Dinah Jefferies

A dual timeline historical mystery set in Myanmar (Burma at the time) in the 1920s and 1930s. The story features singer Belle Hatton, who has arrived in Rangoon for an exciting new job, but also wanting to piece together the mysterious story of a sister she never knew, who disappeared from their family home in Rangoon more than twenty years earlier. The narrative moves between Belle and her mother Diana, who devastated by the loss of her baby, then accused of murder, struggles to hold together the fragments of her mental health back in England. Belle soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and danger far bigger than she had realised, and is uncertain whom she can trust. Oliver, the handsome American journalist, Edward the suave and powerful British adviser, his sister the wealthy socialite Gloria, or Belle’s roommate Rebecca? There are beautiful descriptions of the tropical surrounds, the tensions between Burmans and Indians, and the pompous arrogance of the colonial Brits. Although it wasn’t difficult to workout where the problem lay, and Belle was a somewhat helpless female, this was an enjoyable read for me. The author Dinah Jefferies was born and raised in Malaysia before moving to England.… (more)

Intrigue in Marrakech!

I tried to read this three times. I just wasn’t in the mood and wasn’t connecting to the beginnings of the story. Who was Vicky Baudin and what was the awkwardness of her relationship with her mother Élise? We do know Élise was with the French Resistance as Vicky’s father Victor, who was executed by the Nazis.
Fortunately I pushed through my lethargy, started the book again and finished it with the tang of exotic spices and redolent smells of Marrakech in my nostrils, betrayal and violence baying in the background.
What a tale! From Vicky’s journey to Morocco in 1966 to meet her unknown grandmother, her ambitions to become a fashion designer, her meeting with Yves St Laurence that didn’t go according to plan, the witnessing of a murder, the disappearance of her cousin Bea, and the truth after all these years about her grandmother Clemence Petier, and all that happened to her as a child.
At this time Morocco has gained independence from France, corruption is rife, an acquaintance of Vicky’s, an activist friend who’s writing an expose on Mehdi Ben Barka, an opponent of the government who’d disappeared has been murdered, and the French security forces and CIA are keeping tabs on Moroccan agitators. Political powers are circling.
An exciting thriller set against the exoticness of Marrakech and the cooling foothills of the Atlas Mountains where Clemence resides at the Kasbah du Paradis, as the past comes to meet the present.

A Harper 360 ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (more)

Beautiful settings are wonderfully described. You can almost step into them. The architecture, plants, food, interiors and landscapes are all lovingly shown. The colours, smells and sounds of both Clem's mountain retreat and the city of Marrakech take root in your own imagination. The only reasons you may not be tempted to travel to Morocco immediately are because the story takes place fifty years ago and because there is a constant threat of attack upon young Vicky and everyone she knows. The sense of danger retreats at times and at others feels immediate and close - it never completely dissolves.

Both the main characters, Clem and her granddaughter Vicky, were prone to making life-changing snap decisions, taking the reader by surprise. A family trait, perhaps. I did feel a lack of understanding of the middle generation of characters but I know that's due to not having read the earlier novels in the trilogy. So I advise other readers to "begin at the beginning, a very good place to start"!… (more)

As I'm always fascinated by the reverberating effects down the generations of long-held family secrets, with their often corrosive effects on the lives of everyone involved, the promise of discovering the secrets why Vicky, now in her early twenties, is only just meeting a grandmother she knows nothing about was one of the reasons I felt drawn to reading this novel. I admired the way in which the author only gradually revealed the dark, complex reasons behind Clemence's decades-long estrangement from her family and the impact this had had, not only on her own life but also on theirs. That she had survived so much brutality was a tribute to her inner-strength but it was clear that she had also paid a high personal price for keeping her secrets by never allowing herself to commit to any long-lasting personal relationships. She was definitely my favourite character: I loved and admired her many strengths (not least her sharp-shooting ability!) but also felt saddened by all the losses she has endured. I enjoyed the relationship which developed between her and Vicky and how this, although it exposed them both (and others) to danger, ultimately allowed for past losses to be properly mourned, and for interfamilial rifts to be healed.
Although I've never been to Marrakech, the author's beautifully descriptive narrative evoked a powerfully atmospheric sense of the exotic nature of the old city, with its network of labyrinthine streets, swarming crowds and sense of mystery, as well as the beautiful Kasbah du Paradis in the Atlas mountains where Clemence lived. Able to almost feel the intense heat, smell all the different scents of flowers and herbs in her garden, as well as the spices in the souk, to see the beautiful silks, traditional carpets and furnishings in the market, I felt totally transported to this very different world.
As I hadn't read the first two novels in the author's 'Daughters of War' trilogy, I had wondered whether, not knowing the characters' backstories, I'd find it difficult to feel fully engaged with the story. However, although there were moments early on in my reading when I felt a bit confused because I didn't understand the interrelationships between some of the characters, the author's impressive storytelling skills quickly drew me into what became a truly page-turning story, one full of tension and danger, but also of the power of love. In her note to readers she explained that the inspiration for this concluding part of her trilogy came from two distinct sources. The first from watching a Michael Palin documentary which involved him taking a night train to Marrakech; the second from her discovery that Yves Saint Laurent was living there in the 1960s, hence her decision to make Vicky a young fashion designer ... a decision also influenced by the fact that in her younger days she too had studied fashion design.… (more)