The Story Collector

Finished July 24

The Story Collector by Iris Costello

This story has three narrators in three different timelines. In 1915 London, Katarina has taken over the bakery started by her parents after they emigrated from Germany. But with the beginning of the Great War, public sentiment turns against her as a representative of the country England is at war with, and when rioters attack, she is lucky to escape with her life. Helped by an English friend, she ends up taking over an abandoned restaurant in a different part of the city, and calls herself Kat, changing her clothing style and acting like a good English woman. She still worries about her brother, who she argued with before her troubles, and who left for the continent. She also worries about her secrets being revealed. Kat has another skill besides baking, divination. She has read the Tarot from a young age, and senses spirits. She begins doing this again to help bring hope to the women she serves. 

In 1918, German nurse Miriam is serving in a prisoner-of-war camp and besides her medical work assists a fellow German doing language research. He is recording as many English speakers as he can, documenting the variation in language use. One of the soldiers admitted to the camp is mute. He never speaks, and no one knows his name. They call him Prisoner X. When Miriam is attacked on her way back to her room one evening, Prisoner X intervenes and she appreciates his help. They begin to grow close, but he is in danger due to his actions, and the Germans are sensing the end of the war isn't far away.

In the present day, Edie is grieving the violent death of her beloved husband, and decides to spend some time alone in Cornwall at the family cottage that once belonged to her great grandmother. As she begins some renovations on the cottage, she discovers a wooden chest with mysterious contents. When strange events begin to happen, she feels wary, worried about violence following her from London. But she continues to dig for the truth even as she begins a new art commission. 

As these three stories begin to converge in interesting ways, we see how secrets can take generations to come to light, and how the resiliency of all these women serves them well. 

A very enjoyable read. 

Historical Fiction with a touch of mystery

Finished December 30
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
Having loved her book Labyrinth, I was eager to read this one. It is quite a long book (547 pages), and I found it slow in spots in the last third. Like her first book, there is a link between a character in the present and characters and events in the past. Here it is through blood ties, through music, and through a special set of Tarot cards. Meredith Martin is a researcher writing a book about Claude Debussy. She is also tracing her family history, having grown up with adoptive parents. She has two clues to her family: one is a piece of music and one is a photo of a World War I soldier. Some other things that happen along the way that help direct her thoughts and inquiries as well. When she gets to the small village in the Pyrenees, she finds a connection with a young man who is also searching for the truth. Together they find more than they expected.