Review: The Secret History of Audrey James

I, like most people, fell immediately in love with Heather Marshall’s debut novel Looking for Jane when I read it back in 2022. It was intriguing and well-written and I loved that it featured a piece of Canadian history. I was also so surprised it was a debut because it was just so damn good. Obviously, I was looking forward to her sophomore novel. The time has come and The Secret History of Audrey James is now out in the world and it will be a huge hit with historical fiction fans. I absolutely adored it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Sometimes the best place to hide is the last place anyone would look.
Northern England, 2010
After a tragic accident upends her life, Kate Mercer leaves London to work at an old guest house near the Scottish border, where she hopes to find a fresh start and heal from her loss. When she arrives, she begins to unravel the truth about her past, but discovers the mysterious elderly proprietor is harbouring her own secrets…
Berlin, 1938
Audrey James is weeks away from graduating from a prestigious music school in Berlin, where she’s been living with her best friend, Ilse Kaplan. As she prepares to finish her piano studies, Audrey dreads the thought of returning to her father in England and leaving Ilse behind. Families like the Kaplans are being targeted as war in Europe threatens.
When Ilse’s parents and brother suddenly disappear, two high-ranking Nazi party members confiscate the Kaplans’ upscale home, believing it to be empty. In a desperate attempt to keep Ilse safe, Audrey becomes housekeeper for the officers while Ilse is forced into hiding in the attic—a prisoner in her own home. Tensions rise in the house and the chance of survival diminishes by the day. When a shocking turn of events pushes Audrey to become embroiled in cell of the anti-Hitler movement - clusters of resisters working to bring down the Nazis from within Germany itself - Audrey must decide what matters most: saving herself, protecting her friend, or sacrificing everything for the greater good.
Inspired by true stories of courageous women and the German resistance during WWII, this is a captivating novel about the unbreakable bonds of friendship, the sacrifices we make for those we love, and the healing that comes from human connection.

I know what you might be thinking. Another WWII novel? Told from dual timeline/perspectives? Does the world need yet another one of those? Perhaps I’m blinded by how much I loved Marshall’s debut but I definitely think we needed another one of those. (And I say this having recently DNF-ed a historical fiction by another author I loved that just wasn’t telling me anything new. So, yes, I can be objective.) A WWII historical novel has to prove it’s going to give me a new perspective on a time period that’s been written about time and time again. And I immediately got the sense that Marshall’s would be different as soon as I started it.

It helped immensely that Audrey and Kate both were intriguing characters. They both seemed like women I would like (how I wished I could have sat with them to watch Bake Off) and there were depths to them both that kept me curious about their pasts. And their pasts weren’t easy and they both made some decisions they probably would have liked to take back. And they both helped each other, too, which I liked. Kate allowed Audrey to finally tell her whole story and Audrey convinced Kate that hanging onto some of the feelings Kate had been keeping buried weren’t helping her and she needed to properly grieve and move on.

I also really liked that Audrey got the chance to tell Kate her story. Too often the “present” day character has to make guesses or rely on historical documents to figure out what happened during the war. But in this book, Audrey told the story herself and we, the reader, got to hear about it alongside Kate. It was surprisingly refreshing.

I mentioned that Audrey and Kate’s pasts weren’t easy. It was, as you’d imagine, especially hard to read some of Audrey’s memories from her time before and during the war. As I was reading about what was happening to the Kaplans and families like theirs, it hit me that Marshall was timing the start of the novel with Kristallnacht, which took place in November 1938. It was heartbreaking.

I loved The Secret History of Audrey James. Heather Marshall has firmly placed herself on my “favourite authors” list and I couldn’t be happier about it. She writes amazing historical fiction with immense talent and a feminist lens. I love that she looks back at history, asks, “But what were the women doing?” and then proceeds to tell us their stories. Historical fiction readers must pick up Marshall’s latest novel. I think you’ll love it.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Looking for Jane

There aren’t many things that feel better to an avid reader than being absolutely surprised and delighted by a book. I expected to enjoy Looking for Jane, Heather Marshall’s debut novel, of course. I didn’t, however, expect it to be my first five star read of the year. I loved every single thing about this book and will be recommending it to all historical fiction fans for the rest of the year. Probably longer.

Here’s the book’s description:

Tell them you’re looking for Jane.
2017
When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten mail, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane...
1971
As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.
1980
After discovering a shocking secret about her family history, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.

Historical fiction is not created equally and Marshall has proven already that she is a strong addition to the genre. I never felt like I was reading a textbook but I definitely felt like I was completely immersed in the time(s) she was writing about. I hadn't thought too much about what the underground abortion network would have looked like in Canada. Or the US. Marshall states in her author’s note (does any other historical fiction fans love reading those notes just as much as the story?) that the Jane Network didn’t technically exist in Canada and she kind of combined networks and stories she learned while researching. There aren’t as many recorded stories as you may expect because so many records were destroyed after the abortion, if they were ever written down in the first place. And oral histories aren’t abundant either because some women don’t want to discuss their abortions, either because of trauma or shame. Even with those potential gaps in research, Marshall was still able to put together a smart, well researched novel.

Marshall had three different characters she was writing about and they were all so strong. Angela didn’t seem to be in the novel quite as much as Evelyn and Nancy but she plays an important part and her sections are impactful. I often find with multiple perspectives that I enjoy one character over the other(s). I didn’t have that feeling with this book. It could be that there was eventual overlap so I didn’t really feel like I was “missing” the other characters. But I think it has a lot to do with the way Marshall wrote the women and their stories. I cared about all of them and the story flowed really well.

If you know my reading tastes, you might be surprised that I loved a book with such strong themes of motherhood. I have absolutely no desire to be a mother and tend to shy away from books with those themes because I usually can't identify with them. I think what worked for me was that this was historical fiction and feminist. And, you know, I don’t hate mothers. I also felt like this was still really relevant in today's world. Canada legalized abortions well after the US but if you've paid attention to the news, even a little bit, you know there are still laws (and new ones being created) that limit a pregnant person's options. And these laws are being created, for the most part, by men. It's infuriating. 

I don’t often like to compare authors or books to others in a similar genre because there are so many nuances. That said, anyone who enjoys bestselling authors Genevieve Graham or Jennifer Robson will definitely enjoy Heather Marshall’s novel. She writes a quieter type of historical fiction and gives a story with heart and characters that will stick with you. I absolutely cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Looking for Jane was everything I wanted and more. I loved Heather Marshall’s debut (!?!) novel and cannot recommend it enough. It has a lot of tough storylines, so be kind to yourself, but it is most definitely worth a read.

Content warnings: abortion, adoption, infertility, death of a child, rape (off page)

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*