Review: The Royal Librarian

Title: The Royal Librarian

Author: Daisy Wood

Publisher: 11th April 2024 by Avon Books UK

Pages: 384 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Romance

Synopsis:

A royal palace. A closed book. A betrayal that will echo through generations…

Windsor, 1940: War rages, and as bombs rain down across Britain, nowhere is safe: not even a royal palace.

Secretly tasked with foiling a suspected plot, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor castle, where the princesses reside. But when she learns that Windsor is compromised, Sophie must sacrifice everything she knows to save the future queen of England…

Philadelphia, Present day: Digging into her great aunt’s family tree, Lacey Turner comes across a mysterious book bearing the stamp of Windsor Castle’s royal bindery. But how did it come to be in her family’s possession?

And so begins a journey that will take Lacey from battlefields to Buckingham palace in a quest to reunite the book with its rightful owner…

My Thoughts

I have read and enjoyed previous books by Daisy, so I was excited to see how this story would unfold. This is a dual timeline with the first story about two Austrian sisters at the beginning of Nazi rule in 1938. I found this part very interesting especially with regards to escaping their homeland - one goes to America and the other ends up being the Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle and working in intelligence. The second timeline is in the present when a granddaughter discovers that she does in fact have an aunt and travels to discover her story. 

‘I am the Royal Librarian, she reminds herself, straightening her shoulders, and I have done nothing wrong.’

The story of Sophie, royal librarian, and her work at Windsor castle was the highlight. The whole issue concerning the role of the abdicated Edward and the espionage resulting was very engaging. I did not appreciate the contemporary timeline as much and felt the book would have been better served with just the one timeline and events would have evolved more quickly on the page. Daisy has undertaken a wonderful amount of research surrounding everything from the atrocities to Jews under Nazi rule to what life was like working in the British royal household during the war. The Royal Librarian is an entertaining read with interesting historical details - mystery, romance, family drama provide the icing on top!

‘Oh no, I want a quiet life.’ Sophie made an effort to smile back at him. In that moment, she could think of nothing better: losing peaceful hours in the archive, reading about history rather than living through it.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

 

Review: One Woman’s War

Title: One Woman’s War

Author: Christine Wells

Publisher: 4th October 2022 by HarperCollins Australia - William Morrow Paperbacks

Pages: 350 pages

Genre: historical fiction, World War II, espionage, women’s fiction 

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

From the author of Sisters of the Resistance comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command.

World War II London: When Victoire "Paddy" Bennett first walks into the Admiralty's Room 39, home to the Intelligence Division, all the bright and lively young woman expects is a secretarial position to the charismatic Commander Ian Fleming. But soon her job is so much more, and when Fleming proposes a daring plot to deceive the Germans about Allied invasion plans he requests the newlywed Paddy's help. She jumps at the chance to work as an agent in the field, even after the operation begins to affect her marriage. But could doing her duty for King and country come at too great a cost?

Socialite Friedl Stöttinger is a beautiful Austrian double agent determined to survive in wartime England, which means working for MI-5, investigating fifth column activity among the British elite at parties and nightclubs. But Friedl has a secret--some years before, she agreed to work for German Intelligence and spy on the British.

When her handler at MI-5 proposes that she work with Serbian agent, Dusko Popov, Friedl falls hopelessly in love with the dashing spy. And when her intelligence work becomes fraught with danger, she must choose whether to remain loyal to the British and risk torture and execution by the Nazis, or betray thousands of men to their deaths.

Soon, the lives of these two extraordinarily brave women will collide, as each travels down a road of deception and danger leading to one of the greatest battles of World War II.

My Thoughts

To take a figure from such a well franchised outfit as James Bond is bold and daring - much like the characters in this novel! Promising to tell the real story of Miss MoneyPenny (007 fans will know her well) was a fantastic idea and executed brilliantly in the hands of historical fiction writer, Christine Wells. Having read and loved her other books, I knew I would be in for a treat and I was not disappointed. 

‘The good news, however," Godfrey interrupted, raising his voice a little, "is that your intelligence assault unit has been given the go-ahead. You are to undertake and supervise all of the selection, training, and planning for your team in preparation for the North African invasion.’

Until reading this book, I had never really considered Ian Fleming’s 007 novels and from where he may have drawn his fictional characters. In this book, Fleming was very much a secondary character, however, his work in Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during WWII made sense as it was sure to provide loads of inspiration. I loved Christine’s surmise that ‘Paddy’ Bennett, who was Fleming's secretary/assistant, could indeed be the inspiration for the role of Miss Moneypenny. Having an analytical mind earned her the trust of Fleming and his superiors and a door into the planning of Operation Mincemeat - a seemingly far-fetched plan to divert the Nazis. The work she did in the NID for the MI5 during WWII made for great reading. Friedl Stottinger, an Austrian national, who became a German double agent preferred working with the British. She was the perfect character to bring the glamour and high society to this tale, where she secretly learnt of important Nazi secrets. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

One Woman’s War is a fascinating, well researched book that I enjoyed from cover to cover. Christine has crafted a spy novel worthy of Ian Fleming’s, James Bond himself. A definite must read of two unforgettable, real-life female operatives during WWII. 

‘On her final day in Room 39, Paddy packed up the very few personal items on her desk into a little box. For a moment, she took a good look about her, drinking in the scene of organized chaos, the ringing telephones, the clatter of typewriter keys and the zing of the bell, the insistent buzz. .. buzz... buzz from Godfrey's office that brought one of his officers running. It had been the scene of such tension, of late nights, of triumphs and crushing defeats, and at times, it must be said, of excruciating tedium. From this day on, Room 39 would close its doors to her. She would never again be privy to the secrets of the NID, never step inside Godfrey's office and debate matters great and small with him and Fleming, never sit at her desk and type a memorandum filled with outlandish plots to confound and misdirect the Germans.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Cradles of the Reich

Title: Cradles of the Reich

Author: Jennifer Coburn

Publisher: 11th October 2022 by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark

Pages: 320 pages

Genre: historical fiction, World War II 

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Three women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master race.

At Heim Hochland, a Nazi breeding home in Bavaria, three women's fates are irrevocably intertwined. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she's secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official's child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. All three have everything to lose.

Based on untold historical events, this novel brings us intimately inside the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that actually existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of "racially fit" babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany. But it proves that in a dark period of history, the connections women forge can carry us through, even driving us to heroism we didn't know we had within us.

My Thoughts

“You, my dear, are perfection,” he said. “I have been waiting for a girl with your features since we started the program four years ago.”

Jennifer Coburn’s, ‘Cradles of the Reich’ is a well written and memorable novel depicting a disturbing aspect from the Nazi Regime. As the author states: ‘The Lebensborn Society, which translates to “Spring of Life” in English, existed in the same world as Nazi death camps. In its ten years, approximately thirty homes were in operation by the end of the war and had produced nearly twenty thousand children.’

This is an informative WWII historical fiction novel based on actual events. Through three distinct narratives, a complex tale is told about this Nazi breeding program. These contrasting viewpoints bring a unique and not well documented occurrence to light that some readers may not be familiar with. Jennifer has undertaken in-depth research to provide solid historical details told through both inspiring and unlikeable fictional characters. Through these viewpoints readers can witness how seemingly ordinary Germans justified events happening around them. 

‘When she left Heim Hochland, she could tell the world about this secret breeding program. Surely, they would be disgusted and would intervene on behalf of these sexually exploited young women.’

The author's notes and personal insights at the conclusion are equally enlightening. This would make for a wonderful book club selection as it would be sure to generate much discussion. Recommended for readers of historical, WWII and even women’s fiction, as the author states: ‘Cradles of the Reich covers a dark period of history, but I hope readers will be heartened by how the connections women forge can carry us through the most harrowing of times and sometimes even drive us to act with heroism we hadn’t realized we were capable of.’

“I don’t think …” Gundi began. “No, you don’t.” Dr. Ebner chuckled. “Which is exactly how you got yourself into this situation.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Echoes of Love

Title: The Echoes of Love

Author: Jenny Ashcroft

Publisher: 5th October 2022 by HarperCollins Australia

Pages: 469 pages

Genre: historical fiction, World War II, Crete

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

Under the Cretan sun, in the summer of 1936, two young people fall in love…

Eleni has been coming to Crete her entire life, swapping her English home for cherished sun-baked summers with her grandfather in his idyllic shoreside villa. When she arrives in 1936, she believes the long, hot weeks ahead will be no different to so many that have gone before.

But someone else is visiting the island that year too: a young German man called Otto. And so begins a summer of innocence lost, and love discovered; one that is finite, but not the end.

When, in 1941, the island falls to a Nazi invasion, Eleni and Otto meet there once more. But this time Eleni has returned to fight for her home, and Otto to occupy it. They are enemies, and their love is not only treacherous, but also dangerous. But will it destroy them, or prove strong enough to overcome the ravages of war?

An epic tale of secrets, love, loyalty, family and how far you’d go to keep those you love safe, The Echoes of Love is an exquisite and deeply moving love letter to Crete – one that will move every reader to tears.

My Thoughts

You know how it goes. There are certain authors whose writing speaks to you, touches you, leaving its indelible mark. Jenny Ashcroft, for me, is one such author. I have read every book she has written and, without fail, each one has been five stars. Jenny has written tales that have not only taken me to such far off places as Egypt, Singapore and India but writes with such heartfelt, pure emotion that it stays with the reader long after turning the final page. 

‘You make me feel, not alone.’

The Echoes of Love is another such novel. This one is especially poignant as it regales a tale very close to Jenny’s own heart and family. With such strong emotional connections (Jenny visited Crete each summer as a child) it is clearly evident throughout her tale. It’s a story written from her heart which ensured it touched mine. It is so cleverly written that not until the final few chapters does Jenny place down the final puzzle piece that ensures the tears will flow. With timelines before, during and after the war, each section is interconnected by an extract from a research interview conducted in 1974, between an interviewer and someone known only as “subject seventeen”. The reader is left guessing who ‘seventeen’ might be.

‘She didn't think about much at all.

She simply breathed.

It was her favourite breath of the year,

The breath that truly started summer for her.

The breath when her monochrome world shifted fully into colour, and her loneliness gave way to belonging.’

Jenny’s research on the historical aspects of life on Crete during Nazi occupation is incredible. As she does so well, period, place and people are accurately presented. There is a cast of characters that each bring something special that provides an overwhelming depth to this tale. It is, however, the two leads of Eleni and Otto, that are so moving. This is such a beautiful love story that I found myself at odds with my zeal to consume this book being in direct conflict with my desire to savour each word, thought and emotion.

‘In the space of a night, the summer ahead, so predictable, had .... pixelated, into unknowns: the endless possibilities.’

This truly complex story will immerse you to the life in Crete - the sun lavished fun days by the beach before the war and the terrible haunting days of the Nazi occupation during WWII. Herein lies you will read of atrocities from truly evil individuals, to the heroism of the resistance, to the final act of brutal betrayal. For an author to consistently provide five star ratings is something special - there most certainly is magic within each line with words floating off each page. 

‘He hated what he'd become, what he did, but he wanted his life; the chance at a future that held none of this in it, where he built houses rather than threw grenades at them.’

Every read of Jenny’s has been for me such an evocative and sensory experience, filled with characters that speak to me on many levels; stories that draw you in and leave you sitting in reverie long after the final page has been turned. Once more I am in awe of how Jenny masterfully weaves a sense of time and place, heart and soul into her characters concerning the circumstances they find themselves in. The Echoes of Love will take you on such an unforgettable journey, you simply would not want to miss it.

‘We need to get to the other side’.

‘You think there'll be one?'

‘I do,’ she said. ‘I have to. And I want you there, with me…’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Librarian Spy

Title: The Librarian Spy

Author: Madeline Martin

Publisher: 3rd August 2022 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 400 pages

Genre: historical fiction, World War II 

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London comes a moving new novel inspired by the true history of America’s library spies of World War II.

Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence.

Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

As the battle in Europe rages, Ava and Elaine find themselves connecting through coded messages and discovering hope in the face of war.

My Thoughts

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin is an emotional World War II historical fiction story featuring two young women, one American and one French. These two women come to understand the power of the written word especially during a period of world history where life seemed intrinsically out of control. 

‘The written word held such importance to her through the years. Books had been her solace in a world turned upside down, a connection to characters when she was utterly alone …. In the war, they had given her insight, understanding, and appreciation.’

Madeline was inspired by, firstly, the history of America’s library of spies in neutral Lisbon. The reader is introduced to Ava, who worked at the Library of Congress but was transferred to Lisbon because of her language skills and where she was to serve as a spy. Secondly, we meet Elaine in Lyon, who is helping the French Resistance by working with the printing press and distributing factual accounts of the war through an underground newspaper. These women connect through a coded message sent out through the printed pamphlets.

The Author’s Note at the end of the book is very informative and shows the amount of research undertaken. It’s so rewarding to delve into the history behind the fiction. This is the first time I have read about Lisbon during WWII and the role librarians played in gathering information. I had never read anything about Portugal during the war and I was fascinated by this perspective.

For readers who love historical fiction set during this period, The Librarian Spy is a great addition. A tale full of drama, secrets and suspense, intrigue and history that proved riveting reading. This is a story where the reader will experience the full range of emotions, with some events requiring a tissue box to be close at hand. A truly profound story.

‘There was nothing Ava Harper loved more than the smell of old books. The musty scent of aging paper and stale ink took one on a journey … These were tomes once cradled in the spread palms of forefathers, pored over by scholars … In those fragrant, yellowed pages were stories of the past and eternal knowledge.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Italian Ballerina

Title: The Italian Ballerina

Author: Kristy Cambron

Publisher: 12th July 2022 by Thomas Nelson

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre:  historical fiction, World War II, romance, Italy

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

A prima ballerina. Two American medics. And a young Jewish girl with no name . . . At the height of the Nazi occupation of Rome, an unlikely band of heroes comes together to save Italian Jews in this breathtaking World War II novel based on real historical events.

Rome, 1943. With the fall of Italy’s Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness that is sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Italian Jews from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust. But when one little girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina arrives at their door, Julia and the others are determined to reunite the young dancer with her family—if only she would reveal one crucial secret: her name.

Present Day. With the recent loss of her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and WWII veteran—Delaney Coleman returns home to help her aging parents, even as she struggles to pick up the pieces of her own life. When a mysterious Italian woman claims she owns one of the family’s precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to uncover what’s true of her grandfather’s hidden past. Together with the woman’s skeptical but charming grandson, Delaney learns of a Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question as she wrestles with the possibility that the man she’d revered all her life had unknown ties to Rome and may have taken noble secrets to his grave.

Based on true accounts of the invented Syndrome K sickness, The Italian Ballerina journeys from the Allied storming of the beaches at Salerno to the London ballet stage and the war-torn streets of WWII Rome, exploring the sometimes heart-wrenching choices we must make to find faith and forgiveness, and how saving just one life can impact countless others.

My Thoughts

Author, Kristy Cambron, writes at the conclusion of her novel: In this way history is powerful. To remember. To learn. To see and understand the human experience through another’s lens. And we hope to give empathy a foothold to grow in our own hearts. Let us be changed. I love this and found her latest book, The Italian Ballerina, to be a wonderful piece of historical fiction full of empathy and hope.

‘A voice inside told Court as sure as anything he’d known in his entire life - he was there for a reason. The reason was her.’

There is a little girl with a battered suitcase, memories she has locked safely away from the invading soldiers. Two kind soldiers who go to incredible lengths to save her and a ballerina who learns what it really means to give and succeed in life. In the contemporary timeline, there is a soccer star who seeks to protect those he loves and a young American searching for answers surrounding a battered suitcase she has inherited from her grandfather. This is an exquisitely written tale that delightfully comes full circle. 

“What does a ballerina have to give? Truly?” Julia tipped her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “I’d dreamed all my life of dancing on the grandest stages in the world. I thought to achieve that would bring me happiness. Or purpose. And it did, for a time. But I stand here with you and find what we’re doing in this one moment matters more to me than all the years of dancing that have come before it. I’m not even certain how I know that, except that I’ve found the most beautiful things in this life to be not of my own hand. And I can see a plan in all of that.”

The only drawback to this wonderful novel is the scattered timelines - rather than being a dual tale there are four timelines that sadly, make it difficult to follow at times. This is compounded through erratic switching and streamlining for smoother transitions would have been desirable. If not for these disconnections I would have rated the book more highly. This is a tale certainly worth reading but concentration is required and flicking back and forth is near impossible on a kindle. 

The Italian Ballerina is a wonderfully rich take full of despair and courage, loss, love and hope. The time spent in modern day Rome and the wartime hospital learning of Syndrome K was a definite highlight. There is romance, drama and the reader walking away all the richer with a full heart. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction. 

“We’re all human, Matt. We all make mistakes and we learn from them. You have to allow for forgiveness in there somewhere. Without grace, none of us would make it a day.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.