The Secret Wife

By: Gill Paul

Narrated by: Laura Kirman, Thomas Judd

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The stories of two very different women, linked by the secrets and lies of history, merge together as past and present weave together in this stunning story of love, loss and resilience.

2016. Kitty, fleeing from a devastating revelation in her own life, finds herself at her great-grandfather's cabin in Lake Akanabee. There she discovers a gorgeous necklace, which leads her uncover to long-buried family secret.

1914. Tatiana, Grand Princess of Russia, falls in love with Dmitri, a Russian solider, as she nurses him back to health. The world is an uncertain place, especially for the Romanov family, and as their romance plays out the world as they know it rapidly crumbles around them.

©2016 Gill Paul (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A marvellous moving adventure, full of vivid colour and atmospheric detail. If you loved Poldark you'll love this!" (Lulu Taylor)
"Like Vanity Fair crossed with Poldark...Stunning epic." (Claudia Carroll)
"A terrific adventure story, full of romance and atmospheric detail - a great escapist read." (Liz Trenow)
"No Place for a Lady is a gripping historical read about two sisters caught up in the Crimean War: one a young bride following her soldier husband, the other her sister who signs up as a nurse to try and rescue her sister. It's a story of love, both romantic and sibling, against a backdrop of a vividly created historical setting, with an ending which is at once uplifting and heartbreaking I couldn't put it down." (Julia Williams)
"A galloping good story." (Natasha McEnroe, director of the Florence Nightingale Museum)

An unexpected jewel with refreshing perspectives

Rarely do I read a love story that expresses the perplex inner thoughts that many of us feel but never say. I love that her characters were human, made mistakes and had serious regrets yet, somehow chose to find whatever hope, light and love they could in the situations they were in. She bravely wrote about the "gray" we feel when faced with the black and white definition of what love should look like vs how many beautiful shades and layers it creates.. some with which we are unable to outwardly explain or describe... Hauntingly sad in parts but, interwoven with a poignant story about strength, perseverance, loyalty, and of course love

I have always liked historical fiction but these two narrators have brought this book to life!

Although you think you might already know this story, the twists are delightfully surprising and unexpected.
I am going to pick this for my next book club that I get to host (six months from now) because not only is it a great story, but will make for a very interesting book club discussion!

Could have been so good, but...

While I enjoyed the premise of this story and managed to keep listening til the end, I almost gave up in the beginning because the writing is fraught with cliches and the performance is pretty bad. The female performer does a cringe-worthy New York accent that is incredibly distracting. The Romanov storyline was enough to keep me engaged and after a while I was invested in the modern storyline as well, but overall, this book was just kind of meh.

Not my favorite

The end was good but for me it took a lot of chapters before I was interested.

LOVE

I titled this review LOVE because the only thing I am sure of after finishing this book is that it was full of love. Sometimes loving someone is the best feeling in the world and sometimes loving someone you cannot or no longer have is the most gut wrenching heartbreaking lonesome feeling a person can experience in this lifetime.
The Secret Wife is full of both of those feelings of love. I gave it 5 stars because, even though it broke my heart, giving it any fewer stars would be a dishonest review. It was full of a heart-wrenching longing love that so many novels written today are missing.
Gill Paul definitely captured my attention from the first chapter reading about two young lovers who had to hide their feelings from pretty much everyone around them. They couldn’t celebrate nor explore this love due to horrible times of war that end up separating them. I will not continue the story because I do not want to spoil it but it was one of such raw emotion from the beginning until the very end.
Gill Paul leaves me wondering if we can ever truly love another after we find that all-consuming love of our lifetime. And not only wondering if we can but is it fair? In a life that is so terribly unfair I fear we have no other choice but to grasp at happiness when it comes around and try to make the best of it.
I would recommend this book to everyone! It will stay with me for a very long time.

Perfect listening.

The two voices, male for the past and female for the present, made the novel so easy to listen, Even when short spurts of time. Enjoyed!!

wonderful

I loved this work from start to finish. the story is just wonderful with twists and turns

Mindblowingly Beautiful

I I've this book 5 stars because it is one of the best well written novel, I have read for a long time. There is nothing bad to say about the book because the characters, storyline and audio performance suited all the elements.
The transition between the past and present carried with it, a surprising element that will beg the reader asking for more. Although it was bittersweet, I was compelled to look up the real Tatiana and explored more about her life as it was intriguing.

Interesting premise for the story

The history was fascinating, however the over the top romance became annoying, so much so that I ended up skipping huge swaths of the description of the undying love between the characters. Just way too much

Loved it

A beautifully written story of love and loss. intertwined with memorable history through
the author's vivid characters.

Laura Kirman is a terrible reader & has let the author down

I couldn't bear more than 10 mins of Laura Kirman's voice so I can't comment on the actual story (Amazon didn't give you option of leaving a null review - sorry to the author). Kirman's voice too staccato & clipped, no natural flow / no magical weaving of the story - just reminds me of being scolded by a prim headmistress. Urgh.

Brilliant book could not put it down highly recommended read it you won't be disappointed

Brilliant book could not wait to get home get comfy and start listening to the book again . Give it a go it's a page turner

History / drama / romance / mystery - it's got it all

This was a fascinating book, based largely on truth but cleverly interwoven into a modern day sub plot.
I learnt a lot about the Russian Revolution without it being too 'biographical'.
The first part is very much romantic historical but the second part left me desperate to read more as the book moved forward in time and the mystery developed, leaving me wondering how it was going to link the sub plot with the main story - and with real life events.
Very clever

Couldn't listen to the narrators

Great story but the narration is awful. No intonation, etc, just reading directly in monotone...a real shame

Fabulous story. I found it difficult to put down.

loved it and in the end I wished it had been true as it was so well written and was plausible.

The Secret Wife

What a story and one that could be true or one would like to think/hope so....beautifully narrated and a good story line sensitively told

So enjoyable!

Loved it from start to finish. Great story, well told. now in just sorry it's finished!

Beautifully written, tear jerking love story loosely based on true accounts

Best book I've read in the last year, now I need to find something to replace it

Great story.

great story with wonderful narration. Would throughly recommend. to fans of historical fiction. A must read.

Excellent story. So very well read.

Excellent story which could be so true.
Very well read by male and female readers which added to the enjoyment of the 20th & 21st century readings.