Secrets and Sins by Lizzie Lane
(previously published as "Home for Christmas")
Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, Sagas, WW1
Read: 21st June 2022
Published: 27th June 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
1913
Lydia Miller, daughter of a German doctor, is training to become a nurse when she first meets debonair Robert Ravening, the nephew of a Lord and a keen aviator and promptly falls in love.
When the Great War begins in 1914, Robert enlists with the Royal Flying Corps and as a nurse, determined to help all she can, Lydia is sent to France. While her parentage is no hindrance to their relationship in peacetime, when war is declared Robert’s family makes it clear they no longer approve of the match.
With no means of contacting Robert on the Western Front, Lydia volunteers herself, joining the Red Cross. But her love affair with Robert has had more than one consequence as secrets and sins are disclosed.
Being both British and German Lydia finds herself in No Man’s Land, suspected by one and imprisoned by the other.
Previously published as Home for Christmas
MY THOUGHTS:
Until now, I have only read Lizzie Lane's Tobacco Girls series and have enjoyed them so much that I simply had to dive into this exciting and intriguing read. Unlike the Tobacco Girls, SECRETS AND SINS (previously published as "Home for Christmas") is not set in the author's native Bristol. Instead it is set mainly in London with a little bit of a country estate and plenty of Belgium and France during the Great War.
Lydia Miller is the daughter of an English mother and a German father, although she was born and raised in Britain she speaks both languages fluently. Her father, Dr Eric Miller, is a well-respected doctor in London working in and around the Lutheran hospital in which German staff treat people of all race, colour and nationality. It is the same hospital in which Lydia is training to become a nurse.
When her father is called upon Sir Avis Ravening, the old man takes such a liking to him that he invites Lydia and her father to stay at his country estate over Christmas. Lydia is overjoyed as Christmas Eve is her birthday and it has never once celebrated as it was also the day her mother died giving birth to her - a source of great pain to her father. Lydia meets precocious and feisty young Agnes Stacey, the cook's daughter, who has ideas well above her station and her eye on Sir Avis' nephew Robert. The two young women become firm friends despite the difference in their classes - Lydia being middle class and Agnes, working.
And then Lydia meets Robert Ravening. As soon as the two set eyes on one another, there is frisson between them - a spark and mutual attraction - much to the envy of Agnes. The couple spent stolen moments together as often as they could with the thrill of promises for the future. With the unrest in Europe, Robert proposes marriage as soon as possible but Lydia wants to complete her training and hang on to her independence a while longer.
And then war erupts...taking with it all hope and any dreams for the future.
Robert enlists as an aviator of the new fangled flying machines with the Royal Flying Corp and Lydia decides to put her nursing skills to good use at the Front. But she is half German, the enemy of Britain. What does war mean for both her and her father, who is German?
While Agnes has enlisted as an Ambulance driver, Lydia is determined to do her bit to help those in need at the Front. So she joins the Red Cross who are neutral. But what will happen when she is there amidst the injured soldiers and her heritage is discovered? Will she be seen as a traitor to her country? To Britain? To Germany? With whom is she aligned? Does either side see her as an ally or a foe? All Lydia wants to do is help injured men, British, German or French - it doesn't matter. She does not believe in the war - she only wants to help.
But tough times are ahead for Lydia...tougher than she could have envisioned. A war everyone thought would be over by Christmas continued for another four years, and at its end, brought with it the Spanish Flu...as if the war hadn't killed enough already.
By the time the war has ended, life is a whole lot different for everyone. But will it ever be the same again? And how will they get over their losses and the sacrifices made so that others may live?
Oh my! If I enjoyed the Tobacco Girls, I love SECRETS AND SINS! There is something metamorphosic about the Great War. It was meant to be the war to end all wars but instead it marked a vast change in direction for the classes and for women especially. The suffragette movement was in full force at the time war erupted but they paused their cause for the duration of the war only to pick up at its end with an even greater ferocity. It saw many changes come during that time.
I loved the story and the subplots entwined throughout. Lydia and Agnes' friendship was a genuine and loyal one despite the difference in their classes. The women were so completely different and yet they complemented each other. I loved the relationship between Lydia and Robert also, and my heart went out to both of them at the pain of separation which was inevitable during wartime. I thoroughly enjoyed all characters, especially Sir Avis despite being in for just a short time, with the exception of the dastardly Sylvester "Siggy" and Sir Avis' estranged and positively horrible wife Lady Julieta.
SECRETS AND SINS is an easy read that was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I literally had tears in my eyes at the end. I was completely immersed within the story that I didn't want to leave. Such a delightful tale that had me entertained until the final page.
A must-read for fans of historical fiction sagas and wartime fiction.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Working jobs she's hated purely to keep a roof over her family’s head and a meal on the table, she then discovered writing. Encouraged by an American writer friend and when a time came there were no jobs and no other option, she took the plunge. She is now the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. As a Bristolian, many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories, inspiring her new saga series The Tobacco Girls.
Up until six years ago her home (and that of her late husband) was a 46ft sailing yacht named Sarabande Serene, sailing into the Mediterranean. So besides being a successful author Lizzie can read navigation charts and react swiftly in a storm.
Lizzie is now landlocked in a town close to the city of Bath.
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