guards discover her secret, Rachel knows her baby will not live. But if she manages to smuggle her newborn from the camp, there is a chance her baby will survive. With tears streaming down her face, Rachel clasps her newborn tightly to her chest. Can she find the strength to give her longed-for child to strangers? And if she lets her baby be taken from her arms, how will she ever find her again?

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Emma's Review: The Girl Who Risked it All by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

France, 1939: When Jewish refugee Hannah Lerner and her beloved younger sister Lotte arrive in a small French town alone, with no family to turn to, Hannah takes her sister’s trembling hands in hers and promises they will not be separated, no matter what…

But when a children’s home offers refuge to Lotte, Hannah has no choice. To keep her sister safe, she has to let her go. And as she leaves Lotte weeping at the gates, she vows that one day they will be together again. Terrified and alone, Hannah is soon rescued by Michel, a charming Frenchman who welcomes her into his home. As the weeks pass, his warm smile and deep brown eyes slowly make Hannah trust in kindness again.

But when Michel is sent to the frontlines, Hannah’s heart shatters once more. And when a local Nazi officer identifies her as Jewish, she knows she has precious time to flee. Travelling south, she resolves to fight back against the Nazis. When she is approached by the Resistance, Hannah is determined to do what is right.

Soon Hannah hears of a plot that puts her sister and so many other innocent lives in danger. She knows she must act quickly, but with time running out and her own life at risk, how far is Hannah prepared to go to save those she loves most?

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Emma's Review: The Girl with a Secret by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Germany, 1939: When Rosa Herzelfeld boards the SS St Louis, she doesn’t believe its promise of freedom. Surely there can be no escape from the Nazis, not even on the other side of the world. Besides, she knows that no matter how far she travels, there is no escaping her past…

When the ship is refused entry to Cuba, Rosa finds herself penniless and alone in England. Desperately trying to make this strange country home, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But when she meets fellow refugee Peter, she is surprised by how quickly his gentle smile and warm brown eyes help her forget the horrors she left behind.

As their affection deepens, Rosa grows fearful. Should she tell Peter about the terrible decisions she was forced to make to survive in Germany, or simply pray he never finds out? Deep down, she begins to realise that she must tell him the truth…

But before she can, Rosa is sent to a remote internment camp on the Isle of Man. And when fate finally reunites her with Peter, her past is threatening to catch up with her. With time running out before her secret is revealed, Rosa must make an impossible choice…

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Emma's Review: The Girl on the Boat by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Sophie Weiss boards the SS St Louis, she has no reason to stay in Germany. The Nazis have taken everything from her, and her only hope is escape. But when she meets fellow Jewish refugees Rosa, Hannah and Rachel on board, the friendship they form gives Sophie hope that there can be happiness in her future, after all.

But their worst fears are realized when the boat is refused entry at a port they thought would be safe. Terrified of being sent back to Europe, the women cling together and desperately wait for news. At last, word reaches the ship that a friend of Sophie’s father is willing to take her in — but there is only room for her.

Quickly, Sophie unpicks the lining of her coat, revealing her late mother’s emerald hidden in the lining. She hands a piece of the precious stone to each of her friends, and the women promise to meet in Paris when this nightmare is over.

Watching the SS St Louis grow smaller on the horizon, Sophie’s heart breaks. How can she embrace her freedom when those she loves face an unknown fate? And what can she do to help them? Gripping her emerald with a fierce determination, she fixes her eyes on the boat: I will find a way to help you, no matter what…

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Emma's Review: The Inn on Bluebell Lane by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Ellie and her family move to a tiny village in rural Wales to run her husband’s family inn, it’s meant to be a new beginning for all of them. Having left their troubles behind in America, Ellie has high hopes for a fresh start, and a chance for her family to forget the stress of the last year.

But when they arrive, Ellie realizes everything is in a far worse state than she’d imagined. And as her husband, Matthew, begins to tackle the renovations before the guests arrive, stripping flowered wallpaper and sanding floorboards, he becomes even more distant. Ellie had hoped being back in Wales would help him recover, but if anything he seems more haunted than ever. Is there something he’s not telling her? As Ellie tries and fails to reconnect to him, dodging pots of paint and ladders, she finds herself feeling lonelier.

As things go from bad to worse with the renovations, Ellie’s reality feels a million miles away from the rural bliss she had imagined for her family. Why did she think a run-down inn would be the place to reignite her marriage?

But as she stares out at the rolling fields beyond the windows, she can’t let go of the feeling that the Inn on Bluebell Lane needs her family to restore its fortunes, and that this magical place might bring the husband she remembers back to her once more…

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Emma's Review: The Angel of Vienna by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

As bombs fall over Europe, Hannah Stern is a twenty-seven-year-old nurse, who is just trying to survive. When she takes a position at Vienna’s esteemed psychiatric hospital, Am Steinhof, she thinks it will take her away from the danger.

Her estranged half-brother has arranged the job for her on the condition that she must take his son, Willi there too. He insists it’s a place where Willi will be safe. And Hannah soon forms a close bond with the sweet, fragile child in her care.

At first the hospital seems like a safe haven—a beautiful, airy, spacious place of healing and recovery. But the hospital is a place of secrets. And they are darker than Hannah could ever have imagined. Children, ones just like Willi, are disappearing—not to be healed as promised, but taken somewhere else. Somewhere terrible.

And when Willi’s own life comes under threat—in spite of her half-brother’s position of power in the Nazi military—Hannah must overcome her own fears and act. Then she discovers one of the other nurses is also trying to help patients escape, and Hannah becomes determined to help in any way she can.

But she is only one person up against the enemy. And to save even just one life from the grip of the Nazis, she must risk her own…

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Emma's Review: Beyond the Olive Grove by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Ava arrives in Greece, it’s with a heart that’s shattered into a thousand pieces. But as she pulls up in a tiny village nestled on a cliff above the glittering Ionian Sea, and steps out in front of a tumbledown house that once belonged to her grandmother Sophia, everything changes.

At first Ava almost wants to laugh at this bizarre inheritance—a home that has been uninhabited since the Second World War—that appears as close to collapse as she herself feels. But with nowhere left to run to, her only choice is to start putting the house together again.

What Ava doesn’t expect is for pieces of her grandmother’s story to emerge, as a local survivor from the war begins to share her secrets. Ava can’t help but be drawn to Sophia’s hidden past… even though the truth could change her own life forever.

Because Sophia’s story is one of devastating choices she had to make during the Nazi invasion of her beloved country. It’s a story of bravery, betrayal and tragedy. But most of all, it is a story about love…

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Emma's Review: The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Johanna, Birgit and Lotte Eder have always lived quiet lives, working in their father’s clockmaking shop and helping their mother in the house. But like many other Austrians, they find it impossible to ignore the changes in the world around them.

At first Johanna finds it hard to believe the Nazis pose a real threat. But then her father hires Franz to help in his shop. He’s kind and soulful, with dark eyes that twinkle with intelligence. But he’s Jewish, and as Johanna falls for him, she realizes that loving him puts them all in danger.

Then comes the Anschluss—the reunification of Austria and Germany under Nazi rule. The three sisters’ lives have become ever more separate with Lotte joining the convent at Nonnberg Abbey and Birgit’s secret involvement with the Resistance. But as Johanna realizes how mistaken she was about the level of danger, she begins to see that it may be down to her to protect the man she loves.

She knows that she can’t do it alone though. She will have to turn to the people she trusts the most: her sisters.

The three of them work together to try to get Franz to the safety of Switzerland, and they soon prove invaluable to the Resistance. But they’re risking everything. Can three women who would die for each other, also be prepared to die for what is right?

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Emma's Review: The Girl from Berlin by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

“I just want to be free,” Rosa said quietly, “Even if only for a few minutes. It might be the last chance I have.”

From her beautiful new home in Berlin, a young woman named Liesel Scholz barely notices the changes to the city around her. Her life is one of privilege and safety thanks to her father’s job working for the new government.

But a chance encounter with Rosa, the daughter of their Jewish housekeeper, confirms Liesel’s fears that something isn’t right. That the Nazi government’s brutal rules are cruel and dangerous, and that others aren’t as safe as she is. When Rosa begs Liesel to help—pressing her grandfather’s gold pocket watch into Liesel’s hand—Liesel recklessly agrees.

She will help hide Rosa and her loved ones—in the dusty, unused rooms at the top of their house—even if it means putting everyone she loves in danger. Even if it means risking her own life.

Frankfurt, 1946: An idealistic American captain, Sam Houghton, arrives in Germany to interrogate prominent Nazis on trial and to help rebuild a battered country. When he hires an enigmatic, damaged interpreter named Anna, he doesn’t expect sparks to fly between them. Perhaps there is a chance of love for both of them. But then the question of what happened to Anna in the war raises its head.

Because Anna has secrets—ones that link her to Berlin, the Nazi party, and the story of one gold pocket watch and two young women who became friends, even when they were told it was impossible…

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Emma's Review: Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

1944, London:
When Lily meets enigmatic GI Matthew in war-torn London, she doesn’t expect to fall in love. While her sister starts a reckless affair with another GI, Lily tries to hide her growing feelings for Matthew.

But Matthew has a devastating secret. One that could change their lives forever.

Present day, USA:
Abby lives a quiet life on an apple farm in Wisconsin. Tormented by survivor’s guilt after the tragic deaths of her mother and brother, Abby leaves the orchards as little as possible, keeping her life small, peaceful and safe… Until she is contacted by Englishman Simon Elliot, who arrives nursing a heartbreak of his own, and bearing a World War Two medal that he claims belonged to Abby’s grandfather.

Together they begin to piece together the heartbreaking story of their relatives’ war. But as the story brings Abby and Simon closer—tentatively beginning to lean on one another to heal—they uncover a dark secret from the past.

And like Lily and Matthew nearly eighty years before them, it will make Abby and Simon question whether you can ever truly trust someone, even when they have your heart…

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Guest Book Review: Kate Hewitt - Rainy Day Sisters

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Lucy Bagshaw's life falls apart she accepts her half-sister Juliet's invitation to stay with her in a charming village in the beautiful Lake District. Lucy is expecting quaint cottages and cream teas, but instead finds that her sister is an aloof host, the weather is wet, windy and cold and her new boss, Alex Kincaid, is a disapproving widower who only hired her as a favour to Juliet. But despite their differences and with the help of quirky villagers, these hesitant rainy day sisters begin to forge a new understanding - and find in each other the love of family.

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