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    The Secret Wife: A captivating story of romance, passion and mystery
    The Secret Wife: A captivating story of romance, passion and mystery
    The Secret Wife: A captivating story of romance, passion and mystery
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Secret Wife: A captivating story of romance, passion and mystery

    Written by Gill Paul

    Narrated by Laura Kirman and Thomas Judd

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The stories of two very different women, linked by the secrets and lies of history, merge together as past and present weave together in this stunning story of love, loss and resilience.

    2016. Kitty, fleeing from a devastating revelation in her own life, finds herself at her great-grandfather’s cabin in Lake Akanabee. There she discovers a gorgeous necklace, which leads her uncover to long-buried family secret.

    1914. Tatiana, Grand Princess of Russia, falls in love with Dmitri, a Russian solider, as she nurses him back to health. The world is an uncertain place, especially for the Romanov family, and as their romance plays out the world as they know it rapidly crumbles around them.

    The stories of two very different women, linked by the secrets and lies of history, merge together as past and present weave together in this stunning story of love, loss and resilience.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateAug 25, 2016
    ISBN9780008174705
    The Secret Wife: A captivating story of romance, passion and mystery
    Author

    Gill Paul

    Gill Paul has written thirteen historical novels, many of them re-evaluating extraordinary 20th-century women whom she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. Her books have reached the top of the US, Canadian, and UK charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages. Gill was born and raised in Scotland, apart from an eventful year at school in the US when she was ten. She worked as an editor in nonfiction publishing, then as a ghostwriter, before giving up the “day job” to write fiction full-time. She is also an events organizer for the Historical Writers Association. Gill loves wild swimming year-round, arranging parties, and traveling whenever and wherever she can.

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    Reviews for The Secret Wife

    4/5

    125 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      All the component parts were so well integrated.... the chapter switches were easy to follow and was easy to read as an actual account of what could have happened.... mesmerizing right up to the very last chapter.... will be recommending it as a marvelous read to my friends.... I haven't enjoyed a book like this for a long time....
    • 4/5
      This dual-time novel is centered around the romance and secret marriage of Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia and Dmitri Malama. The pair meet and fall in love in the early days of World War I, when Dmitri is wounded in battle and taken to a royal palace-turned hospital to recover. There he is nursed by none other than the royal Tatiana and a sweet romance soon forms. If one knows history, plenty of trouble and heartbreak await these young lovers and that certainly plays out in the course of this novel. Dmitri's story unfolds interspersed with that of his descendant, Kitty Fisher, who unexpectedly inherits his cottage and starts a journey to uncover the mystery he left behind. Overall, this book made for fun reading and presents a plausible (if unlikely) case for the survival of at least one member of the famous Romanov family.
    • 5/5
      Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanoff falls in love with one of her fathers army officers at the beginning of the Russian revolution. However, as events unfold and the family is taken into captivity their love is in despair as are thoughts of their survival. As Tatiana and Dimitri’s love become stronger another love many many years in the future is unraveling. How these two women’s story of love, loss, and survival intertwine is amazing and triumphant. Another great novel by Gil Paul.
    • 5/5
      Since I have been interested in the Romanov family and their sad history, I decided this might be a book worth reading. As I read through it, I wasn't convinced, and at one point when the author tinkered with history as I knew it, I even considered putting it down. I am glad I stuck with it, however. The author's notes at the end convinced me that the story written could have plausibly happened, although I am still sure the DNA evidence supports what we now know what happened to the last Tsar's family. I liked the back-and-forth with the present and the determined great-granddaughter who wants to learn more about her family. I'm glad I took the time to read this interesting book.
    • 5/5
      Inspired by the life of Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanova and her affection for an injured Russian Imperial Guard, Dmitri Malama, who came into her care at the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo where she volunteered as a nurse during WWI. It's a dual timeframe story and is told through the eyes of Dmitri and also those of his (fictional) great grand-daughter, Kitty.I was totally captivated by this 'what if' tale. There's a fantastic combination of historical fact and fiction. I knew the fate of the Romanov family but not all the details. This book filled me in and I was quite horrified by their barbaric and brutal end. So cruel! This story was a wonderful imagining of what might have happened if Tatiana and her soldier had survived. It's beautifully told and all the characters felt so very real. I could just picture Kitty sitting outside her cabin, drinking wine and watching the sunset after a day's carpentry renovation! I really liked Dmitri but my favourite character has to be another lady who came into his life, Rosa. Such a colourful and Bohemian sounding person! And I loved the thought of (non-fictional) Ortipo, the French Bulldog, a gift from Dmitri to Tatiana, with her Fabergé dog tag!An absorbing and fascinating story. I just loved it!
    • 5/5
      The Secret Wife by Gill Paul is a 2016 Avon publication. This book is an amazing, epic love story, unlike any I’ve read in a long time!When Kitty Fischer makes a shocking discovery about her life and marriage, she flees England in search of the property in the Adirondacks she recently inherited. The place is in horrible disrepair, but she sets to work restoring it, while searching out her personal connection to her great-grandfather, Dimitri, the original owner of the property. This is a journey that will take the reader all the way back to 1914 where Dimitri is recovering from a war wound, and meets the great love of his life, Tatiana Romanov. Like most of you, I have heard stories about the Romanov family. Most of us are familiar with Anastasia, but this novel features her sister, Tatiana, which is a refreshing change of pace. I have not thought about the Romanov family in a very long time, and for some reason, books based on the family or this period in history never seems to show up on my radar. So, because it was so unlike other historical fiction, I normally read, this one really captivated me. While Kitty does the research into her family tree and discovers the shocking truth about her grandfather, she is feverishly restoring the cabin she inherited, and avoiding contact with her husband until she figures out how to get her life back on track. Her story is the contemporary thread that links the past with the present, but it’s Dimitri and Tatiana’s story that held me prisoner, and broke my heart into a million pieces.The author obviously did a great deal of painstaking research, providing incredible and lush details that put me right there in the midst of royal opulence, only to later find myself experiencing the fall of the Tsar and the horrors of war, right along with Dimitri and Tatiana. We follow their tragic, but, powerful love story, and Dimitri’s years following the war. I was absolutely on the edge of my seat, riveted, and mesmerized! I also enjoyed Kitty’s personal growth, her journey toward self-discovery, her awakening, so to speak. Although, she could have worded it a little better, I was happy she decided to use a negative experience as a chance to take stock of her life and made something good come from something bad. Those of you who have followed my reviews, know that on occasion, I whine about the demise of the sweeping romantic historical sagas of old, so you can imagine who very much I loved this story! The only thing left to say is: READ THIS BOOK!! 5 stars!!
    • 4/5
      ‘The Secret Life’ by Gill Paul is a haunting, historical fiction novel about Grand Duchess Tatiana of the Romanoff family who falls in love with Dimitri, a calvary officer from a notable family. The story portrays their ill-fated relationship during the fall of the Romanoff dynasty in Russia. The novel juxtaposes between the Russian uprising of 1914 and present-day 2016, when Kitty, a young woman from London, encounters marital problems and escapes to her great grandfather’s cabin in America. While ruminating over her life and future, Kitty finds a valuable antique pendant, which leads her to discover that her great grandfather was a writer with an amazing, turbulent history. I thought that the beginning of the story was less engaging than the second half of the book, but once Kitty began to delve into learning about her great grandfather’s life, the story became so engaging that I could not put it down.
    • 3/5
      Interesting idea but not sure about the execution. It all felt a bit clunky.
    • 4/5
      This was a beautiful love story! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.I have always found the Romanov family history fascinating and the author does a superb job of combining fact and fiction to tell a wonderful story of love and loss. This story is told in two time lines and both kept me captivated and wanting to read more. This is the first novel I have read from Gill Paul but I will definitely be reading more of her books!