Beautifully written story covering two timescales, one in ww2 and the other in 1970's. It's a story of community, secrets, love, misunderstandings, bravery and compassion. There's nothing startling or shocking. It's an easy read that gives a history of a small Scottish village (I was completely unaware before and have been inspired to find out more) during the war. Interesting, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable.

The characters in this book are sweet and I enjoyed spending time with them. Also, I really enjoyed the history and the insights into unknown history. That, topped with the fact that we have Scottish charm sprinkled throughout made this a satisfying read.

I confess, and I KNOW this is reader error on my part, I was absolutely confused about what was happening in the beginning. I knew the story was being told with alternate timelines, but I was not prepared for the same character's story to be told with dates that flipped from the future to the past. Read the titles carefully, people! Don't be like me.

As much as I enjoyed the characters and the story, the pace of this one was a little rough. The descriptions of characters, landscapes, and events were a bit repetitive and slowed the story down. This is unfortunate because the story is a good one and I especially loved the mother-daughter threads woven through the story.

I recommend this read, but be prepared to push through descriptions. If you can push through some heavy exposition then I think this read will reward you.

“The Skylark’s Secret” is about a young woman named Flora, her family, her friends and her community in Scotland in the Second World War. Their full story is discovered when her daughter, Lexie, moves back from London to Scotland when her mother passes away in the 1970s. We see both stories play out alongside each other as Lexie makes discoveries with the help of Flora’s old friends.

There are lots of aspects to this story that stand out: the horrors of war, the bonds of friendship, the realities of love during wartime. But the thread that really resonated with me was the love between mothers and daughters. Not everyone is fortunate enough to experience that but the way the author told the stories of Flora and Lexie’s relationship felt real, if a little bit sentimental at times. But given that Lexie was looking back on her mother’s life after her passing, a bit of sentimentality would probably be real in this situation.

I admire the author for her attention to detail, particularly with the research she must have done into that area of Scotland during the war. While this is a fictional story, it’s heartbreaking to think how much of it is based in reality. You really get the sense of how much the author wanted to pay tribute to all those who made sacrifices made during the war. I think she did them justice.

If I have one criticism, other than the sentimentality, it’s that the scenes between Flora and her beloved Alec going out to sea and then returning, and then going out to sea and returning (and the reactions this caused in the characters) became a bit repetitive. I would be interested to know whether men in Alec’s role in real life would have had so many opportunities for shore leave.

But overall I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others, particularly anyone who enjoys fiction set in this time period.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

1940 - Flora lives with her father and brother in a cottage overlooking Loch Ewe, a base for the Artic conveys.
She is in love with Alec, the Laird's son which is not want the Laird wishes for his son.
1978- Lexie, Flora's daughter moves back to the small Scottish community. Flora has died and Lexie has a daughter but no husband.
Lexie begins to unravel her Mother's story with the help of the community and begins to feel she has come home. What secrets will be revealed and can she find happiness?

I have never read Fiona Valpy before despite having had one of her books on my kindle for several years. This book was a delight. I love stories set in two distinct times and war fiction is my preferred genre. Also Scotland is somewhere we visit every other year so this book certainly hit several spots for me. It is a great story of Flora and Lexie and the threads that connect them - to each other and to their home turf. Well written and well plotted. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review a free e-ARC of this engaging book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Shifting POV and overlapping time periods were well orchestrated and not the usual historical fiction fare.  I did predict the twist but it was kind of inevitable.  The light romance was...well, light. 

This author is one to watch and I would read more by her.

Gorgeous cover, too!

There is so much I love about this book! The Skylark’s Secret is an emotionally compelling blend of historical fiction and a story about home and family. Set in dual timelines, every aspect of the story is told with exquisite detail as well as deep, complicated feelings of love, community, regret, heartache, and vulnerability. Flora’s story is set in Scotland during WWII, which was fascinating, as I’d never read a book set in Scotland during the war. Flora’s story was incredibly moving; a young woman in love during wartime, who winds up battling more than the challenges of living during such an unsettling time. Lexie’s story is set in 1978, although her story truly begins before she was even born. When she returns home as a single mother, after a successful career in London, she is at first resentful of the close-knit community, and even embarrassed. But she soon finds the true meaning of community, and how she herself was saved and shaped by her coastal village. Flora and Lexie were such wonderfully complex characters, and as I became entrenched in their stories, I truly cared for them. The setting of this coastal village in Scotland was a character itself—the beauty, the ever-changing weather, the tightness of the community as it works together during wartime as well as when it is a quiet, peaceful place for Flora, Lexie, and the rest of the endearing characters.

A mother/daughter story. I loved this book! You are transported into two different time periods in a HIghland Village in Scotland.. The Royal Navy’s presence changed the town forever. This novel is rich in history and a heart wrenching love story of Flora and Alec. Also, the lovely songs transport you to this close knit town. Read this one - you won’t be disappointed .

I wish to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishers UK for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a World War II story focusing on the Scottish Highlands and then fast forwarding to the 1970’s. The timelines go back and forth. In the 1970’s Lexie returns home to Loche Ewe following her mother’s death. She and her young daughter settle into the Game Keepers Cottage and she begins to unravel the story of her mother. This story has long been held a secret from her. The story teaches one about Naval movements and how children were sent from the horrors of daily London bombings into the countryside for safety. You learn about the dangers of the war ship convoys trying to avoid U-Boats and the role of the Loch Ewe’s ports during the Nazi invasion. The story is well researched and brilliantly written. It is love stories in two different time periods and you feel you are experiencing all of the ups and downs of war torn Europe. You feel a part of this small village where people cares about one another as small towns often do. I enjoyed the story and learned a lot at the same time.

I do wish that some of the Scottish terms had been explained in a glossary as they were not words I understood and feel that would have been beneficial.

What a lovely descriptive, light and flowing read! This is a new author and I thoroughly enjoyed her style of writing! Easy to follow and it flicked between two time lines and two characters, Flora and Lexie. I smiled lots whilst reading this and didn’t want it to end! I will definitely read more of Fiona’s books.

“The Skylark’s Secret,” by Fiona Valpy highlights a little known facet of World War II history in Great Britain—the pivotal role played by the Loch Ewe in the Western Scottish Highlands, which served as the muster point for Arctic convoys to Murmansk and Archangel, providing supplies to Russia during the Nazi offensive there.

The novel alternates between two time periods. The first covers 1977-1980, focusing on Lexie Gordon who, after her mother Flora’s death, returns to her cottage home in the Scottish Highlands as an unwed mother with an infant daughter, mirroring her own mother’s life there where she also lived alone in the cottage raising Lexie with the help of her friends in the community.

The second time period focuses on Flora and her fellow WRNs during the war years between 1939 and 1944 and the separations and losses they suffered during that time while they played their own supporting roles as ambulance drivers and canteen operators.

At the heart of the novel is Lexie’s quest to uncover a secret surrounding her birth, which her mother never revealed to her before she died. The alternating time lines slowly unfold to reveal the truth. In addition to this secret, the book also focuses on the love and support provided to both women by the close-knit Scottish Community of Loch Ewe.

This character-driven historical fiction novel will appeal to those readers seeking a fresh take on World War II history with its spotlight on the part the Scottish Highlands played in winning the war.

I am thankful to have received this advance copy from Lake Union Publishing & NetGalley.

I am a huge fan of Historical Fiction, especially pertaining to WWII. But, reading about different locations around the world that were somehow affected by the war is a plus.

This book takes place in a village in Loch Ewe, which is the NW Highlands of Scotland. Time frames are early stages of WWII & also alternating chapters in the late 1970's.

The 2 main characters are Flora, and Flora's daughter, Lexi.

Flora's chapters are based around what happens in the village as the war escalates, friendships & romance. We read about the struggles the village & surrounding areas have to deal with, on top of watching ships come & go & the loss of local men.

Lexi's part of the story is how Lexi finds out the truth of what happened prior to her birth & also opens her eyes to the locals who she was unsure of.

I really enjoyed this book, it had a little bit of this & that. History, romance, sadness, music, a sense of appreciation & beautifully written. I enjoyed reading about how women were there during times of war, in small ways & large.

What a beautiful, well-written book that kept me captivated from the first page to the very end. The story toggles between Alexandra "Lexie" Gordon 1978 and her mother, Flora Gordon 1939.

Flora is a young woman who lives with her father and brother in the Scottish Highlands. She is in love with the laird's son Alec Mackenzie-Grant and her father is the game keeper for the laird. As the war begins, Flora joins the Wrens with two of her girlfriends, Birdie and Maire, and becomes an ambulance driver while Alec joins the Navy.

Alexandra "Lexie" is Flora's daughter who went to London to pursue a career on stage with a fantastic voice. She falls in love with her director, gets pregnant and he leaves her. After her baby girl, Daisy, is born, Lexie returns to her hometown in Scotland to the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has passed away and Lexie wants to find out more about her father.

I really enjoyed this book with all the history in it as the WWII unfolded. The characters are all really good (except one) and I loved the story line between the two time periods. There were a lot of Scottish terms I was not familiar with that I did stop to look up which made this a longer read for me than usual.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

The story is told in two time lines. Flora lives in Loch Ewe. Her father is the gamekeeper for the laird. She and her brother are best friend's with the laird's son, Alec, and when they grow up realize that they feel more than friends but his father is against the union. During the war the town houses a naval base so Flora works with the Wrens and Alec is a naval officer working the Arctic runs.

The second time line is the late 1970's when Lexie, Flora's daughter, comes home from London with her daughter, Daisy. She had a flourishing career in musical theater but lost her voice. Her mother has just died and she hopes to stay in the cottage until she comes up with a new plan for her life.

I loved this story of love, resilience and protection. The town wrapped Lexie and Daisy up in love and support and we watch her grow from a bitter young woman into someone willing to accept the love that is extended to her. There were so many colorful characters, Bridie who was one of Flora's best friends, becomes a surrogate grandmother to Daisy. Davy was a young boy during the war who was sent to the country to be safe and after the war he came back. Elspeth, her childhood friend, who she had lost touch with over the years but upon coming home gives her a new purpose. The countryside was lush and green and brutal with the storms. The war years were so vivid to me with the storms and the soldiers.

Flora was always evasive when Lexie would ask her about her father. She knew who he was but never what happened or how they fell in love. There were no pictures of them together and she never talked about the time during the war. Lexie sets out to find out what the secret is. It wasn't revealed until the very end and I could not have been more surprised.

I found Fiona Valpey's books while reading Kindle Unlimited last year and now she is one of my favorite authors. I hope there are a lot more of her books in my future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me a copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

A real feel-good read, I couldn't put this book down. Set in rural Scotland the story alternates between Lexie who has returned to the place she grew up along with her baby daughter, and her mother during Ww2. One us a love story and the other is about finding a slower pace of life and finding what is important in life.

Loch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed.

Decades later, Flora’s daughter, singer Lexie Gordon, is forced to return to the village and to the tiny cottage where she grew up. Having long ago escaped to the bright lights of the West End, London still never truly felt like home. Now back, with a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother—and the hostile-seeming village itself—have long been hiding secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew.

Valpy's book was perfect escapism for me to the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The tale of mother and daughter both defiant in times of loss, sacrifice and heartache. The dual narration of the novel was incredibly effective in building up both characters and their individual stories which intertwined flawlessly. Although the story is ultimately quite tragic, Valpy crafts little nuggets of pure happiness into the narrative with themes surrounding family, friends and community. I would absolutely recommend.

(This review will be shared on my Book Blog - Instagram.com/whatson.mybookshelf)

A novel about mothers,daughters,lovers,friends, set in a beautiful Scottish setting. It begins with the story of Flora and then evolves into Lexie Gordon s story. Good story

I went back and forth on how to rate this book. In the end, I'm just giving it two stars because it pretty much spiraled downward for me so I just didn't care though I was interested and liked it in the beginning--less and less so and the book progressed.

I enjoy historical fiction--but here, I use the term's applicability lightly. I also like dual timelines which this has, but...

The settings: "Loch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed."

1978: "Flora’s daughter, singer Lexie Gordon, is forced to return to the village and to the tiny cottage where she grew up. Having long ago escaped to the bright lights of the West End, London still never truly felt like home. Now back, with a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother—and the hostile-seeming village itself—have long been hiding secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew. As she pieces together the fragments of her parents’ story..."

And so it goes,

From the start, I wondered about the predictability of this book. And yes, it was--totally. This is a real disconnect for me. I like surprises but more, not knowing the trajectory from almost the start! Way too neat and tidy,

One HUGE criticism--there are many, many Scottish phrases and descriptions! This book would have benefitted from a glossary, [one advantage of reading in Kindle format]

The writing was acceptable. BUT, I regret spending the time when I could have read a much better book! I could have walked away at any time.

I feel as if I've read this book and seen this movie before--many, many times.

Note: I'm in the distinct minority of opinions.

This book is set with dual time lines. I thought each one was interesting. I thought the characters were good and felt a connection to them. I think historical fiction fans will enjoy this book. I definitely recommend!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

Flora's Waltz

This book is a tearjerker. The book brings home the loss of loved ones during a period of war. It also is a story of secrets. It has been said that "The Truth is a Powerful Force" and I believe it is true. It is certainly true in this story.

The story is about the love between Flora and Alec, and a love story between Davy and Lexy. It's a story of war and the losses felt in the small Scottish village of Loch Ewe. The people in the town and how they gathered together in times of need to help each other. It's about love and friendship and courage. It's about a secret the town kept to keep one of their own safe.

Although the story is written in two time periods, the stories of a mother and in later years her grown daughter, it is very easy to follow . Many of the characters are the same in both stories.

I loved the story and the scenic background of the seaside village. The descriptions of the place, the flowers, and other details were descriptive enough I could picture them in my mind. I also loved the characters.

The story was very well written and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Fiona Valpy, Amazon Publishing UK, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy if the book in exchange for an honest review.