I’m so pleased today to be joining the blog tour for the latest book from Renita D’Silva, The Secret Keeper, and sharing my review. Published on 12th August by Boldwood Books, it’s now available for kindle (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. As always, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
It really is far too long since I read one of Renita’s books. It was 2015 when I read and reviewed A Sister’s Promise (you’ll find my review here), and I can still vividly remember its emotional story of love, loyalty and betrayal and the way it entirely transported me to a different world, along with the sheer beauty of its writing. I vowed to read more of her books and, to my shame, it’s taken me almost ten years to return. But I was so delighted to see that she’d signed with Boldwood – and I was so looking forward to being immersed in one of her wonderful stories again.
In 1938, Rani – the bright and spirited daughter of an Indian Crown Prince – leads a privileged if lonely life. Longing for freedom and purpose, she escapes the confines of her father’s palace and meets Prasad – a poor young man – with whom she falls deeply in love. But her plan to gain her father’s approval for the match disastrously backfires.
Estranged from her family and haunted by guilt, Rani’s path takes her from Cambridge to Bletchley Park and a new world of intrigue and secrets. Against the backdrop of war, Rani finds comfort and a sense of belonging with fellow codebreaker William and his young son. Could they heal her heart and become the family she craves?
Then Prasad reappears – and past and present collide, shattering Rani’s fragile happiness. As retribution for the hurt she caused him, he demands she pass him secrets from Bletchley. But at what cost?
Torn between her past and her present, love and loyalty, Rani must face up to a heart-wrenching sacrifice…
Rani’s happy childhood is spent in pre-war Europe, her Marxist parents travelling widely – speaking English at home, and always encouraged to be independent and speak her mind. But their lives change dramatically – her father, an Indian crown prince, is forced to return to India by his father’s illness. The culture shock is immense – Rani and her mother are confined to the female quarters, while her father unexpectedly appears to forget his more radical beliefs and takes up the conventions and duties of his position. She finds a way to escape confinement, if only from time to time – and becomes friendly with Prasad, a young man living in poverty. Their attachment grows, but her plan to convince her father that he’d be a suitable match goes disastrously wrong – leaving Prasad to an uncertain fate, and Rani travelling to Cambridge to continue her education, banished by her family.
Now wartime, she’s recruited to work as a code breaker at Bletchley Park – billeted together with a single father, William, his young son Andrew, and their landlady Mrs Lewes. Slowly, trust is built and Rani, still estranged from her family, seems to have found her place at last, with a chance of happiness. But her past catches up with her when Prasad reappears in her life – forcing her to make some particularly difficult choices, and then to handle the far-reaching consequences.
A sweeping and emotional story, quite beautifully told – but a dual time story too. England in the 1990s, and Esme, already damaged by the end of her marriage, is struggling to handle the recent loss of her father. She has a brother, and a son – but feels the need to find out more about the mother she never knew, and the elderly Mrs Lewes, their former housekeeper, might just hold the key. The seemingly disconnected stories slowly come together – quite perfectly done, unfolding in parallel but with no real wrenches when moving between them – and the conclusion is totally heartbreaking (I could barely read through the tears…) but also uplifting in every way.
The writing really is quite wonderful – the scenes in India so well researched and beautifully described, affecting all the senses, and the day-to-day life of the Bletchley codebreakers (and the whole supporting cast) equally real in every way. And the author has the most perfect emotional touch – there’s a lot of love in this book, and my heart really ached for Rani, such a well-developed character who had really earned a place in my heart, and could entirely feel her struggle between loyalty and duty and the worst possible betrayal.
This was a book I read in one glorious sitting, unable to put it down – and, despite (or perhaps because of?) the many tears, thought it was a stunning read. Totally unforgettable, and a book I’d wholeheartedly recommend to all.
About the author
Renita D’Silva has had eleven historical fiction novels published, the most recent of which is The Spice Maker’s Secret. Her short stories have been featured in several publications and have been shortlisted for the Love Reading Very Short Story award and longlisted for the BBC National Short Story award. Her first psychological thriller, The Neighbour, won the Joffe Books Prize 2023.
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