| Big Lies in a Small Town
I will add this novel any chance I get to a book list. If you are craving a phenomenal and slightly predictable historical fiction read, pick Big Lies in a Small Town. Tied with The Rose Code, this is one of my top novels I have read in this genre and one I highly recommend reading!
It's 2018 and Morgan Christopher is locked up in a Women's Correctional center having taken the blame for a crime she didn't commit. Her dreams of becoming a famous artist have been dashed until a mysterious visitor with a famous benefactor comes and brings with them an offer Morgan cannot refuse. All Morgan has to do is restore a mural, an artistic method she knows nothing about.
In 1940, Anna Dale is commissioned to paint a mural in Edenton, North Carolina. As a young woman from New Jersey, she is unwelcome in the town but despite the cold shoulder, the money and opportunity the mural poses push Anna to formally accept the job. A job that upon accepting thrusts Anna into a world of prejudice, secrets, and frustrations she is completely unprepared for. The question is, what secrets did Anna leave in the mural and will Morgan discover them?
Find the full review | HERE | for Big Lies in a Small Town
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| The Kitchen Front
Great Britain is suffering. U-boats have been cut-off, cities are being destroyed, the Nazi's are leading the war and yet, life continues. The BBC is still hosting the Kitchen Front, a cookery program that has recently begun to show how to cook using wartime rations and limited ingredients. As an effort to shift focus off the war and to promote engagement, the network has decided to host a competition with the winning prize a role on the Kitchen Front.
Four women are in the running to win the life-changing prize. It is a widow's chance to provide for her children and pay off debts. It's an opportunity for a kitchen maid to find freedom. A position on BCC as the first female co-host would allow one to leave her husband and his increasingly hostile behaviour and for a trained chef, it would prove to others that women have the right to be on top. With so much as stake and their whole hearts in it, will this competition bring the national together or cause it to fracture further?
Find my full review | HERE | for The Kitchen Front
| The Lost Apothecary
Hidden in a London back alley sits a secret apothecary; it is a place where women can go to find a permanent solution for the men who harmed them. When Nella discovers her newest customer to be a twelve year-old named Eliza, shock soon develops into friendship triggering a series of events that threatens the very nature of the apothecary and their lives.
Flash forward 200 years, Caroline is spending her anniversary alone in London trying to use the time to comprehend her husband's affair. Determined not to take part in anything they planned together, Caroline sets off on a journey of discovery starting with an old apothecary vial found in the mud. As her search continues for answers, the past intertwines with the present and the apothecary rears its head to take one last victim.
If you are searching for a light-hearted and mysterious historical fiction read, The Lost Apothecary or The Mystery of Mrs. Christie are great options to choose!
Find the full review | HERE | for The Lost Apothecary
| The Rose Code
1940 - three different women answer the Bletchley Park call. Osla, a debutante fluent in German puts her mind to work decoding secrets. Mab, a self-made woman searches for a worthy man whilst working the machines. Beth, drawn into the fight by Osla and Mab is one of the only female cryptanalysts. Three women whose friendship is torn apart the longer the war rages on.
1947 - three friends turned enemies are reunited by an encrypted letter. The letter is key to why their friendship burned and left one stuck in an asylum. It is up to them to discover the traitor and crack one last code but with each decipher, danger and the enemy draws near.
Honestly, The Rose Code is currently my top pick for my favourite novel published in 2021 tied with House of Hollow but as far as historical fiction goes, it is hands down one of the best novels I have read in this genre. I don't want to hype it up as my reaction is obviously my opinion but if you are searching for a WWII historical fiction read that will immerse you from the get-go and make you forget the novel is over 600 pages, this is absolutely for you. Also a wonderful novel to listen to on audio and a read I suggest for those who have ample time and emotion to spare!
Find my full review | HERE | for The Rose Code
| Surviving Savannah
Surviving Savannah is a 2021 historical fiction release about the "Titanic of the South," and one woman's journey through grief. In 1938, a steamship sank with Savannah's most prestigious and elite families aboard. Their stories have faded through time until the wreckage was discovered 180 years later. Professor Everly Winthrop is asked to curate a museum exhibition on the sunken ship and she cannot resist the opportunity to delve into the past and potentially solve the mysteries surrounding the steamship.
Fueled by determination, Everly uncovers the partial story of one elite family and two extraordinary women part of it. Through exploration of the past and present, Surviving Savannah explores the power and strength of women and how we survive after surviving.
| The Girl in His Shadow
After losing her parents to a devastating pandemic, Nora Beady is taken in by Dr. Horace Croft causing her upbringing to be anything but typical. While other young women busied themselves with needlework, Nora learned how to suture and dissect - skills that in the 1800s could get her killed. There are consequences for women who practice medicine but in Croft's clinic, Nora is his best, and most private, assistant.
When new surgical resident Dr. Daniel Gibson arrives, Nora must protect the practice meaning she must face her most daunting task yet, become a proper lady. But, Nora cannot turn away from the patients and when she makes a discovery that could change the course of medicine, she must make a decision: Remain a proper lady or show the world what she's made of, even if it destroys her in the process.
Find the full review | HERE | for The Girl in His Shadow
| Burial Rites
| The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
Agatha Christie has gone missing, her abandoned car and distraught family the only things that remain. Her husband has no clue regarding her whereabouts and as she is a national treasure, England launches its largest manhunt to find their mystery writer.
Agatha is discovered eleven days later with amnesia and no clue as to what could have caused her disappearance or why she ended up where she was found. This confusion puzzles those assigned to the case and with her husband's shady reaction, they wonder if he could have played a role in her disappearance? What is real and what is mystery? You'll have to read The Mystery of Mrs. Christie to find out!
Find the full review | HERE | for The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
| The Last Garden in England
Told through three time periods, The Last Garden in England details a story of one garden and the impact it has on five women.
In 2021, Emma is a professional garden restorer who has been recently hired to bring life back into the neglected Highbury House gardens designed in 1907 by her idol, Venetia Smith. Venetia Smith in 1907 is determined to make the gardens shine but the longer she stays, the more her life begins to change.
In 1944, three women are tied together by the War and Highbury House. Beth is searching for home, the Cook is searching for an escape, and the owner is desperate for pre-War life. When the war effort threatens to destroy the garden, an unlikely partnership occurs as these women fight to save the garden and the secrets within. A century worth of secrets and one vastly important garden in England.
Find the full review | HERE | for The Garden in England
| The Alice Network
1947: Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and alone. The aftermath of the war has led to chaos and despite the "little problem" as her parents call it growing inside her, Charlie has other things on her mind like the desperate idea her cousin is still alive. When Charlie's parents send her to Europe to rid her of the "problem," Charlie uses it as a chance to escape to London and find her missing cousin.
1915: Eve Garden has just been recruited as a spy. Sent into enemy occupied France, she is trained by Lili - code name "Alice," who manages a vast network of spies that Eve is now privy too. Thirty years later and still traumatised by the war and a betrayal that tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her tie alone and drunk in her crumbling London house. That is, until a young American comes knocking on the door asking questions and using a name Eve hasn't heard in years launching them on a fact finding mission, regardless of where the answers could lead.
