The Secret by Jennifer Wells

Welcome!  Jennifer Wells lives in Devon, England with her family and cat.  She works in market research when she is not writing.  The Secret is Ms. Wells third novel set in the fictional Missenham.  The Missenham Series includes The Liar, The Murderess and The Secret.  The first two books in the series are available on Kindle Unlimited (via Amazon).  Readers can connect with Jennifer Wells on Twitter (@jenwellswriter) and Facebook (@JennifersWells).

The Secret by Jennifer Wells has us journeying back in time to 1943 in Missenham, England.  Ivy Watts is a nurse at Missenham Cottage Hospital.  One Sunday she gets a call to Elmridge House owned by Dr. & Mrs. Cuthbertson and she hurries over on her bicycle.  Ivy is fascinated by the beautiful home and the mysterious people who inhabit it.  Hugo Cuthbertson loans her an old fashioned woman’s yellow coat and Ivy finds an old photograph in the pocket that features ballet dancers.  One of the women in the photo is Mrs. Cuthbertson.  Ivy tells her mother about the visit and she becomes upset.  Ivy’s mother forbids her from returning to Elmridge House but refuses to tell her why.  What secret is her mother hiding?  Is it why she never leaves the house? 

In February of 1920, Lily is invited to Elmridge House by Dr. Cuthbertson, an investor, to rest after the latest ballet production.  A short term visit is extended after Lily finds herself pregnant.  Lily misses the hustle and bustle of London and she especially misses dancing.  The nurses at Missenham Cottage Hospital could provide a solution but is it the right choice to make.  Lily soon finds herself confined to her bedroom at Elmridge House and learns that the house holds secrets.  Can Lily find a way to escape?

Ivy can feel that something is not right at Elmridge House.  The past is the key to resolving the questions Ivy has, but getting those answers proves difficult.  

The Secret is an intriguing historical novel.  Ivy has newly completed nursing school and was happy to get a position at Missenham Cottage Hospital where she can visit her mother on Sunday afternoons.  The hospital is run by two nurses, an assistant, and one doctor (nurses and doctors are in demand with the war on).  It is commonly known in the area that if a woman finds herself in a certain situation, she can visit the cottage where the nurses reside for assistance.  They also provide family planning advice which was unexpected in either time period.   Bridget Bradshaw is the other nurse at the hospital and Ivy’s housemate.  While Ivy helps match babies to couples who cannot have their own children, Bridget handles the other clients.  The two stories slowly play out with it alternating between 1920 and 1943.  It was interesting to read and see how the two storylines tied together.  We get to see how the past affects the present and the lasting effects it can have on relationships.  We also see how secrets can change a person’s behavior.  I did wonder at the extent of Ivy’s nursing knowledge.  She failed to ask the right questions and seemed oblivious to the services Bridget performed (she always had Ivy stay upstairs).  I did like Ivy’s relationship with Hugh.  Ivy was comfortable with him and I enjoyed the banter between them.  One thing I found curious was Ivy was to stay with Hugh while his mother was at church, but Ivy always left before Mrs. Cuthbertson returned. While The Secret is the third book in The Missenham Series, it can be read alone. The ending is delightfully unexpected.   Readers will be captivated by Jennifer Well’s new historical novel, The Secret.

The Secret is available on Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, and iBooks.  Thank you for joining me today.  I hope you will visit the other stops on the tour where she can find extracts and an author post on how Jennifer Wells creates her novels.  I will share my review of The Fallen Women by Lindsey Hutchinson.  I hope you have a fabulous day.  Take care of yourself and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader

The Murderess:

Greetings!  A Breath of Hope by Lauraine Snelling will be published on April 3.  It is the second novel in Under Northern Skies series.  If you like Janette Oke, then you will enjoy reading the works of Lauraine Snelling.   

The Murderess is a new novel by historical author Jennifer Wells.  The story begins in Missensham in 1931.  Kate is being sent away to boarding school by her mother, Millicent Bewsey.  It was a last minute decision by Millicent.  They are on the train platform, and Kate notices her mum talking to another lady.  The next moment Millicent shoves the woman onto the tracks in front of inbound train.  Millicent then refuses to say one word.   Nine years have passed since that day and Kate’s life has changed considerably (for the worse). Kate happens to be at the train station on the anniversary of the incident and notices a disheveled man leaving behind red peonies on the exact spot where Millicent committed her crime.  Kate gets a closer look and there is a card attached that reads “For Rosalie”.  Who is Rosalie?  Is that the name of the victim?  After all these years, the woman’s identity is still a mystery.  The man looks like the one that attacked her mother in their walled garden about a fortnight before the terrible train incident.  Kate’s father, Arthur receives a letter stating Millicent is up for parole and he wants Kate to write a statement to the parole board.  This starts Kate on a quest to get answers.  She starts reviewing the details of the case and delving into her mother’s past.  What secrets will Kate uncover?  Join Kate on her search for the truth in The Murderess.

The Murderess contains good writing and a steady pace in the first half of the book.  I thought the second part of the story dragged (it needed a faster pace).  The story is told from Kate’s (1940) and Millicent’s (1915) perspective.  It alternates between them.   I thought the characters were bland, and Kate was unlikeable.  The main problem with The Murderess is that it was predictable.  Early on I was able to accurately predict how the rest of the novel would play out.  The ending, though, may surprise many readers.  The Murderess is an interesting story, but it needed a more complicated mystery along with a compelling main character.  I give The Murderess 3 out of 5 stars.  The Murderess is available on Kindle Unlimited (through Amazon).

Thank you for reading this review.  Next time I will be featuring Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien.  I hope you have an extra special day.  Stay safe and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader