I can not recommend Fiona Valpy’s books enough. She really has a way with connecting two different time periods and this book is no exception. It was great. The two stories flowed so well together and the scenery was so rich. I felt like I was right there, a part of it all. The only weak point in the story for me was the way that the people were written in that they were almost two dimensional stereotypes, with the Laird being a bully and his wife being timed, while the old people interfered with the life of the young. Having said that, the descriptions and personalities that the writer gave them was enough for the book. I loved the stark contrast between the beauty of Loch Ewe and the harsh reality of war for those aboard the merchant ships of the Home Fleet that set off on their arctic convoys in the late 1930s.

The second time line is the late 1970's when Lexie, Flora's daughter, comes home from London with her daughter, Daisy. She had a flourishing career in musical theater but lost her voice. Her mother has just died and she hopes to stay in the cottage until she comes up with a new plan for her life. As with other books by this author, setting plays a huge role in shaping the essence of the plot and story line. Scotland, and in particular the village and sea, were an interesting choice and it was fascinating to see the changes between Flora’s story line in the WW2 setting and Lexie’s in the 70s. I skimmed over a lot of the marine language however thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the Scottish Highlands. I have recently been reading quite a few stories set in and around WW2 and this is one of the best with plenty of information to keep the historians among us satisfied along with a good solid tale of mothers and daughters. Fiona is also very descriptive of the Highland area and this really sets the scene for you as the reader to be enveloped into the village. My heart needs to rest. The emotional roller coaster it has been on while reading The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy has exhausted it for sure. Underneath” by Anne Goodwin – Book Review #NovNov23 #novella @inspiredquill #Underneath#BookReview November 22, 2023

The characters of both time lines were fully fleshed out and captured my heart. The novel spoke to the importance of a tight-knit community and how it often takes a village to raise a child. It also stressed the importance of traditional music in the history of Scotland. It did what good historical fiction is meant to do. It brought history to life. I enjoyed both storylines, especially the well researched information on how the Scottish Highlands figured into the British efforts during WWII. This was a fascinating behind the scenes story into those tragic times and how the war touched the lives of those in this small Scottish community. Absolutely heartwrenching. The characters in this book are sweet and I enjoyed spending time with them. Also, I really enjoyed the history and the insights into unknown history. That, topped with the fact that we have Scottish charm sprinkled throughout made this a satisfying read. Aultbea, a small fishing village on the shores of Loch Ewe on the west coast of Scotland, was transformed during World War Two into a Royal Navy base for the Arctic convoys. Into this true history Fiona Valpy weaves the fictional story of Flora Gordon in ‘The Skylark’s Secret’.

I love this book! It flows well, is clean, and tells a story that features strong feminine characters. It's also light on romance and high on patriotism and courage. I also appreciate the look into a new-to-me aspect of the war, the Arctic convoys. While reading, I fell in love with Lexie, Flora, Davy, and Bridie. Although the story is written in two time periods, the stories of a mother and in later years her grown daughter, it is very easy to follow . Many of the characters are the same in both stories. Once there and reconnecting with a group of people who were both her friends and her mothers, she sets out to learn the truth about her father and mothers history as she never got to meet her father. The Skylark’s Secret is set in the Scottish Highlands. I struggled with terms and words used by the people of Scotland at the beginning of the book, but looked up words I didn’t understand, and became accustomed to the language they used as I kept reading. The switch between two storylines, one in the 1940’s and the other in the 1970’s, made me have to stop and switch gears in my mind as to what had previously taken place in that particular storyline. Another aspect I didn’t care for was that there was too much detail about the war in the 1940’s part of the story. I realize the war was an important part of the story, but I would have enjoyed the book more if less war detail was given. Lexie had left this town, in search of a life as a singer in London, becoming known, but then to eventually lose her singing voice, and with her daughter decides to return to her hometown and settle her mothers estate.This is an unusual Homefront story, based around an aspect of the war that I knew little about. It is rooted in fact: the Home Fleet arrived in Loch Ewe in September 1939. Three thousand men lost their lives on the Arctic Convoys. They were fraught with danger and conducted in extreme weather conditions. Fiona Valpy conveys this in Flora’s story alongside the courage of the servicemen and women and the community spirit fostered by the local people whose lives were changed forever by a naval base of 3,000 military personnel and the constant coming and going of naval and merchant ships. I was brought to another time when a lowly employee like Flora was ridiculed for falling in love with the Laird's son (her boss's son). I was emotionally drained when war tore Flora and Alec apart over and over again.

This a place where lives begin and lives ended. A place where the only witnesses were the skylarks and the deer". The story is told in two time lines. Flora lives in Loch Ewe. Her father is the gamekeeper for the laird. She and her brother are best friend's with the laird's son, Alec, and when they grow up realize that they feel more than friends but his father is against the union. During the war the town houses a naval base so Flora works with the Wrens and Alec is a naval officer working the Arctic runs.

Also like a lot of historical fiction novels, this one alternates between the World War II years (1939 - 1944) and a generation later (1977 - 1980). Each chapter is titled with a main character’s name and the year, so it is easy to follow. This is not a Holocaust story. I loved that four strong women made up the majority of this tale. These women had their flaws and struggles, but their stories felt real. All of the characters, men and women alike, were well-drawn and believable in their stories and relationships. Gamekeeper’s daughter Flora has her life altered by World War II as her remote highland village finds itself turned into a base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys. With life in her close-knit community changed forever. The mother, Flora, was a WREN during WWII. She drove ambulances when her small croft fishing community was commandeered by the Home Fleet as a strategically important naval base. Flora, a gamekeeper’s daughter fell in love with the son of the ‘big house’. Alec, the love of her life, was a naval officer who risked life and limb to fight for his country. The daughter’s story was set during the late 1970s. Lexie Gordon, who had a lovely voice, left the small community to become a singer of some renown in London. Her partner has deserted her, and her singing voice ruined by lesions on her vocal chords. Now she has returned to the small lochside village of her youth with her own small baby girl. With her mother now dead, she moves into the cottage where she was raised, and delves into her mother’s story to find out long held secrets. Fiona Valpy spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. Her love for the country, its people and their history has found its way into the books she’s written. She draws inspiration from the stories of strong women, especially during the years of the Second World War, and her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place. This is such a hauntingly beautiful book. A dual timeline between the 1940s and the 1970s, with the 'real' story set during WW2. The small quiet crofters village of Aultbea in the Scottish Highlands, nestled on the edge of Loch Ewe, is suddenly transformed into a bustling naval base after the onset of the war. Loch Ewe becomes the safe harbour and meeting point for the merchant and naval ships which will sail on the deadly Arctic convoys to Russia. A fascinating point in history, this fictional story shows how the local people became involved in the fight against Hitler, as well as how their lives were changed forever. Beautiful descriptions of the scenery surrounding the Loch and the Highlands really bring the setting to life, and the central theme of the love story between the two key protagonists, Alec- son of the local laird- and Flora- daughter of the Laird's gamekeeper- is all the more poignant for it.