Island of Secrets by Rachel Rhys is one of those books which you can’t help but get lost in. It’s 1957 and Iris is a frustrated artist working as a typist in London. Her parents have forbade her to continue with her art education and she spends her day in a typing pool, her looks being scored out of ten by the men she works for, missing her art school friends terribly and willing the hands on the clock to move faster. When she starts drawing portraits at events she meets the glamorous American, Nell whose father, Hugh Hardman is a director of Hollywood films. He’s getting married again and Nell wants her to attend, drawing the guests at the wedding, and so, she finds herself in Havana, not only amongst Hollywood’s elite but amongst the businessmen looking to turn Cuba into a gambling mecca.

I loved this book. LOVED IT. I’m lucky enough to have to been to Havana and visited many of the places featured in the book. I’ve seen the dancers at The Tropicana, walked along the Malecon and sipped a cocktail at the Hotel Nacional and Island of Secrets took me right back. It is an evocative read with a wonderful sense of place captured in its beautiful descriptions.

But what I especially enjoyed was the portrayal of Cuba on the cusp of change. The Castro brothers and Che Guevera are holed up in the mountains plotting a revolution and whilst the Americans are convinced that they are untouchable, the Cubans are poised to take their country back. Opulent hotels and houses decorated with marble and chandeliers line the streets but a short distance away there is poverty and Cubans begging on the street. The city simmers with tension and violence and it seeps from the pages.

Rachel Rhys communicates this fear and uncertainty well, reflecting the political tensions in the main storyline of Iris’ attendance at the wedding of Hugh. The event is being held at the home of an American businessman and whilst she is easily impressed by the swimming pool and the beautiful surroundings it is clear that something malevolent sits just out of reach. She is a naive and innocent young woman who doesn’t quite realise that she may be in the lion’s den. This is Hugh’s third wedding, his first ended in divorce and his second was embroiled in drama after his beautiful actress wife fell to her death from their yacht a few years earlier.

The case has recently been reopened, unsettling the family and threatening to spill long buried secrets. This combined with the wedding, which in itself is scandalous, is drawing attention to those gathered at the celebration. The depiction of the mystery surrounding the death, the drama around the wedding and the guests who all seem to be hiding something makes for entertaining reading. It is brilliantly written stuff and makes for a real page turner.

The backdrop of a country under political unrest, a potential murder and scandal reflects the growing changes in Iris. She is written with real tenderness and my heart ached for her. Her outfits aren’t quite right and being a well brought up girl from the home counties some of the things which she encounters scandalises her. But she never comes across as being too innocent, or too naive, in fact, her growth and bravery is lovely to see.

Lets not forget that it is the late 1950s, a very different era to now, and a different world for women. This book is as much an exploration of women in society as it is a historical mystery. They are shown in all of their multifacted glory and are the centrepoint around which everything else rotates. None of them fit the mould of what a woman in 1957 was ‘expected’ to be and this is eye-opening to Iris who expected her future to involve marriage and chops and 2 veg on the table at 6pm every evening. It makes for great reading and I adored the women which Rachel Rhys writes so convincingly.

I read this over one sunny weekend and the heat and vibrancy of Havana transported me from Northumberland to a wedding in 1957 filled with Hollywood stars, dodgy businessmen and an impending revolution. It’s a great piece of historical fiction which deals with some important issues and I adored it.

I loved both of Rachel Rhys' previous novels and have eagerly waiting for this latest one. It is set in Havana in the 1950s and as I read this in the garden over a hot, sunny weekend, I could (almost) imagine I was there. And that's one thing which Rachel Rhys does so well in her novels, whisks her readers away to another time and place.

Island of Secrets introduces us to Iris, a typist living with her parents who is rather bored with life. Through a chance meeting, she gets the opportunity of a lifetime and is hired to illustrate the society wedding of a Hollywood director to his much younger socialite fiancee in Havana. As she gets to know this rather complicated family and their guests, she discovers that there is a mystery surrounding the death of the groom's previous wife. She begins to uncover dark secrets, and it seems that danger is lurking around the corner.

Rachel Rhys has captured the glitz and glamour of Havana society life brilliantly as she creates a vibrant world of colour, intrigue and danger. Iris certainly has her eyes opened to a very different world from that she is used to. It's a world of extravagance, clandestine affairs and with accusations of adultery, espionage and murder, it is far from clear who can be trusted and who is telling the truth. The author shows us "Havana in all its hedonistic glory".

Island of Secrets is a sultry, atmospheric read, a captivating book to immerse yourself in on a hot sunny day, while dreaming of more exotic climes.

I was attracted to this book due to the gorgeous cover and because I love historical fiction and exotic locations.

It's 1957 and Iris Bailey is working in a typing pool in dreary old England but dreams of being an artist. To earn extra money she has been drawing the portraits of the rich and famous at Society parties. At one of these parties she meets Nell, the daughter of a famous Hollywood director, who hires Iris to draw the guests at her father's wedding in Havana. It is a fabulous opportunity but once Iris arrives she realises she is hopelessly out of her depth. Even with her lack of sophistication she can see the stark contrast between rich and poor. Cuba is on the brink of revolution...

I really enjoyed Island of Secrets. The glamorous setting of 50s Havana is beautifully realised and seamlessly woven into the story is an intriguing mystery. Nell's movie-star step-mother died in unusual circumstances and Iris soon realises any one of the wedding guests could be a murderer.

One thing I particularly loved about this story is that everyone has some kind of a secret and none of the guests are quite who they seem. There is Nell's eccentric blended family and her father's dangerous mob contacts, along with Iris's new friends Eugene and Joe - a reporter and photographer who have been sent by Life magazine to cover the celebrations. Thanks to the clever little twists I didn't guess the identity of the murderer either, so this was pretty much the perfect book for me.

I'd recommend Island of Secrets to anyone who loves historical fiction with a bit of a mystery and a dash of romance. I enjoyed it so much I've now bought the author's previous book, A Fatal Inheritance.


Thank you to Rachel Rhys and Black Swan (Random House UK/Transworld) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Island of Secrets is the third book by Rachel Rhys, the pseudonym of thriller writer Tammy Cohen. This time around we are taken to the exotic setting of Havana in Cuba. It is 1957 and the country is on the brink of revolution and change. In England Iris Bailey works in the typing pool of an architect's office and she knows it is not the life for her. She is sick to death of the same old monotonous routine, day in and day out. She had been attending art school but was made to leave by her parents and this is something she had wished had never had to happen. There is a resentment there so when an opportunity that is not to be missed is presented to her she jumps at the chance. It is her talent for sketching that catches the eye of one Nell Hardman at a society party. This chance meeting will lead to a change for Iris that she could never have foreseen coming and so sets in motion this coming of age story for Iris as she emerges from her shell into a glamorous world where all is not as it first appears.

Island of Secrets was a slow read and not fast paced by any means. I suppose the pace was in tune with the stifling hot weather mentioned throughout that gave a sense of unrest and anxiousness. Yes there is a mystery behind it as to what did actually happen to the glamorous film star Jean Summers but that is more underlying throughout the story and it is only in the last quarter that the secrecy behind this begins to emerge. The mystery element was more of a background story and I would have loved to see it utilised much more. I would have loved for more of this to have been present from beginning to end as I thought there was going to be plenty of teasers and clues and lots of detective work to be done. This didn't really happen although the sense of unease, tension and suspicion was present it just wasn't there enough for me. The title of the book suggests there is a lot going on on the island of Cuba and of course this is alluded too throughout the story but I felt at times it was pushed under the carpet instead of fully coming to the fore.

Despite its slow place I was definitely transported to Havana and my eyes were awakened to a time pre-Castro although he was beginning to make his mark known. This is more of a story of Iris awakening to the world around her as she is transported from dreary England. Nell's father Hugh, himself a famous director, is about to marry Lana, the daughter of Jean. It seemed a bit creepy that Hugh was marrying his stepdaughter but I suppose this was Hollywood that we were talking about. Nell is invited to the wedding to work as the portrait artist. She believes this to be the opportunity of a lifetime but little does she know this is not just any little old ordinary wedding and that there are many things to be uncovered in the days leading up to the big day. When Iris arrives in Cuba she is like a fish out of water. She is so far out of her comfort zone even down to the clothes she has brought to wear. She feels guilty that she is leaving her boyfriend Peter behind but to be honest the reader can sense that there is not this deep and passionate love between them and maybe Iris does need to get away to see this for herself.

The wedding is to take place at the luxurious estate owned by Bruce, a friend of Hugh's. No expense is to be spared and Iris is housed with Eugene who is there to write about the wedding for a magazine and Joe, an experienced photographer, there to record the special moments of the day. Together they help her figure out why some unusual and unsettling things are happening. Iris soon learns that Havana beats to a rhythm that she is certainly not used to as she becomes accustomed to the heat, the music, the people, the street vendors and the clubs that make up the city. She has to learn to grow up pretty fast and she soon comes to realise that this is not just any old ordinary wedding and maybe there is plenty more going on behind closed doors. Suspicion and intrigue abound as to what is actually going on and the death of Jean Summers having fallen overboard Hugh's luxury yacht several years ago still casts a shadow over the family especially for both Lana, her sister Faye and grandmother Meredith.

I really wanted Iris to turn into like a super sleuth type of character. Instead I felt a lot of the time that she was afraid of her own shadow. Yes unnerving and unsettling things did seem to happen to her and when she gets locked into some place she shouldn't be then the intrigue really started. But at the same time the intrigue appeared and was gone almost instantly. I wasn't left hanging on the edge of my seat rapidly turning the pages in a bid to see more clues uncovered and connections made. That desperate need to know what happened next never materialised for the majority of the book, it only appeared towards the end. I also felt there were so many characters to keep track of, their back stories and how they were connected to the major players that on more than one occasion it did become confusing for me. In turn this upset the rhythm of the plot for me. What was brilliant though was the inclusion of letters written by Jean whilst she was still alive to someone she only gives a nickname to. I thought it really helped to give Jean a voice in this way as the characters attending the wedding all talked about her and what had happened to her and I found it interesting to hear about things from her perspective albeit in letter form.

None of the characters seemed particularly happy, it was as if they were going through the motions attending this wedding but they had a lot more on their minds. It's only as we near the end do things about certain characters began to make sense and Iris begins to join the dots together and comes to comprehend that she has placed herself in a dangerous situation that she does not have the means to fully cope with. The danger pulses silently throughout the book but I just wanted that to come to the surface more to add some real dramatics, surprises and twists and turns. It all just came too little too late for me.

The premise to An Island of Secrets was very good, unfortunately I just didn't connect with it as much as I did with the author's previous two books. A Dangerous Crossing still remains my firm favourite. It was good to see Iris grow and develop as a character and the setting of Cuba was perfect as a sense of claustrophobia permeates throughout but there was just something missing for me that would have transformed this book to another level. I was glad I read to the end to discover the mystery behind it all.

I read and enjoyed A Dangerous Crossing last year, so I was thrilled to pre-approved for Island of Secrets.

For me this is the first novel that I have read set in Cuba. A country I was due to visit this year, but I had to change my plans.

Pre-Revolutionary Cuba is almost a character in the novel itself. Its hot, smouldering and vivid and the author really cages the revolutionary mood well.

Iris is a very sheltered secretary, who is transported from the typing pool to a glittering societal wedding in Havana. Her naivety makes her a rather wide-eyed narrator to all the glitz and drama going on.

Whilst the novel is enjoyable the plot is very thin though. A movie director is raising eyebrows by marrying his step-daughter, particularly after his previous wife died in mysterious circumstances. Iris becomes intrigued by the dead wife, but also gets glimpses of the early rumblings of the Cuban revolution.

An enjoyable read.

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 5 out of 5 stars
Character development: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Historical fiction
Mystery and Suspense

Review:

This is a very interesting story with the right amount of suspense and intrigue. The writing is captivating; it pulls you in to 1950 Cuba. Corruption, murder and scandal are hiding under a surface of wealth, fame and glamour. The author managed to create the atmosphere very well, the smell of the tropical flowers, the stifling heat, the undercurrent of danger and fear, the feeling that things are not quite as they seem is very strong. The characters are intriguing and complex each with their own personalities which made them interesting, some of them could have been explained with more detail which let the story down a little.

Overall this story is fascinating, highly atmospheric and set in an interesting time and place. A great book I would definitely recommend to read if you have the opportunity.

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me

"Island os secrets" is the first Rachel Rhys novel I've read and while not being a total disappointment per se I was expecting so much more. Her two previous books have been sitting on my Kindle for ages but when I read the synopsis of this one I thought it to be pretty interesting (specially since it's set during the cuban revolution years and that's a time period I haven't read much about) so I decided to give it a go first.

Although it's categorized as a historical mystery I found the mystery itself in the background for the most part with a resolution a bit lacklustre and anticlimatic. I found to be much more interesting Iris awakening to her place as a young woman in the world and the small brushtrokes about the cuban situation which could have been exploited much more.

Although the story was a bit slow paced it managed to transport the reader to Havana in the 1950s. With a large cast of characters some of them felt a bit two dimensional and I would have love for some of their backstories to be more developed (Eugene's for example).

Thanks to Netgalley and Randome House UK, Transworld Publishers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a pleasure this was to read. Set in the late 1950s in Havana, a city on the brink of revolution, the novel details the arrival of Irish Bailey, an artist with a gift for portraiture, who is attending a luxury wedding. Make no mistake: this is a celebrity affair – a Hollywood director marrying for the third time is raising a few eyebrows principally because of who his intended is. Iris is carried far away from her English life as a typist, going out with a dependable man, to a world of cocktails she’s never heard of and atmospheric weather. But Cuba is on the cusp of change, and there’s a lot of drama within the wedding party, making it difficult for Iris to fit in. There’s more than one secret that is going to emerge as Iris is drawn further into the complicated lives of the Hardman family. Just a wonderful, wonderful read, truly evocative of the time and place that captures your interest throughout.

I absolutely loved Rachel Rhy’s previous book Fatal Inheritance so was excited to be given the opportunity of reviewing this latest offering.

First, it’s a pacy and exciting book, with the heat and tension of Cuba ever-present. Part mystery, part spy novel, part coming-of-age and certainly literary fiction, this book defies single categorisation.

A common feature with Fatal Inheritance, we have a young and rather naive protagonist in a foreign (in many respects) environment. It is a really clever device that the main character is a sketch artist, who silently pays attention to detail others might skim over and then can narrate detailed observances to the reader.

Other characters in the book are author Eugene Stringer, who might be a composite based on Truman Capote and Joe the cameraman, who reminds me a lot of James Stewart’s Jeff in Rear Window. Those characters are also outsiders, silently observing the goings on in the main house. So we have a writer, cameraman and sketch artist all there to witness a series of incidents and the unfolding drama surrounding a crime already committed...probably by one of them.

A true page-turner that is also really well-written. I’m also raising a mojito to you, Ms Cohen for another fabulous read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and the author known as Rachel Rhys for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I normally love Rachel Rhys' (in all her pennames) books, but this did never really quite take off for me. I think, a lot had to do with the fact that I did not buy the setting, I never felt like I was there with the characters. Entertaining enough, but just not quite as brilliant as normal.

A rich evocation of Cuba in the 1950's as seen through the eyes of an English secretary employed for her sketching skills as a wedding. With an intriguing murder mystery at its heart, and the decadence and decay of the island, this was an entertaining and at times gripping read. The author really brought the setting and decade to life.

The story is set in Havana in 1957 to a backdrop of political instability, corruption and gangsters and the Hardman family is not all it seems to be. Hollywood Director, Hugh Hardman's wife died on his yacht in mysterious circumstances and he is marrying again. His friend has offered his beautiful rambling house as a venue.

After a chance meeting with Nell Hardman, Iris finds herself invited to be the official portraitist at the wedding. After some wrangling with her folks she finds herself in another world. She's staying at the guest house with the photographer Joe and the guy who's writing about the wedding for the celeb columns. Everything is colourful, bright, sunny and exotic and Iris is enthralled. However, she realises all is not as it seems with the family, the host and what happened in the past...

She also finds she has feelings for Joe who seems to be involved with someone but she can't get him out of her head (and heart). Iris has a few moments where she finds she has to be assertive and make a stance as well as ultimately make her own choices for her future happiness.

I absolutely loved the story and would highly, highly recommend.

1957: Iris Bailey is bored to death of working in the typing pool and living with her parents in Hemel Hempstead. A gifted portraitist with a talent for sketching party guests, she dreams of becoming an artist. So she can’t believe her luck when socialite Nell Hardman invites her to Havana to draw at the wedding of her Hollywood director father. Far from home, she quickly realizes the cocktails, tropical scents and azure skies mask a darker reality. As Cuba teeters on the edge of revolution and Iris’s heart melts for troubled photographer Joe, she discovers someone in the charismatic Hardman family is hiding a terrible secret. Can she uncover the ugly truth behind the glamour and the dazzle before all their lives are torn apart?

I had high hopes for this read but I was left feeling somewhat disappointed. I absolutely loved the setting of Havana, it is both exotic and dangerous and provided the perfect atmosphere for the read. I revelled in the beauty but Rhys captured the element of danger exquisitely and the seedier side is always there lurking in the background.

I thought this had a strong start, I enjoyed getting to know Iris and Nell, they are two very different characters who enjoy a humorous, friendly relationship. Learning about Iris' life at home helps later in the book to understand why she behaves the way she does. Throughout the read, Rhys build a strong atmosphere of mistrust and the hint of betrayal and the danger to come. Sadly, I did not feel it went anywhere. The entire way through the book it feels like there will be a big reveal and then I was so incredibly disappointed when the big secrets were revealed and they proved very lacklustre. Unfortunately, the plot for this read is undeniably weak.

I have already said I liked the characters of Iris and Nell but I think Rhys excels at all of the characters. They are certainly the stronger aspect of the read. All the characters you need are in this read from the quirky to the vulnerable, the loved to the hated and everyone in between. The characters and the setting provided the only enjoyment for me.

'Island of Secrets' is an exotic, claustrophobic read with the perfect setting. If only the plot had gone somewhere or provided more thrills then this read would have been vastly improved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this. Struggled to get into this novel. Just didn’t hook me I’m afraid.

A brilliant read, this novel has it all- exotic 1950s Cuba, Hollywood stars, a wedding, the Secret Service, gangsters and gun deals! Set into the middle of this is Iris, a young British woman having the experience of a lifetime after being invited to act as official wedding artist. Throw into this a mysterious murder mystery which happened some years ago and you have created an enthralling and gripping read. I was hooked, and particularly loved the descriptions of 1950s Cuba, and the politics of the time which were so skillfully woven through the story. Fabulous!

I am.normally a big fan of this author and was very excited to find that her latest novel was set in Cuba. But although the storyline was very entertaining I felt it could have been set anywhere for example On the French Riviera. It did not grip me as much as her previous novels or those of her alter ego.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for this advanced readers copy in return for my honest review. I'm a big fan of historical fiction and I absolutely loved this book. Part historical fiction, part murder mystery, this story flowed along beautifully with engaging characters that I genuinely cared about.

Island of Secrets by Rachel Rhys is a great combination of a historical fiction and a murder/mystery wrapped up and gifted in a great presentation.

Picture it: Cuba 1950s, a time of decadence for some, a time of political instability and upheaval for others. Amongst this, the death of a director’s wife, Jean Summers, occurs. Is it accidental or is it foul play? Iris, an artist here for work from England, finds herself trying to find the answer.

Intrigue, politics, history, mystery, deception are just a few concepts that emerge in this book. Enjoyable.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK/Transworld Publishing/Black Swan for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub ( as soon as the title is added to BB) accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

I really enjoyed Rhys' first book, A Dangerous Crossing, and quite liked A Fatal Inheritance in a beachy kind of way: this one, though, I found slow and laboured, and ended up abandoning it at 30%. The writing lacks the subtlety and elegance of the first book, and the whole thing feels superficial with a silly plot and half-hearted characterisation. Just not my thing - sorry!

This is the third Rachel Rhys novel I have read; I was very excited to receive Island Of Secrets as a review copy. In fact I was prepared to be transported to a different country and era.
It is set in Cuba in the 1950s and tells the story of Iris, a young artists from England who is invited to,paint at a society wedding. Hugh, a movie Director is marrying Lana who is young enough to be his daughter- in fact it transpires that she is in fact his step daughter.
Iris comes from a very sheltered background but she has a surprisingly steely character. When she discovers Hugh’s first wife, the actress Jean Summers, was found drowned after a boat trip, she decides to do a bit of investigating. Did she fall or was she pushed?
Although the premise of this book is good, I just didn’t warm to it as much as the author’s previous two novels. The characters were somewhat two dimensional and even the possible romance between Iris and the photographer, Joe, left me cold.
I’m not quite sure what was missing but Island Of Secrets just did not do it for me. However I did read to the end which contained a few twists so I’m going to give it three stars. All opinions are my own and I’m sure others will have different views.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.