1941, Kate Arden has grown up in the English countryside but has always felt different to her brothers and sisters. She doesn’t want to be bound by patriarchal convention and is teased by flickering glimpses of a secret past that she only patrially remembers…
The Secret Daughter of Venice is an historical novel set in the UK and Italy during WW2.
Kate knows she is different and has always endured comments from the local villagers. She wants to find the truth about her past and believes there is a secret hidden in a bequested book, if only she could find it. Kate doesn’t want to settle down and become a wife. I really liked her modern outlook and this endeared her to me.
The book is written to show the experience of Kate and Sofia. The war has made Kate even more determined to follow her own dreams even if they are at odds with her family and social convention. Meanwhile, in Italy, Sofia is searching for her lost daughter…
Both women are strong, determined and passionate so I instantly liked them both. There are bucketfuls of emotion as well as historical and geographical detail to bring the characters, plot and setting to life. I felt invested in the characters and wanted them to find each other and peace (inner and world).
The Secret Daughter of Venice is an emotional and well researched historical novel.
Book blurb: The Secret Daughter of Venice
The paper is stiff and brittle with age as Kate unfolds it with trembling hands. She gasps at the pencil sketch of a rippling waterway, lined by tall buildings, curving towards the dome of a cathedral. She feels a connection deep in her heart. Venice.
England, 1941. When Kate Arden discovers a secret stash of drawings hidden in the pages of an old volume of poetry given to her as a baby, her breath catches. All her life, she has felt like an outsider in her aristocratic adoptive family, who refuse to answer any questions about her past. But the drawings spark a forgotten memory: a long journey by boat… warm arms that held her tight, and then let go.
Could these pictures unlock the secret of who she is? Why her mother left her? With war raging around the continent, she will brave everything to find out…
A gripping, emotional historical novel of love and art that will captivate fans of The Venice Sketchbook, The Woman on the Bridge and The Nightingale.
Juliet Greenwood is a historical novelist published by Storm Publishing. Her previous novel, The Last Train from Paris, was published to rave reviews and reached the top 100 kindle chart in the USA. She has long been inspired by the histories of the women in her family, and in particular with how strong-minded and independent women have overcome the limitations imposed on them by the constraints of their time, and the way generations of women hold families and communities together in times of crisis, including during WW2.
After graduating in English from Lancaster University and Kings College, London, Juliet worked on a variety of jobs to support her ambition to be a full-time writer. These ranged from running a craft stall at Covent Garden to running a small charity working with disadvantaged children, and collecting oral histories of traditional villages before they are lost forever. She finally achieved her dream of becoming a published author following a debilitating viral illness, with her first novel being a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and her first two novels reaching #4 and #5 in the UK Kindle store.
Juliet now lives in a traditional quarryman’s cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales, set between the mountains and the sea, with an overgrown garden (good for insects!) and a surprisingly successful grapevine. She can be found dog walking in all weathers working on the plot for her next novel, camera to hand.
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