My Review (4 stars out of 5)
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I lived in Suffolk for several years, so it was interesting to come across places I’m familiar with, such as The Angel, in Bury St Edmunds, where Charles Dickens stayed while working as a journalist. But back to the story—from early on in the book, our heroine, Violet, is at a bit of a disadvantage. Her slightly flirtatious conversations with Dr Russell neglect to reveal the existence of that individual’s fiancé. Naturally enough, this signals trouble ahead, especially when Violet must also deal with Gladys Wilson’s jealousies. In fact, I found Gladys to be the most interesting of all the characters—I particularly liked her penchant for forging signatures.
On the downside, characters have a habit of telling other characters what both already know, and the author’s excessive use of exclamation marks (often followed by phrases like ‘she exclaimed’) doesn’t do her any favours. Aside from such petty whinges, it’s an interesting tale that’ll appeal to lovers of post-war historical fiction.
Author Bio
Born in London, Liz Harris graduated from university with a Law degree, and then moved to California, where she led a varied life, from waitressing on Sunset Strip to working as secretary to the CEO of a large Japanese trading company.
Six years later, she returned to London and completed a degree in English, after which she taught secondary school pupils, first in Berkshire, then in Cheshire and finally in Oxfordshire.
In addition to the twenty-one novels she’s had published since her debut novel The Road Back, Liz has had several short stories in anthologies and magazines.
Liz lives in Windsor, Berkshire. An active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Historical Novel Society, her interests are travel, the theatre, reading and cryptic crosswords. To find out more about Liz, visit her website.
Social Media Links
NB This post first appeared as part of the Blog Tour for The Woven Lie, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources
Colin Garrow 