“There is always a need for tea. Conversation is not possible without something to grease the wheels.”

I hope you made yourself a pot of tea and have a currant bun to keep it company - this is a book you’ll want to binge-read and you won’t want to set it aside for anything!

Grieving the loss of her parents and saddled with sorting out all the accumulated junk before putting the family house on the market, only child, 27-year-old Sadie, innocently and unwittingly uncovers an unimaginable secret.

I know what you’re thinking…this has been done before. Put away your preconceived notions. This is not like the others. I guarantee Rose Alexander’s skills will have you completely absorbed in this heartfelt tale.

Allow Alexander to whisk you back to 1945 where you’ll meet Betty Bean from Malton, North Yorkshire. When Betty decides to take control of her future, her paths cross with Gianni Urso, an Italian soldier captured in North Africa and brought to Eden Camp as a POW. Encouraged by her father to cut all ties with the ‘Eyetie’ that has captured her heart, and looking for a fresh start, Betty joins the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) and heads out on the HMS Arcadia to serve Britain in Naples, Italy.

It’s on the transport ship that Betty meets three women who will change her life; Susan Davis the teleprinter, Deborah Castle the supply sergeant, and Lily French another cipher operator like herself. A twist of fate and a dash of serendipity brings Betty’s past colliding with her present and her future. I was glued to the pages.

Alexander has captured the push and pull of both love and duty extremely well in this heartfelt and compelling read. Her examination of regrets set in one of my favourite places is one I won’t forget for quite some time. I’ve visited Taormina, hiked Mt. Etna, had an espresso in Piazza Umberto town square, viewed the Faraglioni rocks from atop Capri, and been on the funicular from Marina Grande to Ana Capri and the chairlift to Mount Solaro. I believe that this, in conjunction with an extremely compelling historical fiction story and the author’s phenomenal writing skills made this worthy of all the stars. This will be near the top of my 2024 historical fiction reads.

So how do Sarah and the sleepy seaside town of Broadstairs fit into this story? You’ll have to read to find out!

I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This book is very different from the author's The Lost Diary. Although the prologue presents a shocking scenario, the story is more of a slow burn as compared to the sledgehammer impact of the previous book. This book is presented in two time periods, both in England and Italy. Betty's story begins in 1942 in Yorkshire where there is an Italian POW camp and follows her life from there. Sadie's story also begins in England in 1972, when she is shocked to learn, at age 27, that she was adopted, discovered after both parents have died. The plot may seem to build slowly but that only makes what follows even more impactful.

To me, this story was less about WW II than it was about honoring commitments made and family loyalties. For British women, by answering the call to serve, they were given opportunities and experiences they could never have imagined. They enjoyed their independence, being more than just a wife & mother but were expected to return to their traditional roles as soon as the war was over. Adoption, with all of the emotional trauma for both the child and the birth mother, is beautifully written into the story. I could feel Sadie's anguish but to me, it paled to the visceral pain experienced by her birth mother. And if you like a bit of romance, it's here in spades, in both timelines. Truly, there is something for everyone in this book. I couldn't read fast enough to discover the truth for Sadie and I was blown away at the ending! I loved it.