I don’t think there is a women I know that has not read a Barbara Taylor Bradford book at one time or another. I started reading her books when I was a teenager and still enjoy her lovely stories. She is a master at weaving lovely stories that keeps those pages turning. Her followers will be thrilled to know that a brand new book has been released. I love being able to review her stories and share them with you.
Secrets From The Past
Written by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Read by Stina Nielson
ISBN-13 978-1-4272-2900-7
Released 4/9/2013
From the New York Times Bestselling Author comes a powerful and novel about one woman’s quest to uncover long-buried secrets about her family – secrets she will stop at nothing to retrieve, no matter the consequences
At thirty years old, American photo-journalist Serena Stone has already made a name for herself with her coverage of wars in the Middle East, following in her famous father’s footstep’s. But after his unexpected death in France, she ends her job at the renowned photo news agency. While in Venice, she discovers a shocking secret about her father’s work. Well-kept secrets, passionate love, obsession, betrayal, redemption and the power of the past to control the future of the explosive novel.
Serena worked for many years as a photo journalist covering wars in the Middle East but the danger started to take a toll on her. After missing a plane in Kabul and not getting to her fathers side before he passed away, she had a hard time getting over that. She had a special relationship with her Father, a famous photo journalist and her Mother, a famous actress. Serena decided to write her Father’s memoirs and biography. Her father’s best friend Harry was on the frontlines with her father and helps to access the chapters that she has written. So on one Monday evening while meeting with Harry, he asked her to go to their apartment in Venice and take care of her former lover and colleague, Zac.
Serena had her doubts about taking on this roll. Zac has come out the Afghanistan battles with PTSD, so how does one take care of someone suffering from mental war zone issues? Zac is the one that helps Serena tackle the huge collection of her father’s photos. It is while going through these pictures that Serena finds pictures that makes her start to search for the truth behind her father, her family and hidden secrets of the past.
My Thoughts:
The author, in her normal style, includes loads of description of the cities that Serena travels. She also includes extensive detail in description in every scene. Love, anguish, fear, and more; the feelings of Serena were laid out for you to absorb. As one who lives with someone with PTSD, this was somewhat of a difficult read/listen to in parts. The author delves into the behaviors of someone with this condition and how Serena has to deal with Zac and his anger and anxiety issues.
The year 1999 has a special significance in this story and Serena often finds herself finding going back to that year over and over. When the pictures from her father start to get her searching for answers, this comes into play even more.
The book is an interesting story and I really enjoyed listening to it overall. The reader did a great job with the expression of the characters. Listening to a book really makes it come to life! The story flowed well and the author keeps it moving with memories of Serena’s family and interwove these memories, and some forgotten ones, into the storyline and brought it to the ending. This is a good book to pick up for a nice weekend afternoon read.
Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.
I do love her detailed descriptions of the cities in which the stories take place as well as her riveting stories themselves. A well-read book is always a delight to listen to , especially late at night or when on a longer car trip.
My first thought was that I hadn’t read any of her books. Just shows that I have a bad memory for authors. I’ve read several of her books and like to read about Venice so I’ll see about getting this book.