Dinah Jefferies - The Hidden Palace

An island of secrets. A runaway. And a promise....
A rebellious daughter
1923. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.
A sister with a secret
1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.
A rift over generations
Betrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence’s only clue, the war an immovable barrier - and time is running out....

Comment: I purchased this book months ago, in a rare situation nowadays, which is me being able to shop at a physical bookstore where English books are up for sale. It's not that these places don't exist, but none exist near enough for me to browse frequently and most books in English I buy are online. Anyway, I got this book due to the evocative cover and because of the blurb...

In this story we meet Florence, the youngest of three sisters as she travels from France to Devon in England in 1944, while war is still ongoing in her country. Helping her is Jack, a British citizen who takes Florence to his house, since it will be close enough to where Florence's mother Claudette now lives. Florence's sisters are still back in France and things weren't that good between them since her sister Helene had a liaison with Jack and Florence just can't seem to avoid to like him too.

At the same time, we also have the story of Rosalie, Florence's aunt, who left home to become a dancer on the island of Malta in 1925. Florence's mother now wants to know what happened to her and she asks Florence to travel there and investigate, but with things so complicated yet everywhere, is there any possibility Florence will learn where her aunt is at now?

I don't know much about Malta except basic stuff, but if I could travel there, why not? With the eagerness to learn more about the island in mind, and being this story set around the time when things are leading towards to WWII, and then part of it when it's almost ending, I was quite sold on the idea.

I also saw this is the second installment in a trilogy but the first book wasn't available and I figured this would be done in a way that would make it understandable, as often authors plan things, and that is why I went with it. Plus to be fair, once I read the blurb of the first book, I wasn't as interested.

Well... I can say this author is certainly a competent writer and someone who can use whatever research facts/information from historical documents she found to the best use, but... I'm sorry to say her style just didn't do anything for me. When I say this I'm talking about the fictionalized tale and what is written being so captivating, I had to know what was happening next. This never happened and I think the issue is the perceived lack of emotional vibes, even when discussing or mentioning certain content.

While reading, I kept thinking about another author who writes in a way I'd day feels similar, Diane Chamberlain. I've read one of her books years ago and is was also dual time (different settings and story of course) but my reaction was almost the same. I liked that one a little more than this one because some of the romantic elements in that other book felt a notch higher than here, whose romance just felt ridiculously thin and lacked interest. It's really a pity because the story has enough elements to make it incredible, but for the most part I was actually a little bored.

As I kept reading, it became clear there are several undercurrents regarding the characters' relationships which I didn't have because I didn't read the first book. This makes me think the overall story is actually ongoing, and this isn't one of those trilogies where the stories are fully independent, but what I glimpsed did not win me over. Neither Florence in 1944 nor Rosalie in 1925 felt like women I would be interested in befriending, even though they act with what they have. However, it does gets on my nerves a little how people, when things are difficult, when there aren't things such as online booking or text messages, can simply decide to do something and do, without knowing if they can accomplish them. I'm thinking Rosalie going to Malta because of a newspaper article and Florence going to Devon without knowing how she could earn money.

Despite this, I kind of warmed up to Rosalie a little more easily because she was a determined young woman and she had faith in herself. The whole set up for her to make the decision to go to Malta is very thin and it bothered me the author included so many things to establish her historical facts/locations/events, but the personal lives of the characters lacked depth and consistency. Florence also annoyed me a little because if she knew her sister liked Jack, and once she learns of a certain fact about him, she feels she should avoid him but does not actively do something. Why couldn't she gain some backbone, after all the certainly bad things she saw in France? She annoyed me.

As the stories of each protagonist move along, I don't think there's any wonder in guessing some things don't go well for them. Would this be the moment we could sympathize and try to place ourselves in their shoes, imagining what we would feel in their place? Sadly, I didn't exactly did this exercise because things were being shared in such an ordinary but bland manner, I didn't think I'd need to care. I could process some terrible situations by simply turning the pages and when I got to the end, I wasn't in any way different, feelings wise, in relation to how I felt before opening the book.

When the story is about to end, the author adds a few dramatic scenes/situations to highlight the chance that it is to live, to make decisions, to do something we might feel is necessary... I got the feeling this was meant to spice up the drama and the characters' steps, but I was actually disappointed, after all we went through all those pages and the end isn't even amazing anyway... well, not to me, I can imagine it worked for other readers.

After finishing, although I did get to learn a few things about Malta and Devon, I cannot say I was truly marveled by what I read about and I think i'd search for other material to know more about these places. I can imagine the historical facts are correct, but added up to the fictional part did nopt make for such a great read. I'll have to conclude this author isn't for me. She writes competently, correctly, but it's not the type of writing I like.

Grade: 5/10