I have The Sweetheart Locket on the blog today, by Jen Gilroy. Thanks to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources and Orion Dash for my invitation and the copy of the book.
What if the key to your present lies in the past?
London, 1939
On the eve of the Second World War, Canadian Maggie Wyndham defies her family and stays in England to do her bit for the war effort. Torn between two countries, two men and living a life of lies working for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Maggie’s RAF sweetheart locket is part of who she is…and who she isn’t.
San Francisco, 2019
Over twenty years after Maggie’s death, her daughter Millie and granddaughter Willow take a DNA test that’s supposed to be a bit of fun but instead yields unexpected results. Willow has always treasured her grandmother’s sweetheart locket, both family heirloom and a symbol of her grandparents’ love story. But now she doesn’t know what to believe. She embarks on a search for the truth, one she doesn’t know will reveal far more about herself…
A gripping and heart-breaking dual timeline novel about love, loss and buried secrets, The Sweetheart Locket is perfect for fans of Lorna Cook, Rachel Hore and Suzanne Kelman.
A dual timeline historical fiction novel will always be a hit with me. History and dual timelines together tend to tick every box. I am so glad to have found yet another author who writes great immersive historical fiction.
The story begins in 2019, San Francisco. We meet Willow, a 42 year old woman with an adult daughter. She is a ghost writer and is writing a clients memoir. Willow treasures her grandmother’s sweetheart locket that she wears constantly. After doing a DNA test the results that arrive back throw everything of balance and she begins to wonder, were her grandparents what they seemed?
In 1939, Maggie Wyndham has defied her family and stayed in England instead of returning to Canada to her family. She, instead, signs up to help the war effort. She fall in love against all the conventions of the time. No matter what she is singleminded enough and brave enough to make her own decisions. When faced with a problem she has to make hard and difficult decisions that will reverberate down the generations.
The story alternates between Maggie and willow as the book develops. We see Maggie’s life in the war with the brutalities of war, which aren’t shied away from by the author. In 2019, Willow follows in her Grandmother’s footsteps on her trip to England, to attempt to uncover secrets, long kept, by Maggie.
A book that does make you think about sacrifices made during the war years, and the people that made them. It made me think about my grandparents. My grandfather served in the war and due to that, their sacrifice was to only ever have one child when my grandmother was 37 and grandfather 38, my mother. It made me think long after I had put this book down and I do appreciate a story such as this.
The settings were well described, I could picture them in my mind as I read. This helped me feel like I was with Maggie during those hard years, as well as by Willow’s side as she retraced Maggie’s path during those years.
The Sweetheart Locket is a captivating tale of family, love and determination which just highlights what real people did during both World Wars, and the sacrifices made. A well written novel with authentic characters.
Purchase Links
Universal Amazon link http://mybook.to/TheSweetheartLocket
Other links (Apple, GooglePlay & Kobo) via Hachette: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/jen-gilroy-2/the-sweetheart-locket/9781398708365/
Author Bio
Jen Gilroy writes sweet contemporary romance and dual timeline historical women’s fiction—warm, feel-good stories to bring readers’ hearts home.
A Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist and shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon award, Amazon named her third book, ‘Back Home at Firefly Lake,’ a ‘Best Book of the Month: Romance’ in December 2017.
A dual British-Canadian citizen, Jen lived in England for many years and earned a doctorate (with a focus on British cultural studies and social history) from University College London. Returning to where her Irish family roots run deep, she now lives with her husband, teenage daughter and floppy-eared rescue hound in small-town Eastern Ontario, Canada.
When not writing, she enjoys reading, ice cream, ballet and paddling her purple kayak.
Twitter https://www.twitter.com/JenGilroy1
Visit Jen online at http://www.jengilroy.com
Social Media Links –
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 