Secrets She Kept

Secrets She Kept

By Cathy Gohlke

Um….Wow. I thought this novel would be another typical WWII story, like most of the others I’ve read. Not. Even. Close. This story surprised me again and again (and trust me, I’ve read a LOT of WWII novels).

The back and forth between two different time periods is my favorite novel structure to read, so that was a good start. One story line follows a girl in 1973, who seeks to understand her recently passed mother, tracking down a grandfather she never knew anything about. The second story line follows her mother through the war years 1943-1945.

So many secrets. We all have at least one.

What makes this WWII novel different must be due to several things:

1.         The story twists are unlike any I’ve read before-unpredictable.

2.         The tension never lets up.

3.         The main characters include German Christians who help Jews in hiding. (Usually you have either Jews or Nazi’s – and there’s both of those too, but this angle is new for me)

I could not put this down. It’s been ages since I read while I was cooking dinner. And stayed up past midnight 3 nights running because of a book.

I’m a reader. Maybe that makes me harder to please. I’m telling you, this book is stunning. And the underlying truths run deep.

And as an added bonus, one of my favorite people from real life makes a cameo appearance . . . I hate to spoil the ending, but I'll give you a hint: she was a sweet, spunky, little Dutch lady.

Give this book a try - it's hot off the presses, just released September first. I guarantee you'll be telling people about it as you read - mesmerizing! You can snag a copy here and check out Cathy's website here.

Little girls love to tell secrets behind a cupped hand. And some big girls post them on Facebook. Why do secrets have such power? Leave us a comment for a chance to win our prize of the week!