#BlogTour A Book of Secrets by Kate Morrison

 

First of all the book cover is absolutely stunning! Secondly it's my turn on the BlogTour A Book of Secrets by Kate Morrison.

About the Author

Kate Morrison is a British debut novelist. She studied English Literature at New Hall College, Cambridge and worked as a journalist and a press officer. Morrison was mentored by Ros Barber, the award-winning author of The Marlowe Papers and Devotion. She was a visiting scholar with the Book, Text, and Place 1500-1700 Research Centre at Bath Spa University. Kate Morrison currently lives in West Sussex with her family.

Follow @katecmorrison on Twitter, Visit katecmorrison.com

About the book

A Book of Secrets tells the story of a West African girl hunting for her lost brother through an Elizabethan underworld of spies, plots and secret Catholic printing presses. 

Susan Charlewood is taken from Ghana (then known as Guinea) as a baby. Brought to England, she grows up as maidservant in a wealthy Catholic household. Living under a Protestant Queen in late 16th Century England, the family risk imprisonment or death unless they keep their faith hidden.

When her mistress dies Susan is married off to a London printer who is deeply involved in the Catholic resistance. She finds herself embroiled in political and religious intrigue, all while trying to find her lost brother and discover the truth about her origins.

The book explores the perils of voicing dissent in a state that demands outward conformity, at a time when England is taking its first steps into the long shadow of transatlantic slavery and old certainties about the shape of the universe itself are crumbling.

A Book of Secrets gives a striking new perspective on the era and lets one of the thousands of lost Elizabethan voices, speak out loud.

Review

This books presents an interesting comparison when one draws parallels to the way voices of dissent were treated historically, they found a freedom in democracies and now once more they are being silenced and bound by those eager to iron out dissent and protests.

Susan, although it pains me to use an anglicized name that hides her identity in an attempt to diminish her true heritage. She was torn from her family, her country and like many others has become a woman without ancestors or a past. There is a pull in her that seeks out the truth of her beginnings though, and yet simultaneously she knows she has to compromise in the world she lives in now to survive.

This is a gem of a book that should be taking prizes. It is meticulously researched and the author does due diligence when it comes to telling both the fact behind the fiction and the representation of the characters. And the book cover is absolutely stunning.

I loved the way the beginning is the end and vice versa, but also that perhaps the epilogue suggests another venture into the as yet undiscovered depths of this tale. It is a hydra of bloodlines, ancestors and descendants. A search for identity. It is the language of blood and truth, a truth hidden in webs of white privilege and supremacy.

I look forward to reading more by Morrison. If this book is any indication then there is plenty more captivating storytelling to come.

Buy A Book of Secrets at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Jacaranda | 25 March 2021 Paperback| Historical Fiction| £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.