The Secret Messenger by Mandy Robotham
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 9th February 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 12th December 2019)
★★ 2 stars
Despite there being an influx of historical fiction set during WW2, I never tire of the era and enjoy reading the different locations and people the war affected. So I was excited at the prospect of reading this addition to the genre. Added to that, THE SECRET MESSENGER was a dual timeline story set between German-occupied Venice in the 1940s and modern day London and Bristol. I do love a dual timeline tale!
Venice 1944: Stella Jilani is a 27 year old proud Venetian, longing for the Venice of old. One that includes freedom from Nazi occupation and Italy's fascist dictator Mussolini. Ever since she was a young girl, Stella loved to write and as soon as she was old enough she gained a job on a newspaper as a journalist. But that came to an end when a story came her way about an incident where she was told by her editor to embellish the story in favour of the fascists. Stella wanted only to tell the truth but the truth was not what the paper wanted...they wanted propaganda that supported the fascist regime.
But Stella would not be swayed. She put her journalist experience to good use in the Venice Resistance Brigade writing for their underground newspaper. And she is soon given the position of a typist and translator for a high ranking Reich officer at Nazi High Command, where she secretes information she obtains in her position and passes it on to the members of the Resistance. As a secret messenger she walks a fine line each day relaying this information as well as trafficking essential supplies.
Throughout her journey is her beloved typewriter her grandfather gave her long before the war. On it, she produces information that is published in the forbidden underground newspaper. She also begins a tale of love which inadvertently makes it way into an edition, enthralling many Venetians alike, as they eagerly await the next installment. Even her colleague Cristain De Luca, Head Secretary to General Bruegal who she also works for, is intrigued by the story.
Cristian is a bit of a dark horse and Stella has trouble working him out. There are times she sees something of a sensitive side in him but at others he fixes her with a cold stare and she wonders if she had merely imagined it. But one thing is for sure, Stella must keep her secret life from Cristian for in this war you can trust no one. And yet, she cannot help but enjoy his company when they are away from Nazi High Command.
But then, Stella's life is threatened when the Nazi's search her apartment looking for her typewriter, after receiving information that she was the one responsible for the underground newspaper and the story that had captured Venetians. Breugal and Strauss have long been suspicious of her activities and when they find nothing in her apartment, she is then sacked from her position at Nazi Command, the newspaper disbanded and a warrant is issued for her arrest. Before she is captured, she receives paperwork entitling her to a travel pass which enables her to escape. However, she is confused as the pass is signed by Breugal just as her arrest warrant is. But Stella doesn't wait for explanations, hastily bidding her Venice goodbye as she makes her escape.
But her story does not end there...
London 2017: Luisa Belmont has recently lost her mother and is clearing out her vast home when she comes across an old typewriter in the attic. Having never seen it before, Luisa has no idea who it belongs to. So she decides to delve into the past to discover the story behind this piece of history. Along with the typewriter she also finds some old photos and some crumbling documents hidden away in a box and she wonders why her mother has kept this part of her heritage hidden away. The people in the photos are very obviously relatives as she recognises her mother in the features of the young woman though the photo was dated 1950...and her mother was born in 1953. She resolves that it must be her grandmother.
Luisa is aware that her mother and grandmother fell out some years before and hardly ever spoke. Her own mother was cold and distant and she pondered on whether the relationship with her own mother was then reflected in that which she later shared with her only daughter. Although she had shared half her life with her distant mother she felt that she didn't really know her...or much about their Italian heritage.
In the course of her delving into the past, Luisa discovers the story of her grandmother's life in Venice during WW2, her secrets, her sacrifices, her fears and ultimately, finding love.
I love historical fiction but it took me a while to find my way through this book and I felt it was very slow moving...not just at the beginning, but throughout much of the story.
THE SECRET MESSENGER had an intriguing premise...but for me, it fell a bit flat in its storytelling. Although I was intrigued by the story and was eager to find out what happened, I found the writing to be too descriptive with two of my pet peeves in books - 1) long chapters, and 2) incessant monologuing by Stella detailing just about everything that inadvertently puts me to sleep. I was disappointed because I thought the story had promise. I, did, however soldier on to finish the book...admittedly, skimming a lot of in-between monologuing that I could do without.
There was so much that didn't make sense to me as the author didn't bother to translate some of words, both in dialogue and Stella's own monologue. My Italian is very limited and it wasn't helped by the lack of translation in parts.
There was also not a lot of relative development in Luisa, despite her being Stella's granddaughter. The reader isn't given much of a chance to get to know Luisa as all she is doing is digging into the past and nothing else. She had no personality and lacked depth. Stella, on the other hand, featured far more than her granddaughter of the present day and yet she still didn't have a lot of development either. Basically all Stella did was monologue about work by day, resistance by night...day in, day out....with not much else in between.
There could have been so much more done with THE SECRET MESSENGER than was done making it simply drowning in the shadow of those far more interesting and intriguing books of a similar vein. I would far more recommend "My Name is Eva" by Suzanne Goldring, "The Secret Letter" by Debbie Rix, "A View Across the Rooftops" by Suzanne Kelman and "A Fight in Silence" by Melanie Metzenthin than THE SECRET MESSENGER. It had so much potential but just failed in the delivery. It actually put me to sleep on several occasions with Stella's endless monologuing.
Having said that, I am in the minority here as many others have thoroughly enjoyed it where I haven't. I was disappointed as I had high expectations for it that it just didn't live up to.
I would like to thank #MandyRobotham, #NetGalley and #AvonBooksUK for an ARC of #TheSecretMessenger in exchange for an honest review.
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