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A review by sams_fireside
Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson
5.0
I listened to Island of Secrets, by Patricia Wilson, as an Audiobook from Borrowbox. Read by Julie Maisey, it was another outstanding book from the author and once again, taught me so much about the Second World War that I wasn’t aware of.
‘The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September 1943...’
Angelika (Angie) is planning her wedding to Nick and has decided that she wants her mother’s family to be involved. The problem is, is that her mother hasn’t spoken to her family in almost 40 years and they live in Crete! Cue a trip to the Greek island to see what she can find out. Her grandmother, Maria, is overjoyed to see her granddaughter and begins to tell her story of the massacre in 1943 when the Germans occupied Crete.
I imagine that often Greek village life is chaotic, very family-orientated and with everyone knowing each other’s business. Angie’s wedding day was very much like this. Nothing went to plan, and to say it was chaos was an understatement!
The story is told over the two timelines, present-day and 1943 and to be honest, I was much more interested in the stories of the past. Knowing the accounts were based on fact, horrific though it was, made me warm to the characters more, whilst learning about the horrors they were put through for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
Patricia Wilson is a master at descriptive writing, and I love how she draws you into the story, making you believe you could be experiencing every gunshot, yet also enjoy a coffee in the local cafe with the sun beating down.
I would recommend Island of Secrets to anyone interested in Greek history and would like to know a little bit more but with the ease of a ‘nice read’ behind it. I have enjoyed the three novels I have read or listened to by Patricia Wilson, and I will be on the lookout for more.
‘The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September 1943...’
Angelika (Angie) is planning her wedding to Nick and has decided that she wants her mother’s family to be involved. The problem is, is that her mother hasn’t spoken to her family in almost 40 years and they live in Crete! Cue a trip to the Greek island to see what she can find out. Her grandmother, Maria, is overjoyed to see her granddaughter and begins to tell her story of the massacre in 1943 when the Germans occupied Crete.
I imagine that often Greek village life is chaotic, very family-orientated and with everyone knowing each other’s business. Angie’s wedding day was very much like this. Nothing went to plan, and to say it was chaos was an understatement!
The story is told over the two timelines, present-day and 1943 and to be honest, I was much more interested in the stories of the past. Knowing the accounts were based on fact, horrific though it was, made me warm to the characters more, whilst learning about the horrors they were put through for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
Patricia Wilson is a master at descriptive writing, and I love how she draws you into the story, making you believe you could be experiencing every gunshot, yet also enjoy a coffee in the local cafe with the sun beating down.
I would recommend Island of Secrets to anyone interested in Greek history and would like to know a little bit more but with the ease of a ‘nice read’ behind it. I have enjoyed the three novels I have read or listened to by Patricia Wilson, and I will be on the lookout for more.