JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester


England, 1939 Talented pilot Skye Penrose joins the British war effort where she encounters her estranged sister, Liberty, and childhood soulmate Nicholas Crawford, now engaged to enigmatic Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan.

Paris, 1947 Designer Christian Dior unveils his extravagant first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance, Miss Dior, in tribute to his sister, Catherine, who worked for the French Resistance.

Present day Australian fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a secret wardrobe filled with priceless Dior gowns in her grandmother’s vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother.

An unspeakable betrayal will entwine all of their fates.

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester is another historical fiction novel mostly set during World War II, this time introducing us to three incredible women whose lives are forever changed and bound by secrets.

The dominant storyline is the one set in 1939, where we meet sisters Skye and Liberty Penrose, Skye’s childhood friend Nicholas Crawford, and his fiancé Margaux Jourdan. We do briefly move between two other storylines — 1947 where Margaux is a model for fashion designer Christian Dior, and present day 2012, where Margaux’s granddaughter Kate starts to uncover all of her grandmother’s secrets during World War II — but every time we’re transported back to 1939, Skye’s storyline maintains for almost 100 pages.

Natasha always crafts characters who are engaging and interesting, drawing the reader in with their depth and their likability. Normally, I wouldn’t think Air Transport Auxiliary would be interesting enough to want to read about it, but Natasha bring us a multi-layered core cast of characters, and you can’t help but feel swept up in the storyline.

“Tonight’s mission was named Operation Peaceful; some wag at HQ obviously had a sense of humour. The operation was a double: he and O’Farrell would each fly a Lysander carrying one SOE agent and six hundred pounds of cargo — Sten guns, money, radios, pamphlets — to a tiny field in France and land on a flare path just one hundred and fifty yards long and lit by only four pocket torches.”

Having read most of Natasha’s previous novels, I noticed a vast difference in how she captured Skye and Liberty’s backstory in this latest book. More time was given to their past and their childhood, so by the time the pacing picked up and we were in the middle of World War II, you felt more understanding of the characters. I definitely felt like more attention was given to the characters, allowing the reader a closer connection with them as the chapters progressed.

The writing is polished and tight, but also emotional and full of character. Natasha always writes such realistic dialogue, gorgeous prose, and she always illustrates fantastic female characters and really engrossing romances. Sitting at almost 450 pages, this is one of Natasha’s lengthier works but it’s worth every page.

“What she’d seen on Margaux’s face after the bloodlessness passed was a terror so stark Kat never wanted to see it again. If was as if her grandmother had witnessed death itself, as if the dark angel had reached for Margaux with outstretched arms.”

Personally, Skye’s story was my favourite. She’s intelligent, confident and ballsy, and she fights for what she believes in. She’s estranged from her sister Liberty, who is malicious, conniving and manipulative, and she’s in love with her childhood friend Nicholas Crawford. He happens to be engaged to the mysterious but bold Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan, and Skye feels torn by her feelings for Nicholas.

All of them work together in Air Transport, supporting the RAF during the war. Skye was part of a small group of women who transported planes around the UK. It was a stressful, trying time, with a lot of pain, death, and uncertainty. Skye was a pioneer for women in the British Auxiliary, and so there’s definitely a lot of feminist undertones in the novel. Women weren’t considered to be as talented or as valuable as men, and Skye worked to change that. She paved the way for female pilots.

“A Dior gown so sensational would certainly be featured in any book on the fashion house, would have been displayed proudly by any museum, would be almost as well known as the Bar Suit. But, as far as Kat was aware, nobody knew anything of this beautiful blue dress. Why?”

Sometimes, it did feel like the 1947 storyline wasn’t quite a natural fit in the novel. It was the glue between 1939 and 2012, but it felt a bit forced into the plot. There certainly wasn’t that much time dedicated to that POV in the novel, but it was a way for granddaughter Kat Jourdan to discover her grandmother’s hidden secrets. I wonder if there was a way to just have 1939 and 2012.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, romance, and sweeping family sagas that span across generations.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris Secret
Natasha Lester
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan has been in possession of her meticulously crafted answer since she understood the question. On the day that she nails the most important job interview of her career and gets engaged to the perfect man, she’s well on her way to fulfilling her life goals.

That night Dannie falls asleep only to wake up in a different apartment with a different ring on her finger, and in the company of a very different man. The TV is on in the background, and she can just make out the date. It’s the same night – December 15th – but 2025, five years in the future.

It was just a dream, she tells herself when she wakes, but it felt so real… Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four and a half years later, when Dannie turns down a street and there, standing on the corner, is the man from her dream…

Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years is an uplifting novel about life, love, heartbreak and the uncertainty of life.

In Five Years explores the concept of face and destiny, and understanding the difference between what you can control in your life and what you can’t control.

Dannie is blissfully happy with her fiancé, until she has a dream set five years in the future, and suddenly she’s unsure. It isn’t until four and a half years later, when Dannie meets the mysterious man from her dream, where she starts to think about what she wants in life and if maybe it’s different to what she’d always planned.

“Four and a half years pass. Winters and falls and summers. Everything goes according to plan. Everything. Except that David and I don’t get married. We never set a date. We say we’re busy, which we are. We say we don’t need to until we want kids. We say we want to travel.”

In Five Years is a diamond among the rough — a glorious, surprising novel that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It took unexpected turns, and explored emotions and circumstances that many readers will be able to relate to.

There’s a lot of heartache in this book, but it’s part of the charm of the story. You don’t quite expect it, and you find yourself caught unawares by the direction of the story. The characters are raw, honest and the story is compelling.

At times, Dannie can be naive and oblivious to her own situation, but she’s also caring and considerate and present when she needs to be. Her best friend, Bella, is carefree and energetic and spontaneous, until something happens that forces her to confront her life and its current situation.

“I help David unload the trunk, handing Morgan her roller as Bella comes out of the house. She has on a pale linen dress, the bottom of which has paint splotches on it. This fills me with a very particular kind of joy. To my knowledge she hasn’t painted all year, the sight of her — hair wild in the wind, the atmosphere of creation hanging around her like mist — is wonderful to witness.”

In Five Years explores love, loss, grief and the power of friendship. At its core, this book is a rom-com. Dannie is a little too comfortable in her engagement and her best friend introduces a new boyfriend who has completely captivated her. However, the book is also about female friendship and loyalty — Rebecca Serle captures a really strong bond between Dannie and Bella, and many readers will be able to recognise that kind of friendship.

Dannie goes through more than one heartache across the course of the novel; we witness her confront her hopes and fears, her failed ‘plan’ and her desires for the future.

“Bella opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again. She likes David. Or at least, I think she does. I suspect she’d like me to be with someone more adventurous, someone who maybe pushed me outside my comfort zone a little bit more. But what she doesn’t realize, or what she conveniently forgets, is that she and I are not the same person.”

I will admit the synopsis is a little misleading — it implies the book features time travel, and that when Dannie goes to sleep she actually does wake up five years in the future and has to navigate her new life. I spent the first few chapters quite confused with the direction of the plot, but soon I just let that go and enjoyed the story for what it was.

Heartbreaking at times, but also really joyous and full of life. Recommended for female readers, 20+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Five Years
Rebecca Serle
March 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley

In this Pride and Prejudice-inspired novel, not everyone has the luxury of waiting for love. Charlotte Collins knows this well . . .

Charlotte Collins, nee Lucas, is the respectable wife of Hunsford’s vicar, and sees to her duties by rote: keeping house, caring for their adorable daughter, visiting parishioners and patiently tolerating the lectures of her awkward husband and his condescending patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Intelligent, pragmatic and anxious to escape the shame of spinsterhood, Charlotte chose this life: an inevitable one so socially acceptable that its quietness threatens to overwhelm her. Then she makes the acquaintance of Mr Travis, a local farmer and tenant of Lady Catherine.

In Mr Travis’ company, Charlotte feels appreciated, heard and seen. For the first time in her life Charlotte begins to understand emotional intimacy and its effect on the heart-and how breakable that heart can be. With her sensible nature confronted and her own future about to take a turn, Charlotte must now question the role of love and passion in a woman’s life, and whether they truly matter for a clergyman’s wife.

The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley is a debut fiction novel and retelling of Pride and Prejudice, shining the spotlight on Charlotte Lucas and what her life becomes after she chooses to marry Elizabeth’s cousin, Mr. Collins.

Though this work is entirely fictional, there are so many elements that ring true to the original work — the characters, relationships, atmosphere and setting. In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte married Mr Collins not because she was in love with him (she hardly knew him) but because of security. She was almost thirty and had no other options for a companion. By marrying Mr Collins, she would stop being an embarrassment to her parents and could start her own life.

In The Clergyman’s Wife, Molly takes Charlotte beyond the pages of Pride and Prejudice and gives her a protagonist’s story. What if she does have the option of falling in love with someone but it’s too late?

“My skin prickles with mirth; I press my lips together to keep myself from laughing. Mr Travis meets my eyes and his lips tip up, just a little, at the corners; then he ducks his head and appears to focus entirely on the roses once more. I find myself gazing at the sun-browned back of his neck, the first knob of his spine just visible above his shirt collar, and have to force myself to look away.”

Charlotte Lucas is an incredibly intelligent character, but her life with Mr. Collins is — as readers expected — uninspiring and rather boring. Charlotte doesn’t have the sharp tongue or the brashness that her friend Elizabeth has, and she settles for what is comfortable. However, given that this book is set in the early nineteenth century, it’s entirely credible. She can’t afford to wait for true love.

When Charlotte meets Mr. Travis, she feels an instant connection. The two are alike in personality and Charlotte finds herself drawn to him. She starts to understand what emotional intimacy is and what it’s like to have someone else truly care about what you want in life. Mr Travis is kind and considerate and treats her with more respect that Mr Collins does. Charlotte finds herself wanting intimacy with Mr Travis, which is something she’s never experienced with her husband.

But, building a life with Mr Travis is something that no one in that time period would approve of. Charlotte struggles with what her head and her heart are telling her.

“When we reach the lane, I have to force myself to keep walking. Though there is no true impropriety, I suddenly feel that I cannot face William — or worse, Lady Catherine — seeing us walking together. But we reach the parsonage gate unobserved.”

Whilst the book is a little dry at times, the prose and dialogue are lyrical, poetic and true to the time period. The vocabulary and language is evocative and in tune with Pride and Prejudice, and so it’s not a stretch to think of The Clergyman’s Wife as a companion novel.

Recommended for fans of Pride and Prejudice, and other Jane Austen novels. Fans of romance and historical romance will also love this.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Clergyman’s Wife
Molly Greeley
December 2019
Allen and Unwin Book Publishers

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan

When Declan Lorne, the last remaining knight in Ireland, dies suddenly, an ancient title passes with him. But his estate on Ireland’s rugged south-west coast is left to his three daughters. The two eldest, Ottie and Pip, inherit in line with expectations, but to everyone’s surprise – and dismay – it is the errant baby of the family, Willow, who gets the castle.

Why her? Something unknown – something terrible – made her turn her back on her family three years earlier, escaping to Dublin and vowing never to return. So when Willow quickly announces she is selling up, her revenge seems sweet and the once-close sisters are pushed to breaking point: in desperation, Pip risks everything to secure her own future, and Ottie makes a decision that will ruin lives. It’s each woman for herself.

Before moving in, Connor Shaye, the prospective new owner, negotiates throwing a lavish party at the castle just days before Christmas – his hello, their goodbye. But as their secrets begin to catch up with them, Ottie, Willow and Pip are forced to ask themselves which is harder: stepping into the future, or letting go of the past?

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan is a joyous holiday novel about family, legacy, sisterhood, and long-held secrets.

After her father dies suddenly, Willow returns home to Ireland. Surprisingly, her father’s will reveals that Willow is to inherit the desired family castle. The sisters are surprised and disappointed, and their mother shocked.

But the castle doesn’t come without its complications. It’s expensive to run and the estate isn’t making enough money to sustain itself. The family are in a lot of debt and Willow makes the decision to sell the castle. This acts as a catalyst for the family, forcing them to face their tensions and their conflicts.

“If she sold Lorne, she’d be rich. She could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. Wasn’t that worth the shame and the guilt that had been placed at her door? After all, her life had already changed anyway, the horrors of three years earlier, forcing her to move away from here and everything she had ever known and loved.”

Sisterhood is a strong element to the novel. The POV switches between Ottie, Pip and Willow, who are all trying to navigate their way through this new phase of their lives. Their dad has died, they’re mourning but they’re also trying to work out what to do with the estate, and the three sisters aren’t overly close. There’s an obvious wedge between each of them, and over the course of the novel they must learnt to understand and overcome their issues and move on as a family.

Ottie is the oldest sister and she expected she’d inherit the castle. She’s worked the hardest and the longest, and she was the most devoted. She sacrificed a lot to stay with her dad and help him with the estate.

Pip runs the trekking business on the estate. She’s a tomboy, loves horses, and struggles to trust others. She needs to learn to let others in, and forgive past mistakes.

Willow left home years earlier because of a secret she discovered. Now, she’s home and that secret is about to be unleashed.

“But if their love had started out as an accident, it had become a very deliberate secret and she, for one, was exhausted keeping it. Life was short, her father’s death at fifty-eight proved that. Surely they had to live for today and grab their tomorrows with both hands?”

Setting always holds a strong presence in Karen Swan’s novels, sweeping the reader into this grand tale of exotic, intriguing locations that we all fall into.

Additionally, Karen is really skilled at balancing plot and character, incorporating plenty of drama in her storylines but also delving deep enough into the character POVs that you fall in love with each of the main characters.

“The wind was punishing, pushing them back as they rode headlong into it on the quads. Ottie felt her eyes stream, her heart pounding fast as she tried to keep up. Bertie, driving just ahead, was like a man possessed…his reputation was on the line.”

A sweeping tale that explores familial responsibility and family legacy, sisterhood and relationships, and trusting your instinct.

I’ve read most of Karen’s novels and have enjoyed them all — Christmas is my favourite time of the year and most of her novels are heavily Christmas-themed. There’s plenty of romance, parties, and themed events. Recommended for romance readers.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Christmas Party
Karen Swan
November 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Matters of the Heart by Fiona Palmer

A classic love story about manners, men and modern romance.

Western Australia, 2019: The Bennets are a farming family struggling to make ends meet. Lizzy, passionate about working the land, is determined to save the farm. Spirited and independent, she has little patience for her mother’s focus on finding a suitable man for each of her five daughters.

When the dashing Charles Bingley, looking to expand his farm holdings, buys the neighbouring property of Netherfield Park, Mrs Bennet and the entire district of Coodardy are atwitter with gossip and speculation. Will he attend the local dance and is he single? These questions are soon answered when he and Lizzy’s sister Jane form an instant connection on the night. But it is Charlie’s best friend, farming magnate Will Darcy, who leaves a lasting impression when he slights Lizzy, setting her against him.

Can Lizzy and Will put judgements and pride aside to each see the other for who they really are? Or in an age where appearance and social media rule, will prejudice prevail?

Matters of the Heart by Fiona Palmer is a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in farmlands in rural Western Australia.

Lizzy Bennet’s family have owned and run Longbourn for decades, and they’re not about to let a few rough years of drought force them to sell up and leave the town.

Charles Bingley, his sister Caroline Bingley, and his best friend Will Darcy soon arrive to the area after Charles buys the expensive neighbouring property Netherfield. If you’re familiar with Pride and Prejudice, you’ll know what comes next.

Despite the twenty-first century Australian setting, Matters of the Heart follows Pride and Prejudice pretty similarly. There are a few slight tweaks to the storyline, and some accelerations in pacing, but other than that, it’s pretty loyal to the original story. Any devoted fan of Pride and Prejudice – like me – will enjoy another fresh retelling of the classic tale.

“Ken Collins was shorter than Lizzy by half a head, and his hair was thick and black, resembling that of a Lego-man. He wore a leather belt with a shiny buckle as if he’d been a rodeo champ in his day. If you let him talk long enough he’d tell you about the time he rode a bucking bronco.”

The rural Australian setting was a nice touch to the story, and allowed us to see the Bennet family as a struggling but stoic unit. They’re supportive, compassionate, and they bond over the tough times they’ve had on the farm in previous years. The sisters are all vastly different – like in Pride and Prejudice – but they support one another and the older girls are a positive influence on the younger ones.

I did wonder if more creative liberties could’ve been taken, and if the storyline could’ve drifted a bit more from the original source. I love Pride and Prejudice, but I felt like I knew exactly where the story was going and so I didn’t feel a huge range of emotions when reading the book. I would’ve like a bit more of a difference between the book, and its source.

“You can’t save them all, her dad had said when she was six and saw her first mauled lamb. It’s nature; that lamb has fed a family of birds. It was a rough way to learn about the cycle of life, but in farming there was no shying away from it.”

This book showcases strong, independent women. Lizzie plans to take over Longbourn from her father and she is already running a lot of the operations on the farm. She’s capable, confident and she’s incredibly smart.

Lizzie is used to men assuming she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s used to being questioned about who will run the farm after her father passes. But she’s sure of herself, and she doesn’t let others sway her opinion. She’s feisty and she’s fun, and her romance with Will Darcy is really heartwarming. I enjoyed reading about their blossoming romance — their quirks and their clashes, and their respect for each other.

There are moments of humour scattered throughout the book. Ken Collins is ridiculous and clueless, just like his inspiration. Kitty and Lydia are overdramatic and self-centred, but they bring a smile to your face, and Will and Lizzie have incredible chemistry on the page that you can’t help but adore.

“The top envelope was addressed to Jane and Lizzy. The invitation was fancy, handmade with care, but Lizzy couldn’t imagine Charlie or Caroline making them. Probably paid someone to do them. Across the top it read Bingley Barbecue.”

I recommend this to Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen fans, although be aware the story doesn’t venture outside the original plot-lines quite like I’d expected.

Fans of romance will enjoy this, as will any Australian reader interested in rural settings or books set amongst farmland. Matters of the Heart reminded me of McLeod’s Daughters — strong women showing men how capable they can be on their own.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Matters of the Heart
Fiona Palmer
September 2019
Hachette Book Publishers