Tag Archive | Kathleen McGurl

The Girl From Bletchley Park by Kathleen McGurl

Nov5

Parallel Lives

The Girl From Bletchley Park by Kathleen McGurl is a marvellous timeslip novel that captivated me from the start.

The story is set in 1943 and present day as a granddaughter slowly uncovers her grandmother’s wartime experiences. A lifetime of keeping secrets means her granddaughter was surprised by her discovery.

Even without having to keep secrets, we see that many characters keep their own. What is hidden will have to surface sooner or later.

We witness betrayal in both time periods. Betrayal hurts especially when it appears as a bolt from the blue. The reader has their suspicions way before the characters do. As we read we can feel the tension rising within us.

Wartime is hard. Losses are felt not just by the characters but by the reader too – I did gasp out loud in one place. Kathleen McGurl is clearly a masterful story-teller as my emotions were completely invested in the book.

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The Forgotten Gift by Kathleen McGurl

Nov23

Legacies

The Forgotten Gift by Kathleen McGurl is a marvellous dual timeline that had me gripped from the start.

The novel is set in present day and in the form of a diary from 1861 as we follow two main characters.

A desire to explore one’s family history and to seek out the two names in an old will leads to uncovering age old secrets as we explore what really does constitute a family. Family is not always bloodline. Family is made up of people who love us. We see different types of family within the novel.

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The Drowned Village by Kathleen McGurl

Sep28

Unearthing The Past

The Drowned Village by Kathleen McGurl is a simply marvellous contemporary and historical novel about uncovering the past. It had me glued from the start.

The novel is written in both the present day and 1935 in various voices. The past bumps into the present literally as an old village is uncovered during a summer drought. Secrets long hidden are just waiting to be discovered but can the past be unlocked before the rains come?

Guilt is a major theme. It is a heavy burden to carry down the years. Some burdens that we pick up were never meant for us to carry.

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