The Secrets of Latimer House by Jules Wake
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 28th August 2021
Published: 30th August 2021
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
In the war against Hitler every secret counts…
Society heiress Evelyn Brooke-Edwards is a skilled interrogator – her beauty making her a non-threat in the eyes of the prisoners.
Farm girl Betty Connors may not be able to type as she claimed, but her crack analytical skills soon find her unearthing covert connections.
German ex-pat Judith Stern never expected to find herself listening in to German POW’s whispered conversations, but the Nazis took her father from her so she will do whatever it takes to help the Allies end this war.
Billeted together in the attic of Latimer House – a place where secrets abound – Evelyn, Betty and Judith soon form a bond of friendship that carries them through the war. Because nothing is stronger than women united.
Tucked away in the Buckinghamshire countryside, Latimer House, a grand country estate, stands proudly – a witness to some of greatest secrets of WW2.
MY REVIEW:
I love historical fiction, particularly those featured during wartime. THE SECRETS OF LATIMER HOUSE may be a work of fiction and its characters fictionally drawn from the author's pen but the events upon which this story is based are real. Nestled in the Buckinghamshire countryside just an hour outside of London, Latimer House was a top secret site where high-ranking German POWs were held and interrogated during World War 2. Thousands of prisoners passed through its doors as their conversations were listened to by German speaking operatives via the bugs in their cells. Everything of note was transcribed, conversations recorded and are now in the archives, revealing information about Hitler's weapons and strategies to invade Britain and win the war. Thus providing an ideal background for this story.
Society heiress Evelyn Brookes-Edwards, a lieutenant with the Wrens, finds herself facing a court martial for breaking her commanding officer's jaw when he tried forcing himself on her. Instead she is transferred to a top secret location in a sleepy village in Buckinghamshire to Latimer House where she is to interrogate high-ranking German POWs. Her fluency in German proves her to be invaluable in Britain's war against Hitler.
Before the war, Evelyn enjoyed high society and trips to Bavaria where she met and fell in love with Peter Von Hoensbroek, a German aristocrat. The couple enjoyed a courtship before becoming engaged. And then war was declared. And so Peter thought it best to break off their engagement, being on opposite sides of battle. Her father agreed it was for the best as he and her brother David set off to fight for King and country. It is now 1943 and Evelyn hasn't heard from Peter in four years and her own brother for six months, who is now in a German POW camp. But Evelyn, whose German is impeccable, puts her strengths to good use for the war effort to help bring an end to it all.
Local girl Betty Connors enjoys her work with the ATS in London away from her the fussing of her mother and her sort-of fiance Bert. But on a visit home when her mother lets slip that something is going on "up at the big house" and that maybe she could get a job up there, Betty isn't so sure. It would mean she would always be there for Bert to paw at and expect things of her. Bert's family own the terraced cottage in which Betty's family live and to ensure their continued safety Betty has to keep in sweet with Bert...something which she does not relish. There is something about him she is not comfortable with but her mother thinks the sun shines out of him and it just became expected that they would marry. Now Bert throws his weight around and sits at the head of the table, where her father used to sit, when he visits, expecting Betty to do his bidding "when we're wed".
But when he begins to make insinuations about her younger sister who appears younger than her fifteen years, Betty realises she needs to be close by to protect her. So she requests a transfer to Latimer House, known locally as a Distribution Centre, as a typist though she is anything but. Her presence immediately catches the eye of American Major Carl Wendermeyer who notices right away that she is no typist, but she is smart and with her photographic memory of transcripts she has typed up - albeit terribly - she is transferred as an analyst and is promoted to sergeant.
Judith Stern is a German Jew is lost everything in Kristallnacht. She came to England at the tender age of 17 in 1938 but has never truly conformed. It is even harder now as all Germans are viewed as the enemy, even the Jews, which is ironic considering she fled her country to find peace only to find her new home is at war with her old one. Judith keeps to herself for even opening her mouth to speak will give her ethnicity away and then come the sneers and the outrage from those around her.
Her work in Hull was boring and unfulfilling until one day Judith is transferred to Latimer House where her job will be to listen in to the private conversations of prisoners in their cells to ascertain whether they will reveal any secrets they have not disclosed to their interrogators. Most of those she works alongside have escaped similar circumstances and can sympathise, but their knowledge of the German language can help work for Britain in its war against Germany. Judith is incredibly reserved and simply wants to get on with the job for which she has been employed. She wasn't prepared to meet Walther, nor find the bond of friendship with Evelyn and Betty.
The three women are billeted together in an attic room of the manor house where they become friends. Although having all signed the Official Secrets Act, neither woman can speak of the work they each undertake - even to each other. But it isn't long before they become familiar with the workings inside Latimer House, and its secrets, and what each of them does there. They each learn to trust each other and build a friendship that will last a lifetime as they face the demons of their pasts and in the present.
Although a little slow to take off as each of the women's stories are set, it then takes off into an emotionally addictive read. There are so many secrets wrapped up in this wonderful story that I found I didn't want it to end. It is such a different aspect to the war. It is entertaining, emotional and entirely believable. I loved each of the women for their differences and their strengths...but I loathed Bert.
THE SECRETS OF LATIMER HOUSE is an enjoyable leisurely read based on real event and fact of Britain's darkest time. It focuses somewhat on those events as well as friendship, loyalty and a little bit of romance. A pure delight to read.
I would like to thank #JulesWake, #Netgalley, #RachelsRandomResources and #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #TheSecretsOfLatimerHouse in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
She writes best-selling warm-hearted romantic contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year 2020 with The Spark.
Under her pen name Julie Caplin, she also writes the warm and witty Romantic Escapes series.
Between them, the two Js have written eighteen novels, The Secret of Latimer House being the latest.
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