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Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel
Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel
Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel
Audiobook12 hours

Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel

Written by Alix Rickloff

Narrated by Lauren Irwin and Laura Waddell

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

This incredible debut historical novel—in the tradition of Beatriz Williams and Jennifer Robson—tells the fascinating story of a young mother who flees her home on the rocky cliffs of Cornwall and the daughter who finds her way back, seeking answers.

Cornwall, 1940. Back in England after the harrowing evacuation at Dunkirk, WWII Red Cross nurse Anna Trenowyth is shocked to learn her adoptive parents Graham and Prue Handley have been killed in an air raid. She desperately needs their advice as she’s been assigned to the military hospital that has set up camp inside her biological mother’s childhood home—Nanreath Hall. Anna was just six-years-old when her mother, Lady Katherine Trenowyth, died. All she has left are vague memories that tease her with clues she can’t unravel. Anna’s assignment to Nanreath Hall could be the chance for her to finally become acquainted with the family she’s never known—and to unbury the truth and secrets surrounding her past.

Cornwall, 1913. In the luxury of pre-WWI England, Lady Katherine Trenowyth is expected to do nothing more than make a smart marriage and have a respectable life. When Simon Halliday, a bohemian painter, enters her world, Katherine begins to question the future that was so carefully laid out for her. Her choices begin to lead her away from the stability of her home and family toward a wild existence of life, art, and love. But as everything begins to fall apart, Katherine finds herself destitute and alone.

As Anna is drawn into her newfound family’s lives and their tangled loyalties, she discovers herself at the center of old heartbreaks and unbearable tragedies, leaving her to decide if the secrets of the past are too dangerous to unearth…and if the family she’s discovered is one she can keep.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateAug 2, 2016
ISBN9780062643209
Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel
Author

Alix Rickloff

Award-winning historical fiction author Alix Rickloff’s family tree includes a knight who fought during the Wars of the Roses and a soldier who sided with Charles I during the English Civil War. With inspiration like that, what else could she do but write her own stories? She lives in Maryland in a house that’s seen its own share of history so when she’s not writing, she can usually be found trying to keep it from falling down. .

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Reviews for Secrets of Nanreath Hall

Rating: 3.8208955268656717 out of 5 stars
4/5

67 ratings19 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the story of Kitty and Anna, mother and daughter living through two different world wars in England. The novel alternated in time between Kitty's WWI story in first-person, and Anna's WWII story in third-person, but it was always easy to follow and flowed well.Kitty, aka Lady Katherine Trenowyth, was born to wealth and privilege, but was living in a gilded cage. She defied her family to be with the man she loved. Unfortunately, she died when Anna was a young girl, and although Anna was raised by a loving couple, she longs to find out the truth about her mother and the family she's never known. When Anna is posted as a nurse to Nanreath Hall, her mother's family home, she's finally able to peel away the past and learn more about her mother and the father she never knew.As the title promises, secrets abound in both Kitty and Anna's lives. The author did a skillful job of weaving the two stories together, and the ending, while not perfect, was satisfying. This was an easy, fast read that kept my interest from the very first page. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another one I didn't capture my thoughts down on right after reading it, but it was fabulous. A keeper!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is ultimately a story of class in an England that is changing due to both World Wars. It is two different stories; one of a mother, the other of the daughter and each one takes place during one of the Great Wars. Lady Katherine Trenowyth grows up with all of the privilege that being the daughter of an Earl can bring her but it also brings confining expectations. Katherine meets a man – an artist’s assistant that encourages her in her own burgeoning talent and he opens her heart. With his support she runs away from all she knows and takes a chance on love but she learns that sometimes love is not all you need.Anna Trenowyth is a nurse during WWII and has been sent back to England from France after being injured in an attack. She is assigned to a hospital set up in house of the family she has never met. He mother died when she was very young and she knows nothing of her history or of her ancestors. She heads to her assignment not knowing what she will find or how she will be received.I enjoyed this story – the back and forth in time is done very well. Sometimes that in a story can drive me to distraction but it was an important part of this tale and was done in such a way as to dole out bits and pieces of the story like Hansel and Gretel’s crumbs in the forest. You knew something big was coming – and truth be told I did figure it out – but you didn’t know what until the end. It’s got a great cast of characters that are unique and well developed. I read the book in one day; it kept me turning the pages through a rainy afternoon. Great plot, good characters and a satisfying ending. What more can you ask?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I liked this book. It is a fast and engaging read, and there are enough interesting plot twists that it kept me engaged throughout. The dual plotline is easy to follow, and I did not find it difficult or jarring to switch between the two. The characters are mostly (if not entirely) standard literary tropes - the seductive artist, the aristocratic young woman who longs for an adventurous life beyond the grasp of her suffocating parents, the haughty and insufferable sister-in-law, the WWI veteran who turns to alcohol to numb the pain, the handsome air force officer who comes from new money, etc. There's not a ton of depth to any of the characters, which makes for a light and fun read. It does feel a little cheesy and somewhat like a romance novel at times (and it clearly takes some of its themes from Downtown Abbey), but it's not pretending to be deeply intellectual. A few things are left unresolved at the end of the book, which is a little frustrating, but perhaps this will just be the first in a series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I absolutely loved this book! The balance between Mother and Daughter, two world wars and two different time periods was seamless. I found the descriptions of time and place to be so engrossing. I did not like the cover, and I probalby wouldn't pick it up if I saw it on the shelf. All in all it was a great story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a good review of how tough and sad war time can be. I liked Anna, the main character. She was a strong woman for all she had been through. Her strength got her through the tough times.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It is 1940 and Anna Trenowyth's latest assignment as a WWII Red Cross nurse is to travel to Cornwall and care for wounded soldiers at Nanreath Hall. However, this is no ordinary assignment for Anna. She is a Trenowyth and so are the owners of Nanreath Hall. However, they are not known to each other and are not aware that they are family...at least, not yet. How is Anna related to the aristocratic family of Nanreath Hall and why does no one know of this long lost Trenowyth?The Secrets of Nanreath Hall is a wonderful novel filled with intrigue, mystery, family secrets, and trauma's suffered, all while the Trenowyth's are trying to keep England, their estate, and their family afloat during both WWI and WWII. I thoroughly enjoyed Alix Rickloff's novel and do hope that he is writing a sequel or at least another wonderful novel!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Secrets of Nanreath Hall is a story about 2 young women, mother and daughter told years apart. The mother Kathryn's story takes place right before WWI and the daughter Anna's story takes place during WWII. The story flips between time periods as each story is told. Mother and daughter both trying to find independence and a place to belong.The story is a little long and it was a struggle to get in to it but once I did it turned out to be pretty good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the story of Kitty and Anna, mother and daughter living through two different world wars in England. The novel alternated in time between Kitty's WWI story in first-person, and Anna's WWII story in third-person, but it was always easy to follow and flowed well.Kitty, aka Lady Katherine Trenowyth, was born to wealth and privilege, but was living in a gilded cage. She defied her family to be with the man she loved. Unfortunately, she died when Anna was a young girl, and although Anna was raised by a loving couple, she longs to find out the truth about her mother and the family she's never known. When Anna is posted as a nurse to Nanreath Hall, her mother's family home, she's finally able to peel away the past and learn more about her mother and the father she never knew.As the title promises, secrets abound in both Kitty and Anna's lives. The author did a skillful job of weaving the two stories together, and the ending, while not perfect, was satisfying. This was an easy, fast read that kept my interest from the very first page. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Historical fiction following two different timelines, one during World War I and the second during World War II. In the 2nd a daughter works on tracing her family history, learning more about the mother who died early and the father she never knew. The 1st timeline relates the mother's story. Due to the wars both women led tumultuous lives, full of emotion. Well told, though I'm not a fan of the separate timelines genre.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Secrets of Nanreath Hall is the alternating stories of two strong women and the life altering events each faced living through two world wars respectively. Lady Katherine Trenowyth breaks free from the constricting binds of her aristocratic family and follows her love to London. At the onset of World War I, Kitty finds herself ostracized from her family and abandoned and pregnant by her lover. Years later her daughter Anna is posted to her mother's childhood home to nurse the wounded while overcoming her own physical and mental injuries suffered at the evacuation of Dunkirk. She is also searching for answers to the mysteries surrounding her mother, father and Trenowyth relatives. A somewhat satisfying novel of wartime fiction that kept my interest to its predictable conclusion.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is ultimately a story of class in an England that is changing due to both World Wars. It is two different stories; one of a mother, the other of the daughter and each one takes place during one of the Great Wars. Lady Katherine Trenowyth grows up with all of the privilege that being the daughter of an Earl can bring her but it also brings confining expectations. Katherine meets a man – an artist’s assistant that encourages her in her own burgeoning talent and he opens her heart. With his support she runs away from all she knows and takes a chance on love but she learns that sometimes love is not all you need.Anna Trenowyth is a nurse during WWII and has been sent back to England from France after being injured in an attack. She is assigned to a hospital set up in house of the family she has never met. He mother died when she was very young and she knows nothing of her history or of her ancestors. She heads to her assignment not knowing what she will find or how she will be received.I enjoyed this story – the back and forth in time is done very well. Sometimes that in a story can drive me to distraction but it was an important part of this tale and was done in such a way as to dole out bits and pieces of the story like Hansel and Gretel’s crumbs in the forest. You knew something big was coming – and truth be told I did figure it out – but you didn’t know what until the end. It’s got a great cast of characters that are unique and well developed. I read the book in one day; it kept me turning the pages through a rainy afternoon. Great plot, good characters and a satisfying ending. What more can you ask?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel is the story of two women; Lady Katherine Trenowyth and Katherine's daughter Anna. The story is chronicled in alternating chapters and takes place in two different time periods. Lady Katherine has an affair during WWI which produces daughter Anna. Then Anna becomes a nurse during WWII. The story pivots between the two generations, as many family secrets are discovered. This book was a good read and I enjoyed it very much.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Can you imagine a world rent apart by war two generations in a row? As hard as it is to imagine sitting here in my current comfortable American existence, this was indeed the case for the US and Europe just a couple of generations ago. World War I was followed closely by World War II, decimating generations and changing the face of many families forever. Alix Rickloff's new novel, Secrets of Nanreath Hall, set in Britain, takes place in the shadow of both wars. And both wars permanently change the trajectory of one family, forcing long held secrets to the surface.Lady Katherine Trenowyth is a beautiful, headstrong young woman who chafes at her expected life. She wants to study to be an artist, not just dabble in painting while gracing the arm of some approved, socially equal husband. When her father, the Earl, commissions portraits of the family, she falls in love with the artist's assistant and ultimately runs away with him, heedless of the consequences of her actions. Her impetuosity doesn't quite turn out as she imagined and her early death from cancer orphans her small daughter, Anna. As an adult, all Anna knows about her father is that he was a soldier who died in WWI without ever marrying her mother. Illegitimate, Anna has never been acknowledged by her mother's family but when she is posted to Nanreath Hall, her mother's childhood home, as a VAD, she runs to her adoptive parents to discuss the posting with them. Unfortunately Graham and Prue have been killed in the bombing leveling so much of London, taking their knowledge of her origins to the grave with them. Anna is alone in the world with no choice but to go to her post and to face the few remaining family members still living at Nanreath Hall. Her welcome there is quite frosty and she stays as busy as possible working in the hospital wings of the house, avoiding the family if she can. But she is determined to discover as much as she can about her history and as she digs deeper, deeply buried secrets and scandals come to light.The novel moves back and forth in time chapter by chapter, from Lady Katherine (Kitty) to Anna Trenowyth. Because of this, the reader knows Kitty's story long before Anna does, although there are still some revelations saved to the very end of the novel. Anna is a much stronger character than her mother is. The narration of the chapters about Anna is snappier and more complete and the reader feels closer to her as a result. Some of the secondary characters have interesting stories themselves and they are fleshed out to varying degrees. There is a strong romantic element to the novel and the idea of what it means to love and how are certainly themes threaded through the narrative. The most encompassing theme though, is that of identity, both as it is determined personally and as it is conferred upon a person. Kitty ran away to be a person her family could never conceive of (or accept). Anna is still forging her identity throughout the narrative as she searches for the truth of her existence and as she absorbs her own personal tragedies of war. The secrets of Nanreath Hall don't turn out to be terribly surprising in the end but the predictability is forgivable since the story is otherwise engaging. Fans of historical fiction, and especially those who have a penchant for stories set during the world wars or who are Anglophiles, will enjoy this tale of family, lies, forgiveness, and loyalty.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Family Secrets abound in the novel, Secrets of Nanreath Hall. The novel is written in two different war time periods with the protagonists being Mother and daughter.Lady Katherine Trenowyth, the Mother, is introduced to the reader as a beautiful headstrong young lady. Her down fall is her passionate nature. She falls in love with the wrong man who turns into a wanton woman on canvas and reality. Over the course of 100 years, society's view of a woman's sexuality has changed immensely.Katherine leaves her family home and lives in sin with her lover, Simon. Her father the Earl tells her that she is dead to him. Romance and love is stronger than family ties.Author Alix Rickloff writes a stronger character for Katherine's daughter, Anna. Anna after a tragedy during World War II, she comes home to her adopted parents to find them dead from German bombs. She had been informed prior to her homecoming that they wish to discuss her Mother's past. Ironically, Anna had been assigned as a VAD to her ancestral home, Nanreath Hall. She begins her journey to find the truth about her Mother's secrets.The novel is not overly romantic but more historical fiction which I prefer. This is not light but heartwarming.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I had a hard time getting into this book. The writing style seemed stilted, the plot seemed to move at a snail’s pace. Eventually, I just had to put it down.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lady Katherine Trenowyth is a red headed beauty trapped in her family's and society's expectations of her to give up her talent as a gifted artist and marry well. When her portrait is commissioned, the artists assistant, Simon Halliday turns her head and she throws caution to the wind and runs off with him fleeing her family and it's ancestral home Nanreath Hall. Unfortunately Katherine's lover is killed during WWI and never knows of the birth of his daughter Anna Treonwyth. Jump forward to WWII and we find young Anna as a nurse suffering from PTSD being stationed at none other than Nanreath Hall, the former home of her disgraced mother. The once magnificent home has been turned in to a hospital for wounded soldiers. Katherine is trepidatious about returning as her mother was never accepted back by the family, but she perseveres and begins to uncover many well kept secrets not only about herself but of her new found family itself. Great historical detail, highly recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A titled British woman has an affair, during WWI and the product of her affair becomes a nurse during WWII. The story switches back and fourth between the two generations, as the daughter tries to find out many family secrets. I really enjoyed the book, once I got through the beginning. It was well written and i couldn't put it down until I finished it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mother. Daughter.World War I. World War II.The mother an earl's daughter who strikes it out on her own against her family's orders, 1913 aristocrats' daughters just didn't do that! Her dreams, at first, seem to be coming true but then secrets start to reel their ugly head.The daughter, raised by friends when the mother dies, finds herself in another war with secrets of her own that also threaten to bring her down but then things change.A page turner - nicely written story showing the seemingly parallel lives that this mother-daughter duo went through.