Book summary.
The keeper of family secrets, Patricia Roberts grows up isolated and lonely. Trust no one and you won’t be disappointed is her motto. Three men fall in love with her and she learns to trust, only to find that their agendas are not her own. With secrets concealed from her by the ultimate love of her life, and with her own secret to keep, duplicity and deceit threaten their relationship. In a coming of age story set against the sweeping backdrop of the Second World War – evacuation, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, buzz bombs and secret war work – Patricia ultimately has to decide whether to reveal her deepest held secret for the sake of her future happiness.
Review
I would like to thank Clink Street Publishing, the author and blog tour organiser Rachel Gilbey for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.
Alice Graysharp has written a charming and intimate story of one young women’s journey from a teenager to a young woman, during the nightmare of WWII.
As a character Patricia is not easy to like! She is spiky and defensive, judgemental of those around her and a little bit of an intellectual snob! But as the story progresses, you can’t help but warm to her, as the reasons behind her defensive nature are revealed. By the end of the novel I not only liked her, I admired her plucky and determined personality. The author cleverly captures the spirit of the time and imbues Patricia with attitudes toward relationships and life, that so typified the period.
The story itself is very enjoyable as you experience life as a wartime evacuee and the horror of the blitz through Patricia’s story. It was also compelling how the story evoked a period of fear and death, by taking the reader on a journey through streets strewn with destroyed buildings and those that were killed. But the writer doesn’t seek to shock, using violence to scare, but simply to evoke a period where death stalked the population of Britain, in the form of German bombers and flying bombs.
Many of the images from the novel will stay with me for quite some time, as will Patricia’s determination to stick to her chosen career. While love comes her way, it is her determination and single minded spirit, which will stay with me after reading The Keeping of Secrets.
If you were fans of ITV’s The Home front, then I think you will love this highly enjoyable story from Patricia Roberts.
The Keeper of Secrets can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Author Bio
Born and raised in the Home Counties, Alice Graysharp has enjoyed a varied working life from hospitality to office work and retail. She currently lives in Surrey. This is her first novel, and the first title in a two book series, she is also already working on a seventeenth century trilogy. Published in the anniversary month of the outbreak of the Second World War and the Battle of Britain.
Alice Graysharp can be followed via her Website
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