Two Silver Crosses

4 stars

This is a great story about twin sisters that is both tragic and heartwarming. In 1926, their panicked mother, blackmailed by her brother-in-law, leaves the palatial Holborn mansion and flee to France. There the girls are mostly forgotten by those in England. Some years later when the patriarch of the family passes away, the family lawyers seek to locate the girls per the grandfather's wishes.

Finally located, they return to England to take charge of their grandfather's business, a very successful and lucrative munitions factory. With war looming on the horizon, they must re-arm England. The avaricious and scheming uncle leaves the mansion in a huff, his plans for running the factory thwarted.

When the war with Germany actually begins, the girls are anxious to get their mother out of France. Charlie and Ginny undertake a perilous journey. Hortense finally unburdens herself of her bif secret in the confessional.

Good news reigns over Holborn.

This is a very well written and plotted story. It is a fascinating book full of love, pathos, loss, tragedy and the search for two “lost” young women. I really liked the relationship between the two sisters. Their mother not so much, but I understand her immense fear in light of the times in which they lived. Living with her husband at the end of his life must have terrified Hortense. And what a trial it must have been. The silver crosses didn't really figure into the story a great deal though. The book was predictable and the characters a little formulaic, but it was an enjoyable book nonetheless. I immediately went to Amazon to look at Beryl Kingston's other novels.

I want to thank NetGalley and Agora Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

A great read
Enriched with details
Two sisters, twins who were born entitled, flea with their mother to France. They grow up pour and living from one town to the next.
Half English, half French, they forget their English born family and make due with their mom. She moves them from one place to another because of a secret illness. One she doesn't bare to tell them. Now this had me guessing the entire book. I had to put my thinking cap on and go back in time. Think of an illness that you wouldn't want to tell anyone back in 1926. Right when Ginnie found out, it hit me.
Emily and Ginnie make promises to their mom that they couldn't keep. Watching them grow up was nice. Emily blind, Ginnie able to see. Like twins they had their own language. They matured in an era where war was coming.
They have their losses and love.

Originally published in 1982, Two Silver Crosses is a great piece of historical fiction. It's the story of 2 sisters who are sent by their mother from England to France in 1926 to basically disappear.
Several years later, the sisters are summoned back to England for the reading of their grandfather's will. They inherit a munitions factory. As the years loom near WWII, there are many secrets surrounding the sisters and their mother. The story moves at a good pace with just the right amount of drama and mystery. It's well written and researched. There are many secrets and motives to reveal as the story unfolds. The sisters are sympathetic and likeable. Their mother is flawed and intriguing and secretive. All of these personalities work well together for the overall picture. This is a very good read. I recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction of the 1920s-1940s. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good historical fiction novel, especially when the world wars are involved, so this book was right up my alley.

And I must say, this book didn’t disappoint!

The history was woven well together–the book was bookended by the first and second world wars, but the majority took place during the peace, and then the beginning of Hitler’s reign in Germany. As a result, one of the main characters, Ginny, is heavily involved in politics, which I think is neat.

It’s worth noting that this book also includes some good portrayal of blindness–Emily is blind from birth, but she is not shown as helpless or dumb, which is important.

The book also includes mention of sexually transmitted diseases, which are treated as incredibly taboo and as “horrible sins”–which is not a great way to portray them, but it’s also accurate to how they were viewed in the time.

The romance in this book was well done, too. I enjoyed Charlie and Ken a rather lot. It also had a nice group of strong females (Agnes or Hortense or Ginny or Virginia or Babbecombe or I could go on and on?), I could go on.

Overall, I liked this book a lot–the characterization was well done, the setting was illustrated well, the plot was inventive, there was a good portrayal of blindness, politics, and being bilingual, women running companies, good husbands, it was great!

My two complaints would be the following: the book was very long, and while I love long books, this one could have accomplished its goals in less pages. I also wished that the silver crosses played more of a role than they did.

However, I still recommend this if you like a good historical piece!

I was drawn in by the description of the plot and quite rightly so. This a compelling and at times year jerking tale of family and secrets and mysteries. I really enjoyed it. The plot skirted close to there being one coincidence or near miss (don’t want to spoil the plot) too many but avoided this pitfall. Lose yourself in this book, I recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book. I always love to read this time period and thought the characters and story was very entertaining and interesting. The twins relationship and conflict with the Uncle kept me wanting to finish the book quickly! I highly recommend!

Emily and Ginnie grow up in a privileged house in Wolverhampton in the 1920s until their father dies of a mysterious illnessand their mother takes them to France. Life is now much harder and they move around a bit, not knowing that their grandfather back in England is searching for them and they are due to inherit if he finds them.

A good story mainly in the era between the two wars. The characters are good, especially Emily who was blind from birth and I was immediately drawn into the story, my only criticism would be that it went on a bit too long when it wasn't really necessary.

A fun and fascinating, well-plotted story set in WWI. Such a great read!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.