Mrs P's Book of Secrets

Mrs P's Book of Secrets - Lorna Gray

Description

Mrs P’s Book of Secrets will be published in the US as The Book Ghost.

The Cotswolds, Christmastime 1946: A young widow leaves behind the tragedy of her wartime life, and returns home to her ageing aunt and uncle. For Lucy – known as Mrs P – and the people who raised her, the books that line the walls of the family publishing business bring comfort and the promise of new beginnings.

But the kind and reserved new editor at the Kershaw and Kathay Book Press is a former prisoner of war, and he has his own shadows to bear. And when the old secrets of a little girl’s abandonment are uncovered within the pages of Robert Underhills’s latest project, Lucy must work quickly if she is to understand the truth behind his frequent trips away.

For a ghost dwells in the record of an orphan girl’s last days. And even as Lucy dares to risk her heart, the grief of her own past seems to be whispering a warning of fresh loss…

There are no white shrouded spectres here, no wailing ghouls. Just the echoes of those who have passed, whispering that history is set to repeat itself.

Review

Set in 1946 this novel reads as if the characters just left the film Brief Encounter. You need to be prepared to read a very stylised form of writing.

Lucy is a widow at 26 and has left Bristol to work and live above the printers her Uncle owns. She has publishing experience but does not get to use it, as a newcomer is the editor and she types, does the books and makes tea.

A lot of the book is taken with the inner thoughts of the main character Lucy - Mrs P. She also describes the inner thoughts of other characters which I found a little over the top. Although she does have some sort of sixth sense, so maybe she did know what everyone else was thinking.

There were glimpses of an intriguing plot and I did finish to find out how it all ended. Reading more like a gothic novel to me than one set post war I found it very hard going. Veiled romantic interactions and yet then an outright relationship between two unmarried people in a small village in this time felt unrealistic.

It wasn't really for me. I never became invested in the characters and Lucy herself was so dramatic and I thought belonged in a Wilkie Collins story.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

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