The Hidden Women
An inspirational historical novel about sisterhood
by Kerry Barrett
Pub DateJan 14 2019 | Archive Date May 20 2019
HQ Digital
Historical Fiction| Women's Fiction




HQ Digital and Netgalley provided me with a copy of The Hidden Women for review:


Berkshire, 1944


Lilian Miles' heart flutters when Will Bates offers to take her to the dance. But as the relationship progresses, Lilian gets cold feet. It has always been clear to her that the secrets of the past will weigh heavily on her future happiness...


London, 2018


As a researcher on the hit show Where Did You Come From?, Helena Miles loves digging into the back stories of celebrity families. But when handsome superstar Jack Jones sweeps into her life, she unexpectedly finds herself trawling through her own family history.She finds herself trawling through her family history when handsome superstar Jack Jones sweeps into her life.


As she explores her family’s past, she discovers that there are far more secrets hidden there than she ever expected… What really happened to her aunt Lilian during the war, and why can’t she open up about it now? What really happened to her aunt Lilian during the war, and why isn't she able to talk about it?


I give The Hidden Women four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read The Hidden Women by Kerry Barrett.
I really loved the book, its a captivating story and the book has a beautiful front cover.
The book is set in a dual timeline, you're taken back to England in 1944 and then to England in the current time frame of 2018.
Lilian Miles is the main character, from her struggles as a pregnant teenager, she is taken advantage of by an older married man, how she handles this situation with help from her loving family and how she gets on with her life after her pregnancy is a major part of the story.
Lillian is strong person, she becomes a pilot for the ATA, they transported planes around England during world war 2, women played an important role by transferring planes to different areas and it was vital service needed during the war.
So many male pilots where killed during the war they needed everyone of them to defend English skies and take part in the bombing raids over Germany. They didn't have male pilots to spare for transporting planes to different locations or when they needed to be moved to be repaired and women were given the chance. Yes women flew big planes, with no navigational support or radio contact.
Also Lilian and her friends, fellow ATA pilots, formed a secret network to help women in a similar situation to what Lilian found herself in, young unwed mothers or women with an unplanned pregnancy were judged harshly back then had very few legal options and support.
Helena Miles is a research assistant for a celebrity tv show, and even though banned from looking at her own families history, she is influenced by the handsome Jack Jones into looking at her dad's and her great Aunt Lilian's past.
As she explores her families past she discovers things that her father had always suspected and secrets about her life her great Aunt Lilian had hidden away.
Helena is a single mum herself and her great aunt had always supported Helena and her quirky family when they needed her.
I really enjoyed reading The Hidden Women, I had no problem in following the dual timeline, it's an interesting story about a family, the second world war, hidden secrets and of course a new romance begins!
I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and The Hidden Women by Kelly Barrett is a great read.

A dual time line novel that moves from Lillian, an ATA pilot in WWII, to Helena, who works on celebrity shows in 2018. Helena's look into her own background leads her to Lillian, whose story is so much more compelling. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of WWII novels.

I love reading book from WWII so when I stumbled across this book I was so excited. I really enjoyed the dual timelines. Normally when I read something with a dual timeline I get a little confused at time but this one was very straight forward. This book had a predictable ending but was no less a good read because of it.

A great read. I enjoyed reading it and it has a great plot and characters. I also look forward to more books from the author.

I really enjoyed this story – the characters, the historical elements featuring the ATA girls, and the speculations about what else women could have been doing during WWII. There were some unsuspected events that I really didn’t see coming, and they were some of the most gut-wrenching and heartbreaking parts of the novel. Thankfully, there were also so many moments of perseverance and strength, of these wonderful women banding together and pulling through.

I liked finding out what happened in Lilian’s storyline more than Helena’s but was most eager to see what details Helena would uncover next. So both parts of this dual timeline novel were equally interesting, I just happened to like seeing Lilian in action more. The book synopsis describes this book as “an inspirational tale of sisterhood and strength” and that couldn’t be more true. The bravery and selflessness of these women as they secretly helped other women in need went above and beyond “doing their bit” – and they truly were inspirational.

I think Helena’s part of the story was drug out a bit too much, and there was excess drama that took away from the bigger parts of this story. Some things just felt a bit too forced as well, and the events were very spaced out with a lot of filler in between. I did like her relationship with Jack though, I just wish it had gone differently. In the end though, Helena and Lilian’s stories overlapped in a really lovely way – and the ending made me cry and earned an extra star all on its own.

This was an amazing book and I throughly enjoyed it. I like this kind of thing and will definitely be picking up the author's other works.

My thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I thought I would have enjoyed this book more than I actually did. The premise was what hooked me, but it was not enough. It was too fast paced in certain areas/problem solving. I will give the author another chance though because she has great ideas.
Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this opportunity.

The Hidden Women is absolutely lovely through its many depths. The time overlay, mystery, characters, emotion, and simply readable writing melted into a book I couldn’t put down. I am so appreciative of stories about the brave women of the ATA (and WASP in the US), even if it’s not the main focus. While those who are very firmly rooted in far prolife/prochoice ideologues may feel wonky about the narrative, the story truly opens the readers eyes to the times, the imperceivable shaming, the heartbreak. It celebrates women’s choices of best interest, and support from both women and men without alienation. The rich plot and careful expression of ideology is quite nicely written. Kerry Barrett is funny and writes believable conversations and relatable thoughts. Overall, The Hidden Women is a refreshing, enlightening, heart wrenching, and satisfying read.

Secrets,secrets in a family and you want to know why! The more you did you wonder if you really want to know the secret,will it hurt someone!! The people in this story jumps out at you as in the history and very well written storyline! This is a must read story and ma!we you wonder does your family have secrets??

It was an okay book that I really could not get into. The book had an interesting premise that for me did not work out.

A dual narrative perfect for fans of historical fiction! I really enjoyed this one. A well to.d story that bounces back and forth between contemporary UK and WWII.

A captivating story that takes you from 1944 England to current time of 2018. Lilian, the main character, is a strong heroine who becomes a pilot. We see so much loss of the male pilots, killed during war, and the women were needed to help fight the war.

I’ve read so many wonderful books lately with strong female leads, and found myself really proud to be a woman!

There are twists and secrets that are revealed that I really enjoyed too!

*Thank you to netgalley and publisher for this complimentary book. All opinions are my own

5 stars! I loved this story of love, loss, acceptance, and courage!
Lil is an ATA flyer in the early 1940s at the young age of 16. She is incredibly brave and strong-minded, and together with two friends, grows a small existing network of people who will help young girls have abortions or have their babies and then place them into loving families for adoption. Lil is such a loveable character... so multi-faceted and so courageous.
In present day, her niece, Helena, works for a familial research television show and stumbles upon her aunt’s history. This leads to unearthing family secrets and brings the family closer together than ever.

What a beautiful story! Bravo!

This Book is not in entirely different from a lot of books that I have read, but the author keep you intrigued flitting backwards and forwards from nineteen forties to the present day.. I was spellbound by the amount of women that took part in flying during the war.l.. The way their lives interacted with the men who flew the planes and their reactions to the women when they got out of the planes .
I always love a book That flits from the present day to the past . The whole book kept me going from the first chapter so much That I have now looked at the other books by this author.

Excellent novel in the style of Kate Morton. It was a great perspective of world war 2 and Lillian was fascinating character you could laugh and cry with.

An interesting story that tells of two women, dealing with life about 70 years apart. A single mother working on research discovers a secret about her own family member during World War II. The times may be different, but the challenges of life are very similar. I read this story as quickly as I could. I wanted to get to the end, but at the same time, did not want the story to be finished.

First book I have read by this author... The cover caught my eye, and I have to say what a fabulous book!
The story of Lillian Miles (Lil) in current time and during WW2 time frame.. It had me hooked as you shared her experiences... abuse, pregnancy, flying planes in the war, an underground network..
Then in current time how her relatives, one a genealogy researcher, uncover what part she played, and how past secrets interfere with current family relationships.
It was beautifully written, giving great insight into experiences many woman would have shared..... A turning point for the better for women in today's world.
Loved the characters and didn't want to put it down!! Would have loved to hear the outcome re Jack's family... Perhaps the next book??
Giving this 5 stars... Poignant and emotional and wonderful 😁🌹

The author did a brilliant job of capturing the time period in this novel. The characters and plot were also well written. This was a great piece of historical fiction!

I loved this book! It totally captivated me from the very beginning and while there was a few moments where I rolled my eyes at one of the main characters but i couldn't let that stop me from going on when overall there was so much to enjoy.

This is one of my favourite genres of books. This one most certainly didn’t disappoint
Not only was it a great story but it was also an educational read
The style of writing of this author was different to other books of this genre so that was a welcome change