Garden of Secrets by Suzanne Kelman
Genre: Historical fiction, Contemporary fiction, WW2, Dual timeline
Read: 10th April 2022
Audio Links:
Published: 13th April 2022
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
1940, England: A heart-breaking, unforgettable and powerful story about love, wartime secrets, and betrayal. Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen’s The Victory Garden and Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.
When Anya is sent to rural England to work as a spy, she’s glad to escape a terrifying situation at home in war-torn Russia. But as she settles into life as a land girl, she fears she’s made a terrible mistake.
With her life at risk every day, she can only turn to her fellow informer, Nikolai, who she finds herself impossibly drawn to. They both desperately want to join the fight against the Nazis and when they are told Russia has switched allegiance, they start to believe their love might stand a chance.
But no one can ever know their secret history, and being together puts them in the gravest danger. So they devise a plan. If they’re ever separated, they will find their way back to each other. They just have to follow a series of secret coded messages. Clues no one else could possibly understand. Starting with a small key, left in the place that has become most precious to them: the secret garden.
Now, England: When Laura agrees to restore a beautiful garden in the grounds of an English stately home she sees the opportunity for a new start, away from heartbreak. But when she finds a box buried under the weeping willow tree, she is spellbound by its contents – a key and a cryptic note. As she begins to piece together the fragments of a love story that stretches across wartime Europe, Laura doesn’t realise it, but she is embarking on an unforgettable journey. One which will change her own life forever.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Suzanne Kelman's heartbreaking dual timeline tale GARDEN OF SECRETS.
“Under the shade of the weeping willow, she could see a sparkle of silver… She reached out to it and felt a tremor through her body, knowing instantly: this was a secret, and somebody hid it here in this garden…”
I have devoured every tale penned by Suzanne Kelman since the equally heartbreaking "A View Across the Rooftops" and each tale is just as heartbreaking, as well as poignant, as the last. GARDEN OF SECRETS tells of a a secret buried in the lush walled garden of Hatworth Manor in Norfolk during the war that wasn't uncovered for another seventy five years...and set the pace for this wonderful dual timeline story that will have you reaching for the tissues.
Russia 1941: Twenty two year old Anya Baranov finds herself left with nothing after the tragic death of her mother and the learing eyes of her step-father who wants to marry her off to someone loyal to Stalin and with enough wealth to keep him in the lap of luxury to which he sees himself. But Anya refuses to be bartered off and when her step-father offers her another alternative, Anya makes her escape in the dead of night and joins the Russian secret service where she meets Nickolai Petroff, a man with his own reasons for aligning himself with the NKVD. They train together as agents for Russia before they are sent to England to spy for the Germans, as they prepare to invade Britain. Neither of them really wants to be a spy but they both have compelling reasons to escape and soon they find themselves in too deep that they see no way out.
Together they are sent to Hatworth Manor in Norfolk where Anya is to work as Land Girl and Nickolai as a footman, although they have had their identities anglicised to Annie Stone and Nicholas Brown. As Anya makes her way to Hatworth to join the Land Girls there, she meets bubbly and vivacious Millie and, despite preferring to keep to herself, soon becomes fast friends with the likeable young woman. When Nickolai arrives at Hatworth some days later, Anya knows they must maintain a level of secrecy by keeping their distance. Each one has a specific role to play but neither one is comfortable with this fact as they become closer and even less so when Anya feels a bond of friendship with her Land Girl comrades. How can she betray them? Her only friends?
Flung together, Anya and Nickolai are drawn to one another and find they cannot fight the attraction they feel for one another. In the chaos of war, a romance blossoms between them and they meet nightly in their secret garden, the walled garden, where they grow together. In the midst of ambiguity when they hear the disturbing news that Germany has invaded Russia, their supposed Allies, Anya and Nickolai wonder what this means for them and their mission? And in the shadow of uncertainty, they make a plan and a promise for the future...should the tendrils of war reach them and they need to flee.
Norfolk, present day: En route from betrayal, Laura has escaped London to work on restoring the beautiful gardens of Hatworth Manor, staying with two old friends - Simon and Alicia - in their cottage on the estate and where Simon is estate manager. Flinging herself into her work to forget the troubles she left behind, Laura uncovers a silver cigarette box containing a small key and a mysterious message beneath an uprooted willow tree in the once beautiful walled garden. Puzzled by her find and wondering what it means, Laura resolves to uncover its mystery.
The cryptic message was written on a torn piece of ration card and alludes to someone called "Grace Mere". The ration card itself would have been a precious commodity during the war so leaving a message on it implies a sense of urgency because no one would tear up something that important unless they had to. And who was Grace Mere? Laura decides to dig into Hatworth's history to see if she can make some sense of the mystery she's uncovered which leads her to Jamie, a handsome artist who lives in a cottage that had somehow played a part in her mystery.
As Laura and Jamie delve into the past, they come up against several obstacles - one of which from Laura's recent past set on reclaiming her - but are both dogged in their determination to uncover the truth. But how can they follow a trail that is seventy five years old? Can they find who the little silver box belongs to? What the key unlocks? Who the cryptic message is for? And will they discover who Annie Stone was and why she fled Hatworth Manor one night and the same night a footman disappeared, never to be seen again?
Although the story was slow to start, it picked up pace about 40% in once Anya and Nickolai's mission was set in motion as I found the foundations laid in Russia to be a little lagging. Up to this point, it was Laura's timeline that interested me the most but soon Anya and Nickolai's overtook hers as the featured story and I found myself enthralled in the trail left behind and the double life the couple were reluctantly living. There is romance in both timelines and both are overshadowed by their past or their present in each respective case.
I loved each of the characters as they were incredibly easy to like. Anya, Nickolai, Laura and Jamie. Even the secondary characters such as Millie in the past and Simon and Alicia in the present were a delight. I didn't much like Liam. He was too arrogant for my liking and the assumption that he continued to make despite Laura spending the past few months telling him otherwise. I would have liked to hear what happened to him, though, in the end and more of Jamie's past would have been welcome as well. Especially considering he told Laura that if they were to have a relationship of any kind that there were to be no secrets and to be up front yet his past was only hinted at and something he never elaborated on whilst Laura poured out her deepest secret at the first opportunity.
The garden at Hatworth is a character in itself, playing such a a major role in both the past and present, that it is only fitting it featured as the title of this timeslip novel. I could really picture myself there with the beautifully scented roses and the willow tree, apple tree, the swing and even the treehouse (although I doubt I could climb up there now...)
Usually in dual timeline tales, the contemporary present day is more diluted and overshadowed by the past story. But in this case it started out the other way around with Laura's story well-crafted and Anya's the more diluted one. However, the roles were reversed soon enough as the past became entwined with the present. I love dual timeline tales and am easily lost to the past and present storylines. The alternating chapters between Laura, Anya and Nickolai are so well written that the reader is so immersed that we feel as if we are watching the entire story play out in real time.
My only complaint is the long winded way in which the story begins, particularly with Anya and Nickolai. I can see why it was told that way but it really slowed the pace down and the only reason I continued was because I am familiar with Ms Kelman's outstanding writing ability that I knew it would get better. By 20% I've usually given up, but Laura thankfully kept me engaged long enough until Anya and Nickolai's story picked up around 45% and took over. I knew I would be rewarded in the end...it was just a slow beginning, in my opinion. And although the ending was satisfying, I found it a little lacking for reasons I can't disclose due to spoilers. It ended with a promise of something when I would have preferred something a little more tangible is all I can say. But it was still a delightful read.
In summing up, GARDEN OF SECRETS is a heartwarming and heartbreaking tale in equal measures despite its slow start. And perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Kathleen McGurl and Lorna Cook. And like all Suzanne Kelman books, I highly recommend.
I would like to thank #SuzanneKelman, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #GardenOfSecrets in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Suzanne Kelman is an Amazon International Bestselling author in America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Her WW2 historical fiction books "A View Across the Rooftops" and "When We Were Brave," together have sold over 150,000 copies and are published by Bookouture - an imprint for Hachette U.K. Her third WW2 Book, Under A Sky on Fire, publishes October 13th, 2020. Kelman's books have also been translated into five languages.
She is also the author of the bestselling book, "The Rejected Writers' Book Club", published by Lake Union, which is the first book in the Southlea Bay series. Other books in the series include, "Rejected Writers Take the Stage" and "The Rejected Writers' Christmas Wedding".
Kelman is an award-winning writer/screenwriter whose accolades include the Best Comedy Feature Screenplay Award from the L.A. International Film Festival, the Gold Award from the California Film Awards, and the Van Gogh Award from the Amsterdam Film Festival.
In 2015 her script, Held, was recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures and was shortlisted to the top ten in the Academy Of Motion Pictures Nichols Fellowship competition.
As well as a screenwriter and a published author, Suzanne is also a playwright, and her award-winning comedy play, "Over My Dead Body", had its World Premiere at Outcast Theatre in Washington, Fall 2019.
Born in the United Kingdom, Suzanne now resides in Washington State.
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