3.75*

There is a lot going on in this fairly lengthy novel. Dora’s story is told from the present looking back over the years of WW2, when Rhodes was under Italian rule, with German invaders. Her family is Jewish and many members were shipped off to concentration camps, leaving her to bravely fend for herself and a very young woman.

Her story comes to life through the medium of diaries, which her granddaughter Naomi has read and now feels the need to pass on to her sister, Rebecca, who is with Fritz, living in Bromley, London. There has been no contact between the sisters for more than a decade, ever since Rebecca announced her marriage to Fritz, who is of Teutonic descent. Dora took against him because he reminded her of the war years and the suffering she had to endure in her homeland.

In London, Rebecca is going through rounds of IVF which is inevitably putting a strain on her couple relationship. One day she receives a package, which, although addressed to her, she assumes it is for her husband. But when she does in fact open it, she is horrified to discover the contents (I thought it unlikely that the contents could have been sent through the post?). Anyway, shocking as they are, she understands that she must pick up contact with her family on Rhodes and start to read Dora’s diaries, and in this way she will discover the exact nature of her grandmother’s life during the terrible years. Dora was a brave soul, who stoically fought for her country and bore a child. She suffered a high level of loss, during and beyond the war years.

In present day Rhodes the family is fighting for the right to reclaim a property that was illegally taken from them during the war, and if they win their case, it would set a precedent for all those who lost their rights to their own properties during the war years.

I found it a compelling and at times heart wrenching audiobook (beautifully narrated by Lucy Paterson), which offered a lot of insight into the history of Rhodes and of the people and traditions. However, the novel felt overly long and the dramas that plague the characters – right up to the end when a ship capsizes – seemed rather excessive, and the drawn-out ending caused a bit of an eye roll.

Really enjoyed this. Wasn’t sure I would before I started but the story is amazing. So well written & loved the characters. Would highly recommend this.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Villa of Secrets
Patricia Wilson

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I'm not sure what I expected from this book (I don't often read blurbs as don't want spoilers) but what an absolutely heart-wrenching and stunning read.

We spend the book alternating between present day - Pandora Cohen, grandmother, Bubba, recovering from a recent stroke with the help of her granddaughter, Naomi. Both hoping that estranged granddaughter/sister, Rebecca, will travel back to Rhodes to help out and reacquaint with them. And re-living the past through diaries - 1944 - young Dora Cohen, 16 year old Jew who was caught in the futility and chaos of the war years and coping with coming to terms with loss, grief, love, fighting for freedom all whilst coming of age.

I loved the way this was presented to us and the format of the girls reading Dora's thoughts, feelings and memories through her old diaries. Learning about life as it is now with Pandora struggling with her health but wanting to share the burden of her horrific memories and make sure that all is in order in case her time is near.
Naomi's complete and utter selflessness looking after her Bubba whilst trying to set up her own business, reunite with her sister and keep everyone happy.
Rebecca's desperation to start a family with her husband while tensions run high and the marriage struggles.

All our characters were utterly adorable!
The way they were introduced completely cemented them in my heart before we even delved into their lives and their complications. As we progress through the book, they blossom and develop so much. All so relatable for different reasons and all tugging at the heart strings.

The writing was so beautiful and I was completely living in both the present day world and the past with Dora.
Such an emotive subject and so sensitively delivered.
I absolutely felt every joy and every heartbreak along with them all!

The last few chapters we're just everything.
The conclusion of the diaries and the coming together of all the different parts of the stories - oh my, make sure to have the tissues to hand!

An absolutely brilliant book and I can't wait to read more from this author.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the parts documenting Pandora's past but really struggled to see what Rebecca had to contribute. I had not known of the Nazis deporting Jews from Rhodes, so I found it very interesting from a historical perspective and definitely want to do some more research on this topic. Pandora was such a strong woman that it's difficult to believe that both her granddaughters were so wishy washy. Some of the dates just didn't add up - dates of births in relation to how old Pandora was at certain times - very sloppy mistakes. There were some parts where entire descriptions changed within the same paragraph. For example, a description of flowers in a coffin changed from crysthanthemums to carnations in just two sentences! Overall an enjoyable read if you overlook some rather unlikely scenarios. My sincere thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.

This was one of my favourite books of the year so far. As usual I won't be retelling the story here as I believe the professionals do a better job. This is a book with more than one story and plenty of content, both historical, dramatic and romantic. Set in present day but with a diary retelling one woman's account of Nazi occupation of Greece during WW2. The characters were well developed. This was one of those books which I listened to and had a clear screen play going on alongside in my head. It will make a great film!

Narrated by Lucy Paterson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lucy Paterson is brilliant and sounds so similar to
Lucy price Lewis.

Story by Patricia Wilson ⭐⭐⭐

The cover is really eye catching and going off the cover I thought this was going to be an easy listen, but it was a little heavier talking about Nazi's and WW2 which is a subject I personally try to stay away from as it is an emotional black hole.

I would definitely recommend this book to people in my book clubs and on my social media outlets even though I didn't get into it as much as I wanted to.

Wow! What a story! I was thoroughly immersed learning about how the Jews in Greece were treated in WW2. I hadn’t considered the terrors that they faced and how they were treated.
I thought the diary was an excellent way to set out the story and I was rooting for Dora the whole time.
I imagine that I will be thinking about this story for some time.

Thank you Bonnier UK Audio, Zaffre and Netgalley for this opportunity. The story was quite complex and I love the letters. I love that so much I was not so interested in other facts so much unfortunatelly. A lot os difficult themes but a nice dramatic naration