‘You Let Me Go’ by Eliza Graham is a historical fiction story told over two timelines, present-day Cornwall and Nazi-occupied France in the second world war. I am a history geek so was looking forward to delving into the book and getting to know the characters.
Morane discovers she has been written out of her beloved grandmother’s will and her sister is the sole beneficiary of the family home in Cornwall. With her business on the rocks and her relationship with her sister not far behind, Morane becomes obsessed with just why she was written out of the will.
She finds an old letter that places her grandmother in Brittany while the Germans occupied France. Morane decides to go on the journey to discover her family history. What she discovers about her grandmother has Morane seeing her in a different light and realising she made sacrifices and kept secrets to protect those she loved. Sometimes truth is pain but ie Morane able to make peace with the past and fix her relationship with her sister, or is it broken for good?
In a story told with alternating chapters from the viewpoint of Morane and the other from her grandmother Rozenn, we are taken from present-day Cornwall right back to France during its years of Occupation from the Nazi’s.
The story unfolds and we learn about Rozenn’s past as the reader while Morane puts the pieces together during her search. We see the similarities between the two women both with a flair for design and similar ways of feeling guilty for someth0ing they were not necessarily to blame for. A story that highlights sibling relationships and the sibling rivalry that can be experienced at any time and the fight for love from parents or grandparents, this particular thread shows no-one is perfect and we are all flawed in some way. There is also the other side as well, the moments to remember. The familial bond we have in our lives is shown through the book.
I loved travelling back in time yet again with another historical fiction book, The chapters taking us back to the past had me immersed and the wartime struggles made me think of my own grandparents. A story about the effect of choices made that have the power to echo down the years.
Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the copy of the book.
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