Author: Daisy Wood
Publisher: 11th April 2024 by Avon Books UK
Pages: 384 pages
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Romance
Synopsis:
A royal palace. A closed book. A betrayal that will echo through generations…
Windsor, 1940: War rages, and as bombs rain down across Britain, nowhere is safe: not even a royal palace.
Secretly tasked with foiling a suspected plot, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor castle, where the princesses reside. But when she learns that Windsor is compromised, Sophie must sacrifice everything she knows to save the future queen of England…
Philadelphia, Present day: Digging into her great aunt’s family tree, Lacey Turner comes across a mysterious book bearing the stamp of Windsor Castle’s royal bindery. But how did it come to be in her family’s possession?
And so begins a journey that will take Lacey from battlefields to Buckingham palace in a quest to reunite the book with its rightful owner…
My Thoughts
I have read and enjoyed previous books by Daisy, so I was excited to see how this story would unfold. This is a dual timeline with the first story about two Austrian sisters at the beginning of Nazi rule in 1938. I found this part very interesting especially with regards to escaping their homeland - one goes to America and the other ends up being the Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle and working in intelligence. The second timeline is in the present when a granddaughter discovers that she does in fact have an aunt and travels to discover her story.
‘I am the Royal Librarian, she reminds herself, straightening her shoulders, and I have done nothing wrong.’
The story of Sophie, royal librarian, and her work at Windsor castle was the highlight. The whole issue concerning the role of the abdicated Edward and the espionage resulting was very engaging. I did not appreciate the contemporary timeline as much and felt the book would have been better served with just the one timeline and events would have evolved more quickly on the page. Daisy has undertaken a wonderful amount of research surrounding everything from the atrocities to Jews under Nazi rule to what life was like working in the British royal household during the war. The Royal Librarian is an entertaining read with interesting historical details - mystery, romance, family drama provide the icing on top!
‘Oh no, I want a quiet life.’ Sophie made an effort to smile back at him. In that moment, she could think of nothing better: losing peaceful hours in the archive, reading about history rather than living through it.’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
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