Amazingly Brave Men And Women

The Secret Messenger by Mandy Robotham is a marvellous dual timeline novel that I just could not put down.

It is set in 2017 and 1944 from the point of view of a granddaughter and her grandmother. The former finds an old typewriter and longs to discover her grandmother’s roots and wartime experiences.

The reader is transported to Nazi-occupied Venice. We witness the bravery of ordinary men and women of the resistance. “We are all soldiers in some way.” They led dual lives, lived on their wits and had to always be aware of their surroundings.

Morale was important. It was the simple things that lifted it up.