Blog Tour Review: Villa of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Villa of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Published: 22nd February 2018

Publisher: Zaffre

Pages: 377

Available on Kindle

Pre-Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

Rebecca Neumanner's marriage is on the brink of collapse, as her desire to be a mother becomes an obsession. Then she receives news from her estranged family in Rhodes.

Called back to the beautiful Greek island of her birth, she realises how little she knows of the grandmother she has eluded for over a decade. Bubba has never spoken of the Nazi occupation during her youth, but there have always been whispers. What desperate measures did she take that terrible day in 1944 when her family was ripped apart? Can the rumour she had blood on her own hands really be true? But Bubba intends to take her secrets to the grave.

However, as Rebecca arrives on Rhodes, bringing the promise of new life, this broken family must come together. The time has come to tell the truth about the darkest of days . . .   

Review

Villa of Secrets is the second novel by Patricia Wilson and was a book which had a lot to live up to as her first novel Island of Secrets was one of my favourite novels of last year. Not to worry though I think Villa of Secrets is even better.

Sisters Naomi and Rebecca have been estranged for ten years after Rebecca chose her husband over her family.  Both sisters are feeling lonely in their own ways, Rebecca is starting her forth round of IVF and is feeling further and further away from husband Fritz as the longing for a baby overtakes her. Naomi is suffering empty nest syndrome with both her grown boys away at university and husband Costa working on a cruise ship, the strain od Bubba’s stroke is also taking its toll on her. Now the sisters must come together once more as their grandmother has decided its time to share her. Can this family put the horrors of the past behind them and finally come together for the future?

The narrative of this story is split between the present day reuniting of Naomi and Rebecca and through Bubba’s diaries of the past. For me its though these diaries that the story really comes alive and where Patricia Wilson’s writing is at its best. The diaries are from when Bubba or Pandora as she was named, and her family were made to leave the island of Rhodes during WWII being that they were a Jewish family. The tell of how Pandora being small managed to escape being taken away by the Nazi’s on the evacuation ship to the concentration camps. They gradually unravel how Pandora showed great courage at just sixteen and joined the resistance and helped to try and sabotage the war for the Germans.

I found these diaries incredibly powerful in their storytelling, every emotion and every detail has been written about so precisely it’s as if you are there reliving the whole events. It’s through these diaries that we learn just how courageous Pandora was, risking her life to try and bring freedom to the island and they kind of left me in awe of how inspiring and determined she was. I’m ashamed to say that when I’ve thought about WWII, the Greek isles and Rhodes particularly have never really crossed my mind. Rhodes has always just been that happy relaxed holiday destination that we all think of. Villa of Secrets has altered that view dramatically and shown that the effects of the War affected all of Europe and not just the bigger countries like Poland, Germany and France.

The present-day side of the story shows us both Rebecca and Naomi have also inherited the Cohen determination and ability to fight for what they believe in. This comes across more with Rebecca as she left her family to be with the man she loves and has been determined to be a mother despite having many setbacks getting pregnant.  I also think Naomi shows courage and determination, in a smaller dose granted but she’s single-handedly nursed Bubba back to health after her stroke and has had to help to raise Rebecca also after losing her parents at ten years old.

I think Villa of Secrets is a great novel which has been thoroughly researched and very well written. Patricia Wilson has written about this sensitive time in history with great empathy and has developed a strong and courageous heroine in Pandora Cohen. This novel is about family loyalty, love, religion and fighting for what you a believe in. It’s a novel full of emotions which will make your heartache in places but its also a novel which shows there’s nothing stronger than love.

Thank you so much Bonnier Zaffre for sending me a copy to review which I have done honestly and for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Published: 9th March 2017 (ebook)

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Pages: 400

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

Can you escape your past in paradise?

'The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .'

All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother's secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in.

Angie's estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms - it's time to unburden herself, and tell the story she'll otherwise take to her grave.

It's the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it's the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations.

Review
Island of Secrets is the debut novel by Patricia Wilson which is set mostly in the Crete village of Amiras, where Patricia once lived. The novel is based on real stories from real women who lived through the unease of the Nazi occupation of the island in1943.

The story tells the history of three generations of women from one family. Angelika is planning her wedding and longs for her mother Poppy to be reunited with her Creteian relatives whom she fled from many years ago. With Poppy unwilling to reveal the secrets of her past to her daughter, Angelika sets out on a pilgrimage to Crete to meet her relatives and to try and heals the wounds in the family. When Angie meets her maternal grandmother Maria she begins to find out the family history as Maria begins to divulge the secrets she would have otherwise taken to the grave.

I found this an incredibly moving story to read, in parts I was in tears as Maria retold her story, the horror and fear which she felt was portrayed in such detail, I was hooked. Patricia Wilson has done a brilliant job in creating vivid and sometimes horrific scenes which have truly brought this story to life for me and are sure to pull at your heart strings as they did mine.

Books with a duel narrative are a particular favourite of mine when the past mixes with the present and Island of Secrets has done this wonderfully. The narrative takes two forms as Maria tells her story of the past and Angelika makes her own discoveries in the present, both strands intertwine perfectly to create a cohesive and compelling story. I loved how the towards the end there were many surprising twists, the last third of the book I couldn’t put down as I was desperate to work out all the mysteries which had come to light.

The three main characters in this book are Angelika, Poppy and Maria, all are strong resourceful women. Poppy and Maria have had had periods of great difficulty in their lives but have not given up because of the amount of love they have for their children. Angelika first appears to be a little bit more selfish as she determined to have her Greek relatives at her wedding despite her mother begging her to leave the past alone and she also seems very quick to judge the actions of fiancé Nick in a negative light a little too often. As she hears Maria’s story she begins to realise her faults and begins to be a more thoughtful and empathetic individual. When this change occurs it’s easy to see she has the same love and resourcefulness as Maria and Poppy.

As with most stories featuring Greek families there are many more family members and these all add to the depth of the story. My two favourites were the bubbly and slightly aloof Voula and her grumpy husband Matthia, dialogue between these two often made me smile and brought some lighter moments to this book.

Island of Secrets is a book full of raw emotions, family vendettas, hidden secrets and three very strong women. It’s a book I enjoyed very much and one which fans of Victoria Hislop and Debbie Rix are sure to enjoy.

I’d like to thank the publishers Bonnier Zaffre for recommending this book to me and sending me a copy to review. I look forward to read Patricia Wilson’s next novel sometime in the future.