The Skylark's Secret

By: Fiona Valpy

Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Loch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper's daughter Flora's remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy's Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird's son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed.

Decades later, Flora's daughter, singer Lexie Gordon, is forced to return to the village and to the tiny cottage where she grew up. Having long ago escaped to the bright lights of the West End, London still never truly felt like home. Now back, with a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother - and the hostile-seeming village itself - have long been hiding secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew.

As she pieces together the fragments of her parents' story, Lexie discovers the courageous, devastating sacrifices made in her name. It's too late to rekindle her relationship with her mother, but can Lexie find it in her heart to forgive the past, to grieve for all that's lost, and finally find her place in the world?

©2020 Fiona Valpy. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good Listening

When I'm driving to work I listen to my books,
I enjoyed and look forward to listening to this story

Enjoyable Story

The narrator was very good. The story was good also. I enjoyed listening and learning more about WWll in Scotland and how good most of the people were. I would love to go to Scotland because some of my ancestors are from there!

Dual Timelines

The story is about two single mothers whose stories are in separate times. They are a mother and her daughter. The mother lives in rural Scotland and raises her daughter with the help of her father (the gamekeeper), who lives in a cottage on a large estate and helps the Laird as a gamekeeper with WWII going on as a subplot. The younger daughter begins in London - After the deaths of her mother and grandfather. She is a vocalist whose star is rising until she becomes an expectant single mother. She has to move back to Scotland to put a roof over her and the coming baby's head in the gamekeeper's cottage. She does not want to leave London to return to the small village with her tail between her legs, having failed at becoming a singing starlet and a second-generation unmarried mother as she expects to be seen by the villagers. She had never known her mother's secrets and became determined to uncover them.
It is a lovely book to listen to, as the narrator has a silken voice.
As the secrets begin to unfold, the narrative is in the present tense of the first period.
Like others mentioned, I didn't know what happened to Scotland in the war. I am an avid reader of WWII historical fiction. If war is not your thing, I would like to note that the tales of the war are light and sparse. It isn't a story about WWII.
The Skylark’s Secret is Another fine book by Fiona Valpy.

Another enthralling story

I Love the way she writes. The descriptions put me right in the middle of the story. The performance was excellent.

Page turner

I learned more about rhe Scotts were involved with the Artic convoy with the American Merchant Marines to bring needed supplies to Russia. A story of WWII it’s
‘S effects on a Scottish costal town, class culture love and music

Beautiful moving story about WWII and the Scots!

I enjoyed every second of this book and the announcer did a wonderful job! She made it all feel so real! I am so sorry it's over. What will I do now?

Wonderful tale

I was completely caught up in the story and tale. The two central characters were well developed, the supporting characters could have spent a little more time rounding out. Overall, I enjoy this author's style and I liked the narrator.

A well told story.

I wish that the chapters had been numbered. The chapters were by character nsme and year. Listening in the car meant that occasionally more difficult.

The narrator was excellent and the story compelling.

Gentle read with a nice ending.

I enjoyed this book, even though I knew how the plot would end, it was nice to hear it along the way.

Lovely voice

Both the author with her story and the narrator with her reading had a lovely voice. I was introduced to a segment of WW2 history I had no knowledge of, and a place in the world I was equally unaware of. I’ve always rejoiced when I find an author who carefully researched .. it allows me a bit of education while enjoying a flight of fiction. The characters were realistic, the dialogue authentic without overwhelming me, and provided a view into life elsewhere and elsewhen that I completely enjoyed.