I loved this gentle tale split between 2 time zones (early 1940 and late 1970’s) and everything about it: the setting, the characters, friendships, loves, loss., heartbreak. The story gently unfolds itself and comes together nicely at the end. A real feel good book. I think it would make a great book club read as plenty to discuss and interesting navy angle on the war that we don’t read about very often

A well written historical romance. The imagery that Valpy creates makes you feel like you are there. The novel had me excited, sad, happy, and melancholy. The authenticity in the situations of the characters is real, and makes you feel as if you are there with them. Although this is not what I would have in my classroom, it brought a wonderful time of escape for myself.

Such a good book - I didn't want it to end. Fiona Valpy writes such wonderful stories set during WW2. This book was set in Scotland not a million miles away from where I live. I got so caught up with the characters and their lives that I cried more than once. Loved the stories of Flora and Lexie set more than 30 years apart and that Lexie found the truth finally. The setting was perfect to - and the book served as a history lesson to me too.

I loved this book. I had an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I'm delighted to give it 5 stars.
The book tells of the lives of a mother and daughter in two time periods, the second world war and the late 1970's. Both characters are warm and their stories, in some way parallel each other.
The book is set on the far north west coast of Scotland and the Scots tradition and way of life is built into the threads.
I learned much about the history of the convoys between Scotland and the US and to Russia. The book is well researched both in historical detail and in geographical and local detail.
The story is not without its sadness, but it moves along at a good pace and with a liveliness which keeps you reading.
This book is well written and it is a very enjoyable read. I had only read one other book by Fiona Valpy, but I'm going looking for some others now.

The juxtaposition of present day and WWII in Scotland and the interaction of present day daughter and mother and WWII era daughter and mother makes for a very compelling narrative.

A awesome story about Mother daughter love and what the do for that love.
Flora story start during WWII and Lexi story is recent.
Interesting information about the Scottish Highlands during the War.
They both went through some difficulty but persevered .
Enjoyed the story and characters.

Initially, I planned to give this novel 3 or 3.5 stars.
It tells two stories in parallel: that of Lexie, a single mother in the late 70s, and her recently deceased mother, Flora, during WWII. Lexie returned home to Loch Ewe, a remote village in the Scottish Highlands, after she is no longer able to sing professionally in London. She knows virtually nothing about her father, who died before she was born, and no one in town is willing to talk about it. Most of the story focuses on daily life in this Scottish community during WWII while it served as a mustering point for Arctic supply runs to Murmansk, Russia. This was reasonably interesting. However, I wondered what was the point of all of this mundane detail. The author invested heavily in creating atmosphere at the expense of building the plot. Nothing seemed to be happening and the objective appeared buried or forgotten. Because of the setting, it was pretty obvious what became of Lexie's father. The question is how did it happen and why is it such a taboo subject.
Not until the last 50 or 60 pages of the book did the author get around to the real crux of the story. The actual mystery took me pleasantly by surprise. The climax of the novel was sufficiently intriguing to merit an extra star.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It is very rare that I don’t finish reading a book once I’ve started. There were multiple times in the first few chapters that I almost put this one down because its was soooo boring. I forced myself to continue because surely it had to get better! Gradually it did about midway through. Lexie’s story was just okay for me and in the beginning Flora’s was so-so. Flora’s did improve which made this a fairly enjoyable read.

I LOVED this book. I am not a big fan of war books, but this book was more about two generations of women raising their babies in a village community in Europe. The writing drew me in, and I really felt for the characters. The love stories were pure, the depiction of the scenery was gorgeous, and the history was rich without being boring. I loved the contrast of the vulnerability and strength of both main characters, mother and daughter, and their struggle to find themselves in the world. Overall, this book was fantastic and I will absolutely find other books by this author in the future.

I thoroughly love historical fiction but I was disappointed with this book. The setting, the characters all had the makings of a first rate story but this just didn’t do it for me.
The story starts out fine, the location, the highlands all seem wonderful and then the story just seems to bog down.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

An excellent story that keeps you involved from the beginning right through until the final page. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this type of book.

This book was archived before I could finish. I will download elsewhere and come back to provide a full review.

The Skylark’s Secret by Fiona Valpy is a work of historical fiction set during World War II in Scotland. There are two narrators . One is Fiona, an woman who lives in Scotland and is alive during the time of World War II. The second narrator is Fiona’s daughter, Lexi, who is telling her story from the 1970s time period. Fiona has died and Lexi has decided to move back to Scotland and live in her mother’s home. . As time progresses Lexi learns things about her mother’s life that she never knew. She learns about what it was like to live during these turbulent times of war. I truly enjoyed reading this novel. I also learned quite a bit about life in Scotland during the war and in the 1970s. There is also a theme of love, loss and betrayal that is seen in this novel. I do not think you will be disappointed if you decide to read It! I would like to thank netgalley, Fiona Valpy and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*** I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

I really enjoyed this book. It is a multigenerational story following a mother and daughter's stories (after the mother has passed away). Alexandra (the daughter) returns home to the Scotland Highlands after the passing of her mother (Flora) with her baby daughter (Daisy). The Skylark's Secret follows Alexandra as she discovers the secrets of her mother's past and shapes her future for herself and her daughter. It is a story of war, sacrifice, love, family, loss, and grief. I had never heard of the Arctic convoys that travelled from Scotland and Iceland to Russia to supply troops with ammunition and supplies during WWII. Also, the WRENS female military group was something I was unaware of. These aspects of Flora's story and WWII were very interesting to me. Though I haven't read any other novels by Fiona Valpy, I look forward to her reading some of her other novels as her writing style is full of descriptions and historical details that really took me into the scene. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you're into the WWII historical fiction genre.

I enjoyed this book, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. It's set in Scotland, told in two time periods about a mother and daughter each with their own story but the stories intersect. It was beautifully written about love, friendship, and courage. I'm not a huge fan of books set in world wars but the war was a very minor part of this book.

The Skylark's Secret is a story told in two times through the lives of two women: Flora lives during World War II and Lexie, her daughter, is a young woman in the 1970s. Lexie left her childhood home in Scotland to make it in the West End in London, and, after a successful but short career she's going back to regroup with her baby Daisy. During her stay there, she tries to learn more about who her father was through Flora's best friends.

First of all, what I liked most was Lexie's story (for me, Flora's was moving too slow) going back to a small village/town and constantly second-guessing what others think of her. I liked the way in which the small community was described and how everyone was so welcoming to her. The voices of the characters and the small vocabulary changes kept reminding me that this was a story set in Scotland (and from time to time I had to go to the dictionary to figure out some words).

What I didn't like... As I said above, for me Flora's storyline moved very slowly. I think it could have been shortened with no detriment to the full story. At the same time, I liked learning about the Scottish experience of WWII, and the lives of those who left and those who stayed. I guess in my head when people went to war they either came back or they did when it ended or they got injured. In the book, Flora and her friends' sweethearts come and go multiple times, making each separation harder as you see how what they see when they're gone affects them. The story is fictional, but some actual events are described in the book.

But in reality, for me the biggest let down was the "big reveall". With a title like "The Skylark's Secret", I was reading and expecting a big reveal/twist about Lexie's father. The truth, when it finally (and I want to emphasise "finally" because the book was starting to drag at this point) arrived, left me with a sense of disappointment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know what happened but when I went to read this book, it wasn't on my Kindle, I couldn't find it anywhere even though it appears in my list on my shelf, so I unfortunately wasn't able to read it and review it. I wish there was a way to give this information without being force to give a "star rating" but NetGalley doesn't allow that. Maybe better luck next time, it sounded like a good read.

I usually read contemporary fiction so it was a refreshing change to read something set in the past. Two time lines telling the stories of mother and daughter play out beautifully in the picturesque landscape the writer creates for us. You will feel transported, and find the plots and characters very engaging.

This is a well written and dramatic narrative that I feel readers of historical fiction will enjoy, especially if you love a good love story.

I enjoyed how the stories entwined and, though sad at times, I did like the way each story ended.

My only criticism was that, as much as I enjoyed the style of writing, sometimes the use of description was over played, especially towards the end where I felt it slowed the pace somewhat. Though not enough to have spoiled it for me.

Highly recommended!

This story goes between two time periods Flora in 1940 Scotland and her daughter Lexie in the later 1970's, and each chapter goes back and forth between each character.
Both were singers and both became single mothers, something that is told effortlessly as we weave back and forth between their lives. Both stories are fascinating to follow, as we go back and forth in time, discovering secrets from the past and as new and old friendships are formed and lost over the years.
This author paints us a wonderful picture of the town of Aultbea, a small fishing village situated on the shores of Loch Ewe in Scotland and of its people, a place that became the center of Naval activity during WWII.
Lexie had left this town, in search of a life as a singer in London, becoming known, but then to eventually lose her singing voice, and with her daughter decides to return to her hometown and settle her mothers estate.
Once there and reconnecting with a group of people who were both her friends and her mothers, she sets out to learn the truth about her father and mothers history as she never got to meet her father.
So many good stories and fascinating people to read about, this was a book that I will remember.
This is the first book that I have read by this author but I have a few more by her and look forward to reading them.

This was a slow read for me as I picked it up in between other reads. But this allowed for the story to build and marinate as I took in the various story lines. I think it actually added to the story that I didn’t read it too quickly. Whichever way you want to read it, fast or slow, I do highly recommend this book.

Half of this story is set in the 1940s during World War II and follows Flora Gordon. The other half of the story is set in the 1970s and follows Lexie Gordon, Flora’s daughter. Both stories are in Loch Ewe, a Scottish Highland. Even decades apart and under very different circumstances, both Flora and Lexie must face their fears, accept losses, be open to love, and learn how to handle secrets. Valpy carefully crafts two love stories decades apart with striking similarities and differences.

An amazing element of this story was the scenery. Valpy’s descriptions of the Scottish highlands, landscapes and culture are beautiful. You are drawn into the detailed descriptions and at times feel as though you can even hear the crashing waves or smell the salty air. These parts of the story are slower as the atmosphere and surroundings are described.

This is not a fast paced WWII historical fiction but instead it is a deeply heartfelt and steady retelling of the war’s impacts on Loch Ewe and everyone who lived there, emphasizing how tragedies of war can ripple for decades.