Another great book by this author. I loved the two timeliness with Sophia's story going back to 1942 Greece and Ava in the present and unusually I liked both equally instead of preferring the historical part. Great characters and great history as the Greek story does not appear nearly so often in this type of book and so I would definitely recommend it

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for sharing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After losing her daughter in a stillbirth, Ava was consumed by grief. In such times, her husband - Simon was unable to give her the much needed emotional support. Soon her marriage began to fall apart. She decided to move to a house in a tiny village called Iousidous in Greece. The house had been uninhabited since Second World War, belonged to her grandmother and bequeathed to her. Ava had gone there to find answers for herself. Instead, she got sucked in the mysterious past of her stern grandmother. In 1942, during the German occupation of Greece, Sophia Paranoussis, a hardworking young girl in Greece believed that keeping her head down would keep her family safe. She never viewed herself as brave and heroic. But one encounter with a stranger turns her life around and she became part of the resistance movement, albeit a reluctant one.

As is the case, with most of the split timeline books, one tends to get more invested in one time period than the other. For me, it is usually the past that holds the charm. But here, the present timeline drew me in. I was curious to know, how Ava was going to dig into her grandmother's history when no one was willing to talk about that period. I enjoyed the character arc of Ava from a grieving mother to a woman handling her pain in a dignified way once things got back into perspective. People may have different ways of dealing with pain. That does not make our sorrows greater than theirs. Neither does it make them insensitive.
I was unaware of the resistance movement in Greece during World War II.
Learning about the blowing up of the Gorgopotamos viaduct was interesting.

After suffering a personal tragedy, to find some solace and take possession of a cottage she has inherited, Ava travels to a small village in Greece, the birth place of her grandmother, Sophia. Sophia left Greece in 1945 and had never spoken of her family there or her homeland.

On her arrival in the village, an elderly neighbour is upset by Ava's resemblance to Sophia and apologises. For what, Ava has no idea and is curious to find out, but the neighbour's daughter discourages Ava from asking questions. With only a handful of other people in the village who may remember Sophia and her family, Ava is disappointed. However, she does make some startling discoveries about Sophia, while also learning what life was like in the village, especially the hardships and devastating events that occurred during World War II.

Sophia's wartime experiences are told through a series of flashbacks, which are nestled within Ava's present day struggles, with the final details of a betrayal and its horrendous consequences revealed at a hospital bedside.

I found the historical setting of this novel very interesting. It highlighted a gap in my knowledge of World War II and encouraged me to seek out more information on the events portrayed here. Greece had a different experience to other occupied countries in that its Resistance groups fought each other as well as the Nazis, which developed into a civil war that didn't end until 1949.

Once again, I've been enlightened and entertained by a Kate Hewitt Novel. Beyond the Olive Grove will appeal to the many Kate Hewitt fans and also to those readers who enjoy World War II fiction with strong female characters.

Just beautiful. Poignant. Heartwarming. Writing that jumps off the page and straight into your heart. This author is just Wow. I would read an instruction manual if it was written by her.

I've read the scenario over a dozen times. Someone gets an unexpected inheritance in a far flung corner of the world (this time Greece) and you rush there to occupy, make a life for yourself, uprooting yourself almost completely. For me it sounds improbable but the fact that it is written about so much, it must be factual as well.

Ava is in deep sorrow over her miscarriage. Her grief she feels is hers alone because her husband Simon comes across as cold and unfeeling. This she can no longer stand and her marriage is about to collapse. Inheriting a house in a Greek village from her grandmother who never ever spoke of her Greek ancestry, was unexpected and was the bolt hole she needed. That the house was closed for sixty years did not strike Ava as
ominous.

The story of Ava, her arrival in this tiny remote village, her attempts to make her house habitable and making friends with quiet reserved neighbours was not easy. Unravelling the past was worst. Just five people of her grandmothers generation survived and very few of them wanted to talk of the past. It was a bloody past filled with revenge and distrust, murder and an unforgiving one which traumatised those living even today.

An interesting story told in two time lines outlining Ava's grandmother Sophia's days as a girl and then the present day as depicted in Ava's ti,e and her sadness and life as it was now.

Sensitively handled a good read.

EXCERPT: Now.

Ava Lancet peered through the unrelenting night as she fought down a growing sense of panic. Darkness had fallen twenty minutes ago and she had no idea where she was - or where she was meant to go.

She glanced at the map crumpled on the passenger seat of her rental car, wishing that the agent had provided a GPS instead of the seemingly obsolete, old-fashioned fold-out map that he'd assured her would help her drive from Athens to the tiny village of Iousidous. And perhaps it would have if she could have made sense of the wiggly lines and incomprehensible Greek names. Not that reading Greek even mattered now because darkness had fallen and she could barely make out the road signs on Greece's National Highway.

She'd been in this country just a few hours and already she was completely lost, both literally and figuratively. Spiritually, emotionally, hopelessly lost. A fortnight ago, escaping a cold wet spring in England had seemed like a wonderful idea, a desperate lifeline since her own life - and marriage - had been put on hold. That's how Ava liked to think of it anyway, because to consider anything else was too final. Too much of a failure.

ABOUT 'BEYOND THE OLIVE GROVE': When Ava arrives in Greece, it’s with a heart that’s shattered into a thousand pieces. But as she pulls up in a tiny village nestled on a cliff above the glittering Ionian Sea, and steps out in front of a tumbledown house that once belonged to her grandmother Sophia, everything changes.

At first Ava almost wants to laugh at this bizarre inheritance—a home that has been uninhabited since the Second World War—that appears as close to collapse as she herself feels. But with nowhere left to run to, her only choice is to start putting the house together again.

What Ava doesn’t expect is for pieces of her grandmother’s story to emerge, as a local survivor from the war begins to share her secrets. Ava can’t help but be drawn to Sophia’s hidden past… even though the truth could change her own life forever.

Because Sophia’s story is one of devastating choices she had to make during the Nazi invasion of her beloved country. It’s a story of bravery, betrayal and tragedy. But most of all, it is a story about love…

MY THOUGHTS: I am a definite starter for books where the main character is left a house, and uncovers a mystery, so I knew as soon as I saw it that I absolutely must read this book. I have read Kate Hewitt before and enjoyed her, so I knew that I was in for a good read.

Hewitt has described rural Greece beautifully - not that I have ever been there, unfortunately - but just as I have seen it on travel documentaries. In Ava's 'now', there is a dearth of young people in the village, but the villagers of a similar age to Ava, or her mother, are friendly, welcoming and helpful, while the older generations are more reserved and distrustful.

Sophia's 'then' in 1942, has a totally different atmosphere. It is a time of poverty and fear, with many different political factions trying to seize control. There are communists, nazis and fascists all competing against one another, each in their own way equally dangerous. Sophia is content to keep her head down, her opinions to herself, and just get on with her work at the café. But other people have vastly different plans for her.

I didn't know much about Greece in WWII, so Beyond the Olive Grove was a bit of an education for me. Please make sure you read Kate's letter at the end of the book. I learned so much more from it, including that Sophia's story is based on both real events and people.

I liked Beyond the Olive Grove, but regretfully didn't love it. In all honesty I felt Ava's story detracted from Sophia's with her marriage and emotional dramas. A good read, but for me one that I probably won't be able to recall in a couple of weeks.

⭐⭐⭐.2

#BeyondtheOliveGrove #NetGalley

I: @katehewitt1 @bookouture

T: @KateHewitt1 @Bookouture

#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #historicalfiction #mystery

THE AUTHOR: Kate likes to read women's fiction, mystery and thrillers, as well as historical novels. She particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots.

Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and two Golden Retrievers.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Beyond the Olive Grove by Kate Hewitt for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Kate Hewitt writes with such passion and this can be seen time and time again with each book she releases. Beyond the Olive Grove is another such story filled with heartache, compassion and love.

Ava is at a crossroads. Her marriage to Simon is falling apart, her grandmother has passed and Ava is also suffering from another heartbreaking loss. All of this combined has Ava leaving the safety and comfort of her home in England to a tiny village in Greece where her grandmother, Sophia, once lived. Ava is not sure what she will find or even if this is the right decision she is making. Will Ava find herself again while learning more about her grandmother and her life during the end of WWII?

There is something about Hewitt’s stories that just draws you right in. She paints a vivid picture with each scene almost making you feel as if you can see and feel what each of her characters feel. We see that here also with Ava and Sophia and through their stories we learn the heartbreaking reality of what both have gone through and yet how they both persevere through it all after feeling so lost and helpless

Once again, Hewitt has written a captivating and breathtaking story with Beyond the Olive Grove. I highly recommend and it is again another 5 star read from me.

Ava arrives in Greece with her heart in shambles from the loss of her grandmother. When Ava arrives in the tiny village where her grandmother lived, she finds the house her grandmother left her in her will. It has been vacant and uninhabited since World War II. While Ava is there her grandmother, Sophia’s history and her stories begin to surface from a local who survived the war. The choice’s Sophia made and the bravery she exhibited were so heartbreaking. As Sophia’s story unfolds, Ava soon realizes why Sophia never talked about the war. Sophia’s story is one that will forever change the path of Ava’s life. This story is a wonderful, must read. It is one that will transport you from wherever you are, to Greece. The description of the village is so vivid you feel as if you are walking through the town. This story is told in two timelines and they are intertwined in such an amazing way. I loved the flow of this book, it is one that you can’t stop reading until the last page is turned. It is unforgettable and will keep you up all night reading until the end. This emotional and phenomenal story is one that I highly recommend.

Thank you Kate Hewitt for another wonderful and emotional read. I loved everything about this story. The characters were relatable and the storyline was fantastic.

A stirring tale of love, hope, courage and resilience, Beyond the Olive Grove is an emotionally satisfying page-turner from Kate Hewitt’s immensely talented pen.

Broken-hearted Ava needs somewhere to escape from the barrage of devastating memories that constantly assail her. The tumbledown house in Greece perched on a cliff that had once belonged to her grandmother is the only refuge that is currently available and although her new home high above the Ionian Sea in a tiny village doesn’t initially seem like much, little does Ava realise that everything she has always wanted and hoped for could be within her reach in this house – but only if she has the courage to let go of the past, heal from old wounds and untangle a decades old mystery involving her grandmother, Sophia…

The house has lain empty since the Second World War, but Ava finds herself drawn into uncovering her grandmother’s secrets. She begins to piece together a story of devastating decisions, powerful secrets and heart-breaking promises that stretches back to the 1940s and the Nazi’s occupation of Sophia’s beloved country. Ava will not rest until she has finally discovered her valiant grandmother’s story of bravery, sacrifice and determination. Yet, what she never imagined was that by solving the mystery of her grandmother’s past, she would end up transforming her own destiny forever.

A beautifully written tale told with empathy, sensitivity and heart, Beyond the Olive Grove is a book that cannot help but move readers and bring a tear to their eye. An atmospheric, emotional and beguiling tale that will take readers on an unforgettable journey packed with pathos, drama and excitement, Kate Hewitt’s Beyond the Olive Grove is a terrific book to curl up with and lose oneself in.

I love Kate Hewitt books and this one is no exception.

This is a duel timeline novel with two point of views. One is in the present and one is in the past.

I love the setting with a little town in Greece.

It's an emotional read but has some light hearted moments in there aswell.

Highly recommend

Before I tell you my thoughts, I'll have a confession to make. I have been absolutely oblivious and ignorant. Sounds dramatic but what I mean by that is that I had basically zero knowledge that (1) Greece was occupied by the Nazis and (2) that the occupation by the Nazis and later the occupation by the British military resulted in a civil war. Coincidentally and absolutely not intended, I have recently read not just one WWII novel set in Greece but now--with this book--two! (The other book is "Once we were here" by Christopher Cosmos.) As you know, I was born and raised in Germany. According to the German equivalent of the State Department, there are currently about 467,000 Greeks living in Germany. Back when I was still living in Germany, I had many Greek friends and I still, to this day, love love love Greek food!! A friend of mine moved to Greece when her husband retired from the U.S. Army and I'm always jealous when she posts photos of where she lives right now. Greece has got to be one of the most gorgeous places in the world! With that being said, because of the two WWII in Greece books I have started doing a bit more research about Greece's fate during the war and after.

But back to this particular book: It hit home! The reason why Ava is in Greece (spoiler: the inheritance is not really the main reason she is there but merely an event in her life that helps her escape from what is haunting her) and her relationship with her husband Simon are something that is oh so familiar to me. My husband and I went through something similar. Back then, I didn't want to run away but if I had wanted to do it, Greece would be high on my list of destinations. The book is written in two timelines: One timeline follows Ava around while she tries to piece together what happened to her grandmother Sophia during the war and the other takes place during those years and follows Sophia. Both timelines are remarkable in their own way. While they differ in many aspects, they have one thing in common...both tell a story about finding the strength to persevere.
This is my third book by Kate Hewitt and she has most certainly made it to the top of my list of historical fiction authors. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big fan of romantic novels. This particular book does have romance in it but it is not the main theme. Beyond the Olive Grove focuses on the two female MCs' emotional journey in terms of finding out how strong they actually are, learning that sometimes things are not what they seem, and dealing with loss and grief. I could put a trigger warning on this book but that would mean to spoil it for those who haven't read the book yet. So, let me limit it to a more general trigger warning label: make sure you are not going through (family-related) trauma when you pick up this book.

Beyond the Olive Grove by Kate Hewitt is a World War II story with dual timelines: World War II and current. It tells the story of Sophia, an unwilling Resistance fighter in Greece during the war and her adult granddaughter, Ava Lancet, who had fled England to take some space from her life and landed in Iousidous, a village in Greece, where she now owned a home. Through questionable planning she arrives wells after dark. Having no idea which house is hers, she is contemplating sleeping in her car, when a woman, Eleni, approaches her. They find the house, which is not habitable, and without a moment's hesitation, Eleni takes her to her house, feeds her, and gives her a place to sleep. While there, Eleni's 90-something mother enters the room and mistakes Ava for her grandmother. It is very disconcerting. As Ava settles in, her problems are indeed put in perspective. She learns bits and pieces about her grandmother's life in Iousidous. No one speaks of the war. Her grandmother never had either.

This is a lovely novel set in a place not common for its World War II stories, although plenty took place there, as it had all over Europe. Ava comes to understand that you have to let people be who they are. You can't force them into a mold to suit your own purpose. What a lesson! She starts a life in Greece, knowing full well she will return to her home in England. She loves it there, but wants to know more about her grandmother. She had not known the woman well and had few memories of them speaking to one another, but there was still a need to know and there were no many people left to tell the story. It was an enticing journey, for both Ava and Sophie. One well worth the read.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Beyond the Olive Grove by Bookouture through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #bookouture #beyondtheolivegrove

Sometimes a dual narrative has the reader leaning more towards one story than the other. in 'Beyond the Olive Grove' I loved how Ava's and Sophia's stories intertwined. Equally gripping, they had me turning the pages and the resolution was well thought out.

There are some lovely descriptionsthat immediately took me back to little Greek villages that have bypassed mass tourism. The subject matter is delicately handled and the two storiesa re successfullly brought together at the end. A great read.

This is a dual timeline novel, full of emotional heartbreak in both times. Ava has suffered a tragic loss and is heading out to Greece to escape her past whilst exploring why her grandmother Sophia left her a house in a Greek village but never mentioned her Greek family.

Despite having visited Greece a few times, I wasn’t aware of what happened to Greece during the Second World War until I read Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop. Beyond the Olive Grove takes us to mainland Greece during that time, to find out how Sophia helped fight back against the invasion and why she never talked about it.

Ava starts to find out about what happened in the area during the war, and becomes involved with the local community, whilst trying to work out what her own future should look like. We discover how brave Sophia had to be and how she ended up in the UK.

I enjoyed Beyond the Olive Grove. There is grief, for Ava and for Sophia, but there is also hope of new beginnings and resolving misunderstandings. Happy to recommend to readers who enjoy well written and emotional historical fiction books.

Beyond the Olive Grove by Kate Hewitt is a dual timeline story which moves back and forth between the present day and World War Two. In the present day Ava Lancet is travelling to the small Greek village of Iousidous. This journey for her seems like an escape from England. She is fleeing from the pain, hurt and grief that surrounds her on a daily basis. Her marriage is on the rocks and she believes the separation from her husband Simon could likely turn into a permanent state. Having lost both her hope and her marriage, escape feels like her only option nothing remains for her in England.

Ava was at a total crossroads in her life but as she is deep in grief she doesn’t know which direction she should take. She feels weak and spineless and you can tell emotionally she has reached rock bottom. She really is all over the place emotionally and you just sense that she can’t make any firm decisions, that she is not in the right head space at all. Time away in Greece should give her the space to reset and try and come to terms with things but little does she realise that a whole new set of intriguing questions will arise. But perhaps digging that little bit deeper and uncovering past secrets may very well help her in on her own journey to healing and acceptance.

When she arrives at the village Ava finds it to be very small and it’s like it has remained stuck in the past. She has the key to a house that has remained unlived in for over 60 years. Once her grandmother, who has recently passed away, lived here but she never talked about her time in Greece. It was a closed off subject and it seems the residents there now refuse to talk abut what happened during the war. Ava meets Eleni and her mother Parthenope who is now very old but she recognises Ava or so she thinks and says she is sorry. But for what? Ava’s interest is immediately piqued and she wants to find out more about her grandmother and what happened to her and her family during the war. I didn’t feel this overwhelming sense from Ava that she was on a quest to find out more straight away, there didn’t seem to be any urgency about her. Instead things seemed to crop up all of a sudden, she learned of them and then moved onto the next piece of the puzzle. It was just too rushed and I wanted even more detailed explanations and careful considering observations and breaking down of what she was discovering.

Ava does meet Andreas Lethikos and his daughter Kalista. I understood their inclusion as a means of connecting their olive grove with Ava’s grandmother’s story but still they felt out of place or else perhaps they weren’t utilised as well as they could have been. As Ava delves deeper back into her family history you hope as a reader that she can reconcile the past with the present and in doing so find what she needs to fill the deep hole in her life. Unless she can really confront what has torn her apart, and speak openly with her husband, there really is no hope that she can try and find her way back to the person she once was.

I enjoyed the element of the story set back during the years of the war. It was a vastly different time to the one Ava inhabits now. We meet Sophia who lives with her father and sister Angelika and they run a smallholding. Sophia works in the local coffeehouse when needed and they manage to get by but times are tough in Greece. The country is fraught with danger as the Italians have taken control and fear abounds that the Germans might come marching in at any moment. Every character in the past is always on high alert, in fear of doing the wrong thing and in turn facing horrific reprisals. But Angelika seems to have her head in the clouds and is infatuated with Dimitrios who is working with the Greek resistance.

I admit to becoming slightly confused regarding the two factions of the Greek resistance. At times I couldn’t figure out who was the good or bad side of the two factions and as the story reached its height they very much became intertwined and it all happened so quickly and with Sophia more or less having no choice but to become involved things took a very dramatic turn. Sophia all along had wanted to keep her head down, to remain anonymous and just make it through the war safe and sound. But the Greek customs, traditions and societal rules for women are changing and I did admire that when tasked to do something, although she was filled with fear, she did do what was required of her. In doing so she put her life on the line and that of her family but she knew she was playing her part in trying to win the war. A romance element did come into play and I liked how it came together in the end although at the time of reading about it as it arose it just seemed to occur without any real and meaningful interaction. It was altogether too brief. Sophie was a well written character, brave, determined and courageous but as Ava discovers why did she want to keep her time during the war a secret for so many years?

Beyond the Olive Grove was a very quick read and at times I found myself wanting that little bit more from it. A little more depth or fleshing out of scenes would have made me appreciate the characters sacrifices even more than I already did. Events seemed to occur very quickly without much lead up to them and before we knew it they were over within a page or two and then we were on to the next thing. Everything just seemed to happen so quickly and there was just a bit too much glossing over things. At times the story fell back on itself repeating things instead of giving me more detailed explanation on the series of events that unfolded. Saying all that despite some of the issues I found with it, this was a good book with an interesting storyline at its centre and it shed a light on another aspect of the war I have never given much thought to.

I have read so many historical fiction books set in Germany, France or England so it was a refreshing change to have a book set in Greece. It made me want to research more about this country and how it faired during the war. Although this wasn’t my favourite book by Kate Hewitt I think Beyond the Olive Grove is worth a read for the insight it gives into Greece during World War Two and to also follow Ava’s story as a woman who is going through so much torment and anguish. You will be rooting for her to come out the other side, if possible much stronger.

When Ava’s grandmother died, Ava’s life had recently been shattered, so the news that an old cottage in the small village of Iousidous in Greece was now hers came as a shock, but also a reprieve. Leaving Simon, her husband of twelve years, and everyone else in London felt like the right thing to do at the time. And when she finally arrived to discover the place was a mess; unlived in for the past sixty years, it was falling apart. But Ava would make it livable again – she was determined to.

As Ava made a few friends, and gradually learned about her grandmother Sophia, and what had occurred back at the end of the war in 1945, she understood why Sophia had never spoken of the war. The two sides of the resistance, the Nazis and the Civil War which had taken place at the end of the war were sobering. Learning Sophia had had a sister, Angelika, was also a shock – even Ava’s mother wasn’t aware of that. Eleni, who had helped Ava at the beginning, had her elderly mother living with her. She remembered Sophia. Other elderly residents of the village did as well. But it was the old man in the nearby town of Lamia who tied it all together for her…

In the meantime, Ava was wondering if she should return to England again, to sort things out with Simon. Or should she remain in Iousidous with the few friends, a stray cat and memories?

Beyond the Olive Grove is a heartbreaking but hope filled historical novel by Kate Hewitt, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in the two time frames, I enjoyed both. Ava was a bit annoying to start with; Sophia was a strong, courageous young woman who was in well over her head, through no fault of her own. The setting, with the olive groves close to Iousidous, the winding roads and rustic old houses was excellent. Beyond the Olive Grove is one I recommend, and I’m looking forward to my next Kate Hewitt novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

With her marriage not going well, Ava, goes away to the house in Greece which her grandmother left her. But it’s not as she expected to find it. It’s in need of TLC and she has loads of questions regarding her grandmother and what her life was like during WWII, what her link was to the Resistance, why she kept it a secret from her family. In trying to find answers to these questions, she finds out things about herself, which may make things right with her marriage. Finding out that her grandmother and her had more in common than she thought.

Kate’s books are always interesting and enjoyable reads, and this was no different.

Recommend It.

I love a well written dual timeline historical fiction and as always Kate Hewitt had delivered a good one.
Learning about the Greek’s role in the Second World War was fascinating and one I knew little about. I really enjoyed finding out aspects of Sophia’s life under the regime of the Nazis and other militants of that time - such strength needed just to carry out normal everyday activities. Ava’s journey to understand her grandmother’s life whilst trying to work out things for her own future was sensitively covered and a joy to read.

The description of this historical fiction grabbed me right away. An old house in Greece, a family secret and a change to start over in another country. I've enjoyed books by Kate Hewitt before but this one is a bit different, a literary fiction which I very much enjoyed.

This novel is told in a dual timeline: In present time we read Ava's story. Her grandmother Sophia died and left her an old farmhouse in Greece. Ava is having trouble in her marriage and has recently suffered a tragedy. She decides to leave England and move to Greece temporarily. She wonders why she left England for a place where she doesn't know anyone to restore a farmhouse no one had lived in for over 60 years.

Ava's grandmother Sophia never spoke about her ancestry or her life during WW II so there are plenty of secrets to unravel.

Sophia's story starts in 1942 in a small village in Greece. You will read more about her family and their sacrifices from food shortages and fear of the Nazi's invading their village. Sophia's story is one of bravery and I was happy to see Ava slowly uncover details about her grandmother's past.

This isn't a fast paced novel and some of the "memories" are rehashed a few time but overall it's a nice historical fiction with a satisfactory ending.

Publication date August 13, 2021 by Bookouture. Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

War and its effects go on long after the last bullet has been fired. Its remembrance can carry through one's lifetime and cause a great amount of sorrow and pain.

In Kate Hewitt's book, Beyond The Olive Groove, we meet two main protagonists, one who lived through the war in Greece, while the other is a woman living presently. Both women have experienced intense pain, Sophia Paranoussis because of the ravages of war, and Ava because of the loss of her unborn child. The women are connected as Sophia is the grandmother to Ava. Always severe and never sharing her life in Greece, she leaves Ava her old home in Iousidous, a small village in Greece and because of the turmoil in Ava's life, she decides to go and find the home along with the possibility of learning more of her grandmother.

Ava is separated from her husband, Simon, because he seems so cold and distant in their married life, plus with the loss of their daughter, his ability to grieve seems in question. It's a dramatic choice to leave England and Simon, but one Ava feels is absolutely necessary. Once she arrives in the town, she is taken in by some of the villagers and befriends some with the hope that there still exists a person or persons who knew her grandmother and possibly the reason why she never spoke of the past.

The connection between 1942 and today was a good one and although there were instances of repetition, it still offered a valid story of how one can overcome peril and disaster, to learn not only how the past effects the future, but also that one is never alone when it comes to suffering and finally understanding.

I have so enjoyed Kate Hewitt's former books. The ones that dwell on war have been most tender and sincere in their effort to makes us all better understand the nature of a war-torn environment. Troubles do not go away just because we cover them in many cloaks, but must be dealt with so that eventually we can move forward with life. It is with this hope possibly in mind that Ava can move forward and regain what she once had with Simon.

Thank you to Kate Hewitt, Bookouture, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out August 13, 2021.