I loved The Secrets of Rochester Place, so I knew I was in for a treat with this book. I'm a massive fan of dual timeline fiction. This book was both captivating and compelling. Filled with such engaging characters I was quickly immersed into their stories. An absolute gem.

What a Gem!

This has to be my favourite book of 2024 so far.

A wonderful and captivating tale of three women; Kitty, Miriam and Edie and their lives spanning three timelines from World War I to the present. I fell in love with all three of these charming characters. I also loved the fact that great historical heroine Sylvia Pankhurst was part of this book.

This book is beautifully written and carries you from 1915 London to 1918 Germany to present day Cornwall seamlessly. A brilliantly interwoven narrative of love and loss, hidden secrets and most of all hope.

The author Iris Costello, takes you on an amazing journey of mystery from tarot readings in an East End bakery to a prisoner of war camp in Germany to a cottage in Cornwall.

I highly recommend this book and will definitely be purchasing a copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for this ARC.

As someone who loves historical fiction, I feel that I should have enjoyed this book more than I actually did. I found it a bit of a slow starter, and it wasn't until the last 1/4 of the book where I actually felt at all invested in the characters and their lives. There was just something about the main protagonists that I didn't warm to, and whilst it was obvious from quite a while before the end of the book how the three women were linked I didn't fully buy into the way they did link. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable read and I am grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.

A captivating and thought provoking read told over three timelines from three different view points. I couldn't put it down and had to know how their stories were connected.

A beautiful book.
Utterly compelling!
I was completely invested in all three intertwining timelines and desperate to know how they would all come together in the end. I loved how the author kept me guessing and I was really happy with the ending.
Very descriptive - I felt like I was there with the characters and I felt I really knew them all. I’m still thinking about them and the story days after finishing the book.
I highly recommend this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a very sad story set in World War 1 but moving backwards and forwards in time. A german professor wants to collect the dialects of the British prisoners of war. There is also a love story involved and also a family history revealed. Fascinating story

The three stories are fascinating pictures of three strong women. Different settings but with similar themes of love, loss and refunding hope. I was really captured by Kat’s story- how she fought for her own voice amongst the fear was really inspiring. She’d lost so much but had continued to fight for what she believed in. I would have liked to have more of her in her later years to see how she’d changed, if at all.
The stories of the lost voices was so interesting- capturing not on the different dialects but the men’s stories, hopes and dreams in such a desperate situation. I think it’s so important to hear the voices of the past - to share that history and learn from it.

I really enjoyed this book. It is not the kind of book I would normally choose but it turned out I could not put it down and raced through the whole story with each chapter opening more intrigue and excitement into the whole tale.
It took me ages to work out the links between all the characters some of which I had not anticipated. What was great none of it was predictable and therefore kept me completely hooked

Let me just say I adored this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin books for the ARC of this book.


The story follows three women from three different points in time; 1915, 1918 and present day. At the beginning you dont really understand the relationship between these women but the author weaves the story together so beautifully. I loved every character and the storyline of Prisoner X was sad but so poignant. I can't really say too much about it without giving the story away so I will say to read the description here on the book itself and go for it. It's a historical fiction and you can tell the author has really researched the time periods and brought these characters to life.

I'm still thinking of it days later and I can see a reread in the future. I will be sure to check out more of this authors work.

A fascinating story, from the East End of London in 2015, through a German prisoner of war camp in 1918 to present day Cornwall. We meet three women whose stories turn out to be linked. Katerina Drechsel hounded out of her London bakery by baying mobs, who reinvents herself as Kitty Dexter to survive. Kitty has a gift and reads tarot cards, but sometimes the messages are not what she wants to see. Miriam Ziegler is a nurse and linguist in a German POW camp where she meets the enigmatic Prisoner X. Finally, Edie has moved to her family's cottage in Cornwall, left to her father by his grandmother - but who is the mysterious grandmother Jane? Edie is escaping the traumatic death of her husband and is terrified when strange things begin happening. Finding out how the women are connected is revelatory, I felt a real light bulb moment at one point. A sad, poignant story. #netgalley #thestorycollector

This was such a beautiful story, following Katerina, Miriam and Edie over different timelines (from 1915 until the present day). I wasn't sure how the stories over such a large timespan could intertwine, but with little hints throughout the book, it all wove together into a lovely ending. It is a heart-warming and thought provoking book, but I did have to reach for the tissues! I felt engrossed in the characters and couldn't put this book down!

It was the first Iris Costello book that I've read, but I would highly recommend it and will be looking out for more of her work.

Thank you to Iris Costello, Penguin and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sometimes it is a really good idea to pick up a different kind of book, for me The Story Collector was a really good idea. I'm not usually into tarot, magic and all those supernatural things, but in this author's capable hands, I was able to get past that.

The Story Collector follows three women, at different times. Often this would lead me to favour one story over another by quite some margin, but I enjoyed Kitty's story from 1915, Miriam's from 1918 and Edie's from the present day. All three women were well drawn characters and gave a flavour of the time and place that isn't always kept at the forefront of popular history.

A great read and an author to look for in the future.

Enjoyed reading. A thought provoking read about how so many lives were changed by the First World War. And also how what happened impacted on the future generations. An uncomfortable read at times due to the nature of the story. Many stories within the story.

Katerina Drechsler also known as Kitty left Germany as a young child to live in East London with her father and elder brother Otto. Katerina has a gift, she is psychic and reads the tarot cards.
World War One and Otto goes off to war. Little Germany as it’s known where Katerina lives is no longer safe. It’s 1915 and life is difficult.

1918 and Fraulein Miriam Ziegler is working as a nurse in Danholm prisoner of war camp. She also is assisting professor Herr Garn in doing voice recordings of the prisoners, to capture and preserve dialects that may disappear through war.

Edie Hart is a widow, trying to piece her life back together after the tragic death of her beloved husband David.
Edie moves to Cornwall to start afresh.

The story moves between timelines of the First World War and present day. All three women are very engaging in telling their stories.
I very much enjoyed reading this, it had interesting facts and points to it. I was instantly drawn into the story and characters, and I liked the tarot card aspect of it very much.
The story flowed well and I was sad when it ended as I was so absorbed with it.
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I now look forward to reading more of her books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

This book has a triple timeline running throughout. It follows the lives of three very different women. One woman, Katerina, is German & in the UK during WW1.
Miriam is also German, a nurse, in a POW camp in Germany (1918), with English prisoners. The third, Edie, is in present day UK. It’s historical fiction (note includes female same sex relationship), & also contemporary women’s fiction. Tarot cards are a theme in both time periods. They are actively used in WW1. In current times they are discussed as an art form. Follow closely to see how these three stories inter-relate. It’s relevant & important to Edie in the present day. It’s like an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Interesting & intriguing story

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this eCopy to review

The Story Collector is an epic story following Kitty a German in London during WWI who has the second sight, Miriam a nurse in a German POW camp and Edie who has moved to Cornwall following the death of her husband in the present day. As Edie unravels the mystery of the strange box she found in her cottage she finds out how she is linked to Kitty and Miriam.

A remarkable story about overcoming grief and learning to live again. The 3 protagonists where well characterised and I was engrossed in each of their stories and the secrets of the past. A gripping read

This story moves from the 1915 war-hardened streets of London, to a 1918 POW camp in Germany and a present day Cornish village, told through the voices of Kitty, Miriam and Edie respectively. These three strong women are linked, and it’s up to Edie to piece the stories together.

A wonderfully written tale that is woven together with enrapturing and emotion filled prose that makes these ladies lives come to leap from the page. I will say that there is a lot going on across the multiple timelines and I can see why some reviews suggest this was hard to keep track of at times.

That aside, a truly great read.

This book is worthy of five stars and was an absolute joy to read.

There is a triple timeline running throughout with three very distinct voices which were easily recognisable from each other. At no point was I ever confused as to which character I was reading. I have read books in the past where the voices completely merge into one another but Ms Costello has portrayed her characters in an unmistakably individual manner.

Each of the three women were excellent main characters in their respective time periods which the author has brought vividly to life on the page. It was the separate points of view of each of them that elevated this book above the average historical fiction novel. They were all engaging characters and it was easy to become invested in their individual stories.

I highly recommend it.

A story of three women in time worlds apart all with a part to play in a secret which will only be resolved by one woman in the present day.
A truly atmospheric story which will capture you from the very first page and leave you wanting more long after you have finished.
It is the first book I have read by Iris Costello but it certainly won’t be the last.
It is one of those books that you won’t forget in a hurry, can’t recommend it enough.

The three timelines and different women compliment each other perfectly until the disparate threads of this moving and absorbing book become a twisted and enmeshed whole. I loved the differences in the three women whose losses are palpable. I felt grief and fear and rage pour off the page. There is a strong feeling of place and of historical relevance.

I had worked out the link fairly early on but knowing this did not diminish my enjoyment. The one twist in the tale was a surprise.