Emma's Review: The Secret Sister by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

England, 1944: As Lizzie looks around her twin brother’s room, she’s in a state of shock. In the middle of the night Ed vanished, leaving no forwarding address. Lizzie knows that he was tormented daily by what he witnessed at Dunkirk four years before, helping his father steer their tiny boat to rescue thousands of injured soldiers. He was never the same after that.

Then, Ed’s call-up letter arrives. Instead of being assigned to one of the forces, he’s been told to report for work at a coal mine – one of fifty thousand ‘Bevin boys’ chosen to help produce the fuel to power the nation through the war. If he fails to turn up he will be arrested and tried as a deserter. Staring at his abandoned clothes and knowing how alike they are, Lizzie realises there is a way to save him.

Arriving for training, she meets a fellow Bevin boy named Peter and is instantly drawn to his quiet, thoughtful nature, so unlike the other men who share her dormitory. And as the two start to adapt to their new lives underground, they develop a strong bond.

Lizzie knows the risks she is taking to save her brother. If she grows too close to Peter her secret will almost certainly be revealed, and they will both be imprisoned. But with the war raging and her beloved country at risk, how much is Lizzie prepared to sacrifice to save those she loves the most?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: Searching for my Daughter by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Miriam arrives at a British checkpoint she is exhausted and hungry. But deep down she knows she is still one of the fortunate ones. One of the few to survive the camps. Having lost her husband and son, Miriam clings to the hope of finding her daughter, Rosa.

Closing her eyes, an image of Rosa appears: the last time Miriam saw her in 1939, boarding a train that would take her to the safety of England. ‘Say goodbye here, Mama, the platform is too crowded,’ Rosa had said as Miriam cupped her daughter’s face with both hands and kissed her through tears.

‘Not long now, my darling,’ Miriam vows as she stands tall and walks through the gates of the checkpoint. There, she is introduced to an English officer named Jack. If Miriam has any hope of finding Rosa, Jack will need to help her travel to England.

But as Miriam begins to tell her daughter’s story, there is a look of recognition in Jack’s eyes. As he listens, he is transported back to an unforgettable English summer, to secret picnics in the long grass, and to a love that shaped the man he became. Will Jack now risk everything to help Miriam make the biggest journey of all, back to her daughter and to a hopeful future?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Secrets of the Lake by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

The war may be over, but for Molly life is still in turmoil. Uprooted from London after the death of her mother, Molly, her father and younger brother Jimmy are starting again in a quiet village in the countryside of Colchester. As summer sets in, the heat is almost as oppressive as the village gossip. Molly dreams of becoming a journalist, finding a voice in the world, but most of the time must act as Jimmy’s carer. At just ten years old he is Molly’s shadow, following her around the village as she falls under the spell of local boy Kit. Kit is clever, funny and a natural-born rebel. Rowing on the waters of the lake with him becomes Molly’s escape from domestic duty. But there is something Kit is not telling Molly.

As the village gossip starts building up with whispers against Molly’s father over missing church funds, everything Molly thought she knew is turned upside down. And on one stormy night, when she sneaks out of the house to try to put things right, Jimmy vanishes. Never to be seen again.

Decades later, Molly is an elderly woman in sheltered housing, still haunted by the disappearance of her brother. When two police officers arrive to say that the remains of a body have been found at the bottom of the lake, it seems like Molly will at long last have her answer . . .

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Dressmaker of Draper's Lane by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

The richest silk hides the deepest secrets . . . 

1768, London.

As a foundling who rose from poverty and now runs her own successful dressmaking business in the heart of society London, Miss Charlotte is a remarkable woman, admired by many. She has no need, nor desire, to marry. The people she values most are her friend Anna, her recently-found sister Louisa and nephew Peter.

She feels herself fortunate, and should be content with what she has. But something is missing.

A small piece of rare silk discovered in a bundle of scraps at auction triggers a curious sense of familiarity, and prompts her to unpick a past filled with extraordinary secrets and revelations . .

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Author Interview: Emma interviews Liz Trenow

Today it's our stop on the In Love and War blog tour and I'm handing the reins over to Emma to talk to bestselling author Liz Trenow about her latest book which Emma reviewed earlier this morning.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
I studied English at university and started my working life as a journalist, so I have always written. But I came to writing novels quite late. It was something I’d always wanted to do but never had time for. So, when I was lucky enough to get early retirement from my job, I went freelance and at the same time decided to try writing a novel. I suppose it felt like my equivalent of climbing Everest or getting a hole in one on the golf course, and I wasn’t at all sure I’d be able to do it. 

I’ve been immensely fortunate.  Love and War is my fifth novel – I can hardly believe it myself. 

There have been lots of books written about World War One, what made you write about the months after the war was over rather than of the war itself?
Precisely for that reason. I always try to find an unusual angle for my stories – the less well trodden path. So many wonderful books and poems have been written about the war itself that I could not hope to match them. When researching an earlier book, The Poppy Factory, I read just a single paragraph about the many thousands of people who went on those early battlefield tours. The idea is astonishing, given the devastation suffered by Flanders and The Somme, so I began to research some more, and discovered that the tours were also very controversial. How could I resist?

Did you yourself undertake a tour of the battle fields and burial grounds to help you ass authenticity to Alice, Ruby and Martha's story? I felt as if you were writing from experience of seeing the areas given such vivid, detailed descriptions were within the book.
Yes, and it was completely eye-opening, although of course the towns and countryside today are totally different from 1919. The centre of Ypres has been entirely rebuilt; you would hardly believe it was ever flattened. We also visited a small town called Poperinghe, on which Hoppestadt is based, went to the museum at Talbot House and took coffee in the square at the café where Ginger worked during and after the war – there is a lovely statue to her there. Both she and Tubby Clayton, who set up Talbot House, feature in the novel and our tour guide was a lovely man, the perfect model for the Major. 

Most of my descriptions came from old photographs and newreel movies, as well from visiting the small museums dotted all over Flanders which often hold many personal stories and artefacts.  

How challenging did you find it writing the story as seen through the eyes of three main female characters, each with such different yet harrowing stories to share?
Very, in a word! I thought it would make the story interesting, and help me to explore the notion of reconciliation more thoroughly. In practice it was very difficult to structure their different stories and make sure they dovetailed together, not to mention the problems of who could speak what language, and to whom. Despite the topic, wanted to find some humour and joy in the book, and this was also a bit of a challenge.

Emma's Review: In Love and War by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Three women, once enemies. Their secrets will unite them.

The First World War is over. The war-torn area of Flanders near Ypres is no longer home to troops, but groups of tourists. Controversial battlefield tourism now brings hundreds of people to the area, all desperate to witness first-hand where their loved ones fell.

At the Hotel de la Paix in the small village of Hoppestadt, three women arrive, searching for traces of the men they have loved and lost.

Ruby is just twenty-one, a shy Englishwoman looking for the grave of her husband. Alice is only a little older but brimming with confidence; she has travelled all the way from America, convinced her brother is in fact still alive. Then there’s Martha, and her son Otto, who are not all they seem to be...

The three women in Liz Trenow’s In Love and War may have very different backgrounds, but they are united in their search for reconciliation: to resolve themselves to what the war took from them, but also to what life might still promise for the future...

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Post: Inspiration for The Silk Weaver by Liz Trenow

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Liz Trenow to the blog on the latest stop of her The Silk Weaver blog tour with a guest piece giving us an insight into the inspiration for her central characters Anna and Henri.

My heroine, Anna, is inspired by the eminent silk designer, Anna Maria Garthwaite. Anna Maria was one of the most celebrated textile designers of the eighteenth century, her silks were worn by royalty and nearly a thousand of her designs are in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.  Yet no-one knows how she learned her craft or how an unmarried middle-aged woman managed to develop such a successful business in a male dominated industry. It is this mystery that sparked the idea for the novel.

The boy she falls in love with, Henri, is a Huguenot (or Protestant) whose family fled persecution in France by the Catholic king. The Huguenots were banned from worshipping in their own way and many decided to use all their savings to make perilous journeys in small boats across the Channel to reach safety in England.  I became fascinated by the parallels with what is happening to refugees today and wanted to highlight them in this novel. 

Emma's Review: The Silk Weaver by Liz Trenow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A novel of illicit romance set against the world of the silk trade in London

Anna Butterfield moves from her Suffolk country home to her uncle's house in London, to be introduced to society. A chance encounter with a local silk weaver, French immigrant Henri, throws her from her privileged upbringing to the darker, dangerous world of London's silk trade. Henri is working on his 'master piece' to make his name as a master silk weaver; Anna, meanwhile, is struggling against the constraints of her family and longing to become an artist. Henri realizes that Anna's designs could lift his work above the ordinary, and give them both an opportunity for freedom…

This is a charming story of illicit romance, set against the world of the burgeoning silk trade in eighteenth-century Spitalfields - a time of religious persecution, mass migration, racial tension and wage riots, and very different ideas of what was considered 'proper' for women.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Book Review: Liz Trenow - The Poppy Factory

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

With the end of the First World War, Rose is looking forward to welcoming home her beloved husband, Alfie, from the battlefields. But his return is not what Rose had expected. Traumatised by what he has seen, the Alfie who comes home is a different man to the one Rose married. As he struggles to cope with life in peacetime, Rose wrestles with temptation as the man she fell in love with seems lost forever.

Many years later, Jess returns from her final tour of Afghanistan. Haunted by nightmares from her time at the front, her longed-for homecoming is a disaster and she wonders if her life will ever be the same again. Can comfort come through her great-grandmother Rose’s diaries?

For Jess and Rose, the realities of war have terrible consequences. Can the Poppy Factory, set up to help injured soldiers, rescue them both from the heartache of war?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Books Read: The Perfect Treat - collection of short stories

Heart-warming short stories for cold winter nights…

Love, Loss and Coffee Cake: Miranda Dickinson

It’s A Wonderful Life: Claudia Carroll

Driving Home For Christmas:Julia Williams

Breaking The Spell: Liz Trenow

The Twelve Lies of Christmas: Mhairi McFarlane