REVIEW: The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix (ARC)

The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix

Genre: Historical fiction

Read: 22nd July 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 2nd July 2019)

✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡  5 stars

Inspired by the true story of the author's own parents, THE SECRET LETTER is a beautiful tale about bravery, kindness and hope in a time of war and devastation from the perspective of two very different - and yet somewhat comparable - girls. This touching tale is also incredibly heart wrenching, highlighting the horrors of World War 2 from both sides in a unique way. Imogen and Magda, both extremely affected by the war, may be separated by hundreds of miles but they are united by similar convictions...though it was hardly likely they would ever meet. Their stories intertwine as they come of age and grow into strong young women who each play their own important part in the war...and beyond.

It's 1939 and we begin with 15 year old Imogen growing up in Newcastle in the north east of England. As an only child of somewhat affluent parents, she is not spoilt but rather wise, even if a little mischievous. When war breaks out, her school is evacuated to the Lakes District and the girls billeted to various families in the Keswick area. She passes her time writing letters home to her parents and rambling up gorgeous mountains like Skiddaw with her best friend Joy and fellow evacuee Helen, whilst harbouring a secret love for neighbour Freddie who was away at university before joining the RAF.

Even at 15, Imogen displays a strength of character in her stubbornness and determination. Her letters home are filled with a contrariness as she describes her thoughts on the war and then asking for money for new shoes in the next line. It was quite amusing but also a reflection of the times from the perspective of a young girl still coming to terms with her own journey through adolescence. She meets young Dougie who amuses her as they spend a lot of time together, growing closer, and yet while she is drawn to him she still finds herself carrying a torch for Freddie back home.

The girls go back home to Newcastle during the holidays which begs the question - why is it safe to return home for the holidays but not during the school term? Imogen said it best when she stated "I think the idea was for our schooling not to be disturbed. If we die in the holidays that’s not so important." I thought that an amusing line. A little bit of humour amidst a troubling time, one needs to keep their sense of humour.

Imogen completes her schooling in the Lakes and returns home to Newcastle a couple of years later to attend university where she wanted to study engineering but her gender deems her unable. So she turns to architecture and completes her first year before she is required to join the national service upon turning 19. She joins the Wrens, along with best friend Joy, and she serves as a plotter whilst Joy is a typist having been to secretarial school. Her time as a plotter leads her to London, then later Portsmouth and even Paris where she thrives as a Wren, serving under some important military powers of the time. She comes into fleeting contact with Prime Minister Churchill, King George VI and General Eisenhower as the war begins to culminate. During this time, she is fortunate to have Joy alongside her as they both find love and heartbreak in equal measure  before the war is over.

It is during this time she meets American Ben who falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. Imogen enjoys his company and despite being wary, graciously accepts. However, she is moved to Portsmouth under the cover of secrecy leading up to D-Day and she hears nothing from him again until her station in Paris. But the giddiness she felt in his presence has been replaced by discontent and irritation. Does she really love him or was it just a fascination? She realised that she knew nothing about him such was the secrecy of his involvement. Her mother says when you marry someone you will love them forever, with all their foibles and their faults as well as for their gifts and advantages. The problem is the secrecy surrounding Ben's involvement in the war was promising to continue afterwards, and Imogen wasn't sure she wanted that. She was enjoying her new-found independence and she was unwilling to give that up.

Then there is Magda, who is just 13 years old and living amidst the growing unrest of Germany. She is devastated by the loss of her best friend Lotte who was cruelly snatched along with her family and sent to a concentration camp - the Star of David sewn into their coats. Magda didn't understand why she could no longer be friends with Lotte. The fact that she was Jewish was not important; she was her best friend. When Magda receives a letter from her brother Karl, who is studying in England and a staunch objector of his country's new ways, she is shocked by the contents unable to comprehend much of what he was alluding to. At the end of the letter, Karl urged her to show no one and to burn after reading it. But Magda could not. What if it was the last letter from her beloved brother? She desperately wanted to show her mother so she could shed some light on what he was saying...but to do so would be a betrayal to her brother. Instead, she secreted it away in her Bible.

As the Nazi's power takes hold, Magda begins to see a new Germany - one that she does not like nor agree with and the one Karl had alluded to in his secret letter. The fanatical new rules of the Hitler Youth, a group a boys who instill fear in villagers if they do not conform to the new way of the Fuhrer, makes her seethe with anger and yet she cannot escape. On her next birthday she must join the Young Maidens, a group of young, ripe girls who must strive to become the epitome of the perfect German woman/wife - blonde, blue-eyed and submissive - as broodmares for perfect Aryan children. But Magda secretly refuses to conform and joins the White Rose movement, a German resistance who rebel against the oppressive frightening world around them.

But what Magda does not count on is Otto. He is one of the Hitler Youth - a bully - aspiring to the Fuhrer and exclaiming his proclamations. Otto claims Magda as his own (whether she likes it or not) and unfortunately, to save herself and her family from death, she must agree to be Otto's girlfriend - as much as the idea repulses her. When he rises to the rank of an SS officer, Magda is relieved to be reprieved from Otto's wandering hands and ever-watchful eye.

Then an enemy plane - a Lancaster bomber - crashes just beyond the boundary of their farm, and Magda and her father find six dead airmen and one barely alive. Magda insists on helping him and hides him in the secret attic of their farmhouse. By now, Magda is 16 and is incredibly resourceful for her age but she is also determined not to let the abhorrent new rules of her country quash the basic laws of humanity nor dictate her ability to help someone in need. She didn't ask for this war, she didn't want it and she doesn't agree with anything the new regime stands for. And so, over the course of the next few weeks Magda becomes friends with the British airman, Michael. She has never met anyone like him nor he her. Locked away in the small dark attic room, Michael sees no one but Magda and her kindness towards him - the enemy - touches him. Inevitably, they fall in love. But when Otto returns suddenly, Magda must keep Michael safe as the unthinkable happens, tearing her world apart. She must help Michael escape before Otto returns, lest they all be killed. Their parting words for him to return after the war so they could marry, and it is these words, and the promise of brighter days, that keep Magda soldiering on.

So how do Imogen and Magda's worlds intersect? Hundreds of miles apart and even worlds away from one another, these two women's stories tells of life in such a frightening time. The sheer horror of hearing bombs dropping, of having them fall in your path, the panic each time an air raid siren sounds - a sound which now reduces my own dad to tears at the memory of being a child during the war - all of this and more is just mind-blowing that the strength of mankind can live through such a horrific and turbulent time.

Most of us only hear about the war from the British side but what was it like for the Germans who rebelled against Hitler's regime? What makes this story so unique is that we not only hear the British aspect but we also hear a German's perspective. Back in the day, all Germans were seen as the enemy but not all Germans WERE the enemy. This story shows us just that. The abhorrent rules inflicted on the German people under Hitler's despicable and repulsive dictatorship were abominable, to say the least. I would not have liked to have lived under those conditions, against everything I believed in, under a dictator as repugnant as him. Christmas was even taken away from them. No longer could you decorate your trees with stars as it was seen too similar the Star of David and that was assigned to the Jewish people who were banished from their country. Instead they had to decorate with gold swastikas. They even began to pray to the Fuhrer. All schools had to teach the ways of the Fuhrer and not historical fact or even fact, for that matter. It was eye-opening to read just how these new rules were forced upon the Germans and if they dared to go against them, they faced imprisonment or even death.

THE SECRET LETTER is so beautifully written I was completely captivated by every aspect that I didn't want it to end. It was emotional, it was heartbreaking, it was touching, it was eye-opening, it was compelling but most of all it was just simply beautiful. What people of the time had to live through at the hands of a dictator wreaking havoc on a world he wanted to make perfect for himself, it was an horrific reminder of what mankind could do to fellow human beings.

The narrative between the two perspectives of Imogen and Magda is both intriguing and heartbreaking. Both young woman experience first loves, new emotions, heartbreak and disappointment. I loved reading their stories, noting how different their childhoods and journeys into womanhood were, but appreciating them just the same. Each girl/woman had a story to tell and each played an important part to that tale. The beautifully intricate way in which their stories entwine made THE SECRET LETTER a compelling read.

The fact that Imogen's story was based on the author's own parents added to the book's believability. Her mother was a WREN and her father was an RAF pilot who was shot down over Germany. Using her mother's letters, her father's logbook and diaries, she was able to draw a picture of Imogen based on her mother. Some of Imogen's letters were even her mother's written verbatim. It gave a whole new element of realism to the story that made for compelling reading.

I truly appreciated THE SECRET LETTER so much more than I ever expected - I think for being so unique in its perspective. Unlike many others, I don't care how much is actually based on historical fact or how much has been embellished because I am not reading a reference book - I am reading a story. And what a beautiful story it was! Basically, I adored this book from start to finish.

THE SECRET LETTER is a book I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any fans of WW2 era historical fiction. In fact, I can't recommend it highly enough. If I could give it 10 stars, I would!

I would like to thank #DebbieRix, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheSecretLetter in exchange for an honest review.