Dedicated: The Secret History of Audrey James by Heather Marshall (Review by Erin Woodward)

5/5 Stars

It’s no secret that I loved Looking for Jane by author Heather Marshall – so literally upon finishing this book I reached back out the publisher to find out if there were advance copies of Heather’s next book, The Secret History of Audrey James. It’s always such a disappointment when you finish an incredible book and have to wait a year or more for the author to publish again; I mean writing a novel is no small feat and I get it, but recovering from a Netflix addiction where the next episode it a button push away results in impatience.

Regardless, in this one instance, I was lucky enough to have the book in my hot, little hands a week later. I dove in immediately. Sorry, Viola Davis, you’ll need to wait for a hot second (although I will go back to that book – so good).

The first thing that struck me is was it was a World War II novel – which to be honest, wouldn’t have been my first choice (there is such strict competition in this genre when dealing with this nuanced war that I was worrying it wouldn’t measure up.) But I was not disappointed. First off, it was dual timeline and beautifully done in that you didn’t know how the two story lines connected until very late in the game – but you’re invested in both.

Audrey James is a living in Berlin in 1938 with her best friend, Isle Kaplan, when the war breaks out and Isle’s family is taken away; the two must navigate the growing threat of Nazi power in the city. While in Northern England in 2010, Kate Mercer’s life is uprooted after a tragic accident. She finds a guest house her parents once stayed in and decides to set out to make a new life for herself. How the stories interact is crafty and thoughtful and the best part is that the stories are based on actual courageous women and the German resistance during WWII.

If you love Historical Fiction, then this is your next read!

Buy the book!