The Cypress Maze: a tale of secrets and learning to live again

The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy is a tale of secrets and learning to live again. In 2015, Tess is still reeling from the loss of her husband that she is sent to the Villa delle Colombe where her grandmother’s childhood friend, Beatrice is one of the caretakers. She is looking for a place of peace and solace in order to come to grips with her loss. That peace is shattered when the absent owner, Marco, arrives and they discover his plan to develop the land. Beatrice is particularly grieved at this prospect. She tells Tess a story of her time at the villa during World War II and a secret hidden within the villa’s elaborate cypress maze. In order to protect the innocent, Beatrice holds a haunting secret. Could telling her story now set her free? Can Tess convince Marco of the villa’s greater value than just land? 

Fiona Valpy is an author who has been able to blend past and present to tell a story and a lesson of hope and resilience. The Cypress Maze is such a story. However, I found it hard to get into this story. There was a lot of internal monologue, especially with Tess’ point of view. While her internal monologue makes sense in the beginning, it drags on for a little too long. Too much telling and not enough showing. Beatrice’s point of view was heartbreaking. The author’s description of the region, the villa and its grounds were gorgeous and vivid. Overall, I did enjoy the story although some parts dragged a bit. I love reading about the power of resilience and the strength to fight back. I love this story for its theme of grief, hope and resilience. If you enjoy dual timeline stories, I recommend The Cypress Maze.   

The Cypress Maze is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Dressmaker's Gift: a story of resilience and survival

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy is the story of three women faced with impossible choices during a desperate time. Paris, 1940, the city is occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses, Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne, go about their normal lives as best they can. Each hiding secrets. After seeing the horrors of the Nazis first hand, Mireille joins the French Resistance. Claire becomes involved with a German officer and Vivienne keeps her secrets very close to the vest. 2017, Paris, Claire’s granddaughter, Harriet, arrives in the city to begin an internship at a local public relations agency. Still grieving from her mother’s sudden death, Harriet discovers she is living and working in the same building her grandmother lived and worked in many years ago. As she begins to learn the story of her grandmother, she unravels a story darker and more painful than she ever managed. How do they survive history’s darkest times and how will they be judged for those choices? 

Fiona Valpy is a phenomenal storyteller! She has a way to open up the stories of the past through the eyes of those who lived it with all its complicities. The Beekeeper’s Promise (2018) introduced Mireille and in The Dressmaker’s Gift, readers can experience her story. Ms. Valpy doesn’t shy away from the horrors that were experienced during the war. Filled with emotional and heartbreaking moments, The Dressmaker’s Gift is a story of hope, courage and resilience. From the beginning, the story of Claire, Mireille and Vivienne gripped me until I couldn’t let go. Reading the choices they were forced to make and actions that they took to survive, I kept asking myself would we be able to do the same today? What would we do in times of impossible choices? I also enjoyed Harriet’s story as she finds a new sense of purpose and personal strength as she learns her grandmother’s story. I highly recommend The Dressmaker’s Gift as well as The Beekeeper’s Promise. 

The Dressmaker’s Gift is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

The Storyteller of Casablanca: two different time periods, two different woman, one hope to start over

The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy is a story of visitors to a strange city and finding a second chance. In 2010, Zoe Harris moved to Casablanca with her husband as his company offered him a relocation. She struggles with the move, her marriage and their baby daughter. One day she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s room. In 1941, twelve-year-old Josie Duval arrives in Casablanca with her family as France falls to the Nazi occupation. There they await safe passage to America. Life there is as intense as the sun with every sight, smell and sound is different and overwhelming. A world away from the troubles back home and Jose loves it. As Zoe reads Josie’s diary, she finds herself opening up to her new city. Seeing the city through the eyes of Josie and finding hope and comfort in the words of a young girl who saw joy and life despite the terror around her. Can Josie’s story help her mend her broken heart and find life in her new home? How does Josie’s story end? 

The Storyteller of Casablanca was a story I devoured. From the opening chapter to the final line, the story pulls you in and won’t let go. Fiona Valpy has written another amazing story. I loved Josie’s story and eagerly anticipated finding out what happened to her and finding out why her diary was left behind. Zoe was a character who was hard to figure out, and even sympathize with at certain points, but when the reason behind her broken heart was revealed, her behavior made sense and your heart breaks for her. I admit that I shed a few tears when she discusses the events around her heartbreak. I enjoyed the history woven into the story as I was only familiar with Casablanca from the famous 1942 movie with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I wasn’t aware that many Jewish refugees fled there before searching for a safer place to call home. I also wasn’t aware of the importance of the area during World War II. I highly, highly recommend The Storyteller of Casablanca. It is a story that will stay with me for a very long time. 

The Storyteller of Casablanca is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

The Beekeeper's Promise: a story of two women finding the courage to fight back

The Beekeeper’s Promise by Fiona Valpy is the story of two women. One lives during the World War II occupation of France and the other is a modern woman trying to put together the pieces of her shattered life and find herself again. Heartbroken and in need of a new start, Abi Howes takes a summer job at the Château Bellevue in the rural village of Coulliac, France. The voices of the past surround Abi as she stays at the château. She finds herself drawn to the story of one remarkable woman. A story that may change her summer and her life. Eliane Martin tends the beehives in the gardens of the Château Bellevue. There she meets Mathieu Dubosq and falls in love for the first time but as the rumors of war darken any hope for the future, she must decide to join the fight for France’s liberty or accept her new reality. Will Abi find a new meaning and purpose in life? Will Eliane find the courage to do what she must to survive? 

The Beekeeper’s Promise is an amazing story of two women who are faced with adversity which tests them body and soul. A growing number of books are now featuring stories of the French Resistance during World War II; but there are so many stories that can be told that it is not repetitive. Ms. Valpy has been able to bring the stories of the French Resistance to life as one community quietly but quickly standing up and fighting back. I’ve read a few criticisms that there seems to be no connection between Abi in 2017 and Eliane during the war. However, as Abi hears Eliane’s story, she finds the courage to move on from her painful past. I interpret it as Abi deciding that if Eliane can face the Nazis with the hope to survive, she can face the ghosts of her past and move on. The two women’s stories don’t need to be similar to find meaning and the strength to say “if she can do it, so can I.” I enjoyed this story so much that I wanted to see both women survive and thrive. I highly recommend The Beekeeper’s Promise. 

The Beekeeper’s Promise is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

Sea of Memories: life, love and the memories we carry with us

Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy is the story about the power of memories, love and second chances. Kendra visits Ella, her ailing grandmother, who has only one request: that Kendra write down her story, before she forgets. Kendra is then taken on a spellbinding journey through her grandmother’s past. In 1937, seventeen-year-old, Ella, is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré. It proves to be the summer that changes her life forever. There she meets the charismatic and creative Christophe. Together with his twin sister, Caroline, they spend the summer exploring the island’s sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters. For the first time in her life, Ella feels truly free. But soon the idyllic summer is overshadowed as war breaks out. Ella is forced to return to Scotland where she volunteers for the war effort alongside the dashing Angus. Will she ever feel the carefreeness of that summer? Or has the horrors of war changed her forever? 

Sea of Memories is a great story of life, love, and the memories we carry with us. Kendra has her own struggles as her son has been diagnosed with autism and the adjustment has put a strain on her marriage. She takes on the task of writing down her grandmother’s story reluctantly as she battles with the decision if her marriage is truly over or was it worth saving? She soon finds herself swept along the waves of her grandmother’s memories. Kendra soon realizes that her grandmother faced a similar life changing decision. Ella was a great character with a lot of pearls of wisdom. The theme of her life, as she tells Kendra, was to keep hope alive because, “life without home is a living death.” It is a sweet story with heartache, tears and falling in love again. It starts off a bit slow but once Ella’s story really gets going, it was hard to put down. I highly recommend Sea of Memories. 

Sea of Memories is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

The Skylark's Secret: a mother's secret and a daughter's search for home

The Skylark’s Secret by Fiona Vaply is a story about a daughter’s journey to discover the secrets her mother held so close. Loch Ewe, 1940s, the remote highland village becomes the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in the close-knit community changes forever. The gamekeeper’s daughter, Flora, falls in love with Alec, the laird’s son. Decades later, Flora has passed away, and her daughter, Lexie Gordon, is forced to return to the village and the tiny cottage where she grew up. With a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother and the village had secrets, secrets that will question everything she thought she knew about her parents and her village. Lexie is determined to fill the missing pieces in the story her mother always told her. When she finally learns the truth, will she be able to finally forgive, grieve for those lost and find a place to truly call home?

The Skylark’s Secret is a beautiful story of love and sacrifice. Set in the beautiful Scottish highlands, it is a story of love, war, and community. It is a story of a mother’s love and the secrets she holds in her heart. Ms. Vaply’s descriptions are so vivid that I could image the crystal blue waters of the loch and the rolling hills of the highlands. Told from Flora’s and Lexie’s perspectives and times, a story is revealed of wartime bravery, love found and lost, and the true meaning of home. It’s a slow simmer that keeps you hooked as you want to know the secrets and when one twist is revealed and you think you have it figured out, there is another twist! This book was my first by Fiona Vaply and it certainly won’t be the last. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Valpy. It is an awesome story and I highly recommend the Skylark’s Secret!

 

The Skylark’s Secret is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.