Genre: Historical Fiction, WW2

I am pleased to have been able to read The Secret History of Audrey James. This novel relates the stories of Audrey James and of Kate Mercer and how their lives intersect in surprising ways as they are a generation or so apart. Kate is recovering from a tragic accident and a broken marriage and accepts a job in a guest house - sight unseen where she hopes to recover some equanimity in her life. Audrey is the owner here and she begins to relate her World War II experiences in Berlin, Germany to her new young manager. Through flashbacks we relive all of these horrific moments with her. Once a promising piano virtuoso, Audrey becomes a housemaid and stays in the unsafe city to protect her Jewish friend Ilse - who has lost her entire family to the Nazis. She sees her father shot in the street and her mom and brother hauled away.

I am always drawn to WWII novels. I always learn something new, and I learned so much from this one. And I am always amazed at the resilience and strength of the folks who endured this war especially on the European Front. Audrey stands alongside her dear friend Ilse after they witness the brutal murder of Ilse’s father in broad daylight in the street while on a shopping trip. Ilse’s mother and brother are herded away. Soon after, the Kaplan home is taken over by Nazi officers. Audrey must think fast and becomes their cook and maid so that Ilse can remain safely hidden in the attic. From the moment Audrey makes that choice, she must pivot again and again as the circumstances change. Her resilience is stunning as she is forced to mature very quickly. Her devotion to Ilse has a strength that I can barely imagine. Kate also gains strength over the course of the novel. She finds her own strength and resilience both in her growing relationship with Audrey, and in making independent choices for her new life. I always value books that give me strong female protagonists and Marshall does just that. I learned much about the resistance, but must resist talking about it. No spoilers. But the suspense level here is just excellent. I stayed up later than I should rather than putting it down.

I had to really sit with this book for a while after I finished reading. The story and the threads of this book that tangle in a surprising way, really captured me. I am often so saddened by how lightly we take war. We allow people to pretend that evil events never happened, and we allow people to talk flippantly about going to war over the smallest of things. Maybe it is primarily the women who catalog and hold onto the tragedy that war brings. Somebody needs to, and I am grateful for Heather Marshall’s meticulously researched The Secret History of Audrey James. Read it and look for more novels by her. I did. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.