A beautifully crafted story about a highland community and the challenges they faced when their village became a naval base for the Arctic convey missions during the Second World War.
Well-written and careful researched, the book paints a vivid picture of the difficulties that the seamen and their families endured.
There's love and loss, joy and heartbreak, plus a juicy secret to be discovered. It's a wonderful book. The descriptions are so vivid that you can almost feel the salty sea breeze.

Decades later, Flora’s daughter, singer Lexie Gordon, is forced to return to the village and to the tiny cottage where she grew up. Having long ago escaped to the bright lights of the West End, London still never truly felt like home. Now back, with a daughter of her own, Lexie learns that her mother—and the hostile-seeming village itself—have long been hiding secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew. It was a good book. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

The Skylark's Secret tells the story of Flora Gordon. Her daughter, Lexie Gordon, returns home from London with her daughter Daisy. Lexie is able to hear the story of her birth and childhood as well as the story of her family's history. She is able to keep her family's legacy alive through this story, her singing and Daisy.

Set in Scotland during World War 2, Flora is the daughter of the gameskeeper who is in love with Alex, the son of the Lord who's land they live on. Alex is also in love with Flora, but Alex's dad does not want the two of them together. Sir Charles tries many underhanded ways to keep Alex and Flora apart, including bring Alex's ex-fiance back and implies that they are back together. When Alex leaves on the mission that ultimately kills, he does not know that Flora still loves him and that she is pregnant with his daughter.

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t always love historical fiction but I liked the premise and decided to give it a shot. I liked the authors storytelling. It was an extremely emotional and heartwarming story. It was everything I expected it to be and more.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Fiona Valpy for the advance readers copy of “The Skylark’s Secret”’ for my honest review.

Exceptional story! Once again Fiona Valpy writes another winner! Historical fiction, with enough truth to give a sense of how life was at the time in Scotland. The story is told through Flora 1939-1944 and her daughter Lexie 1977-1980. The secrets, WWII, heartbreak, secrets and love are all intertwined in the story. I did not want the book to end!

This is a beautifully written historical fiction account of a woman’s journey to discover the secrets of her past, and the surrogate family she finds along the way. Lexi’s career as a rising start in musical theatre comes to an abrupt end when she loses her singing voice and finds herself pregnant and alone in London. After the birth of her daughter she returns to her Scottish Highlands home. Her mother had recently passed away and Lexie desperately wants to learn the secret of her birth. The story is told as two alternating stories, first by Lexie in the present (1980s), and the second by her mother, Flora during the 1940s. The ‘supporting cast” appears in both stories and helps weave them together. Highly recommended.

The Skylark’s Secret is a duel time novel set during the Second World War, and the late 1970’s. Flora lives near Loch Ewe on the West coast of Scotland with her father and brother in a small croft. Her life changes dramatically after she enlists in the WRENS and her small village does what they can for the war effort.
Flora’s daughter, Lexi returns home after her mother’s death with a baby daughter and a failed career in theatre. As she reconnects with the local people, she discovers more about her parents and the sacrifices they made for her. This is a heartwarming novel about relationships and family , as well as being a great read for fans of historical fiction.

What a wonderfully crafted historical fiction novel about WW II. If you are at all interested in this time period this book is an excellent choice for deepen your knowledge of how other parts of the world were involved in the fight for freedom. Wrapping it up with a live story and the continuation of regional music is simply icing on the cake. Lexie and Davy, and all the other characters are so fully developed I feel I now know them and #theskylarkssecret is full of surprises til the end. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for this proof to read and honestly review.

This is the first book I have read by Fiona Valpy and I have added one more author's name to my list of authors I want to read more of.

To put it in simple words, this book was emotionally satisfying! The writing is beautiful, the characters are so well etched out, the emotions feel real, the description of the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ewe is stunning, and the dual storyline of both mother (Flora) and daughter (Lexi) told in alternating timelines moves smoothly although Flora's storyline was my favourite... it had so much depth to it. The story is based in Scotland, a place I have not visited yet but am very intrigued by its history and the raw, natural beauty of the country. I loved the different Scottish folk songs the author interspersed within the chapters which added that extra bit of magic to the writing.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Amazon Publishing UK and the author for the e-Arc of the book. The book was published on 29th September 2020.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Just Beautiful.
I can't praise this novel highly enough, it has everything one could want in a novel, sympathetic, well described, characters, carefully orchestrated story line and lots of historical detail.
The setting for Lexie's story starts in London and then moves to a small village on a Loch in Scotland.. The description of Loch Ewe and the village are captivating with the colours and the cold of the winter making you shiver. As the story switches between Lexie and her Mother Flora, the intrigue deepens, what is no one telling Lexie about her Mother?
The involvement in the second World War of the village is well researched and quite heart breaking at times. The Arctic convoy based in the Loch brings changes to Aultbea, with Flora and her friends joining in the war effort and seeing the death toll rising in their own village.
Lexie eventually finds peace, loves and answers to her search.
Thank you Fiona and NetGalley

The Skylark's Secret has a dual timeline; the story is set in rural Scotland during World War II and decades later in the same village.

Flora and her village are supporting the war effort, temporarily taking in children from Great Britain's cities, driving supplies and ambulances, knitting, and anything else a scrappy community can do to help. Flora's brother as well as their childhood friend, the laird's son, are both serving in the military, and as luck would have it, they're both stationed nearby to make use of their familiarity with the area.

The more modern storyline concerns Flora's grown daughter Lexie, whose London stage career has ended suddenly and whose mother has died. Lexie has returned to the village with a bairn of her own, Daisy. She's eager to dig in and learn more about her mother's wartime history, yet desperate not to be defined and constrained by the small town and sometimes claustrophobic neighborly interest that she was once determined to escape.

Valpy's detailed setting and character development are wonderful, and I was equally invested in and engaged by both of the interconnected timelines. The author winds old Scottish folk songs throughout the book, using it as a fluid way of binding the main protagonists to their country and fellow countrymen. There's a low-key mystery Lexie is set on unraveling--key players are keeping secrets about events decades past--and initially hesitant attempts to reclaim love, song, independence, community, and general fulfillment. Not everything turns out happily in both timelines, but Valpy leaves the reader with a reassuringly satisfying ending.

Valpy also wrote The Dressmaker's Gift, another World War II-era story (this time, set in Paris) with dual timelines; The Beekeeper's Promise, set in 1938 France with a second timeline decades later; and Sea of Memories, set in 1937 France and Scotland...with a modern timeline! She's also written other books. So if you're in for Fiona Valpy historical fiction like I now am, you have lots of lovely reading to look forward to.

I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review.

I received an arc on f this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a lovely story about a daughter who returns to the Scottish village of her family when her career as a singer crashes as a result of losing her voice. The tale goes back and forth between her life and that of her mother. As village secrets are revealed, she learns the truth of her parents’ marriage. I really was drawn into this s story and hope to read more from Ms. Valpy.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. It's hard to identify why, exactly, I did. The writing was good, the premise was very intriguing, but I was never hooked. I know that Valpy comes highly recommended, unfortunately this book just missed the mark for me. I put this down and just never picked it up. Someday I may pick it up and try again, in which case I will gladly come back to this review and share my thoughts.

Thank you to Valpy, Amazon Publishing UK & Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in order to provide my honest review.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

The story, set in Loch Ewe, Scotland, covers two time periods: WWII and the late '70s. The historical information about the strategic importance of this region during the war was very well researched and fascinating. The physical description of the area and its people is so vivid that you feel you are there. The local families hosted children who were sent from London to avoid the Blitz. The quiet Loch became a hotbed of activity for both Naval and Merchant Marines getting supplies from America to Russia. The author brought to light the hardships of arctic travel during wartime and the dangers of the frigid seas. This is a part of the war that is not well known.

Beyond the story of the war, this is a beautiful story of two generations of women and what they faced in their different time periods. The underlying theme of a mother's love for her child is threaded throughout this excellent work of historical fiction.

This is such a hauntingly beautiful book. A dual timeline between the 1940s and the 1970s, with the 'real' story set during WW2. The small quiet crofters village of Aultbea in the Scottish Highlands, nestled on the edge of Loch Ewe, is suddenly transformed into a bustling naval base after the onset of the war. Loch Ewe becomes the safe harbour and meeting point for the merchant and naval ships which will sail on the deadly Arctic convoys to Russia. A fascinating point in history, this fictional story shows how the local people became involved in the fight against Hitler, as well as how their lives were changed forever. Beautiful descriptions of the scenery surrounding the Loch and the Highlands really bring the setting to life, and the central theme of the love story between the two key protagonists, Alec- son of the local laird- and Flora- daughter of the Laird's gamekeeper- is all the more poignant for it.
Such an interesting aspect of the war, and one that I have not seen featured in wartime novels. Highly recommended read for anyone interested in this period. I'm certainly keen to find out more.

Thoroughly enjoyable book.
An easy read, with some likeable characters. I liked the two timelines running alongside each other. Some of the characters were a bit disappointing, but overall, this was a good read.

What an interesting story! Part historical, part mystery, part romance. The mystery was well contained until the end of the book and was not what I was expecting. The romance parts were handled very discreetly which made them much more interesting. I really enjoyed reading about the Lock Ewe that was used during the war to shelter the military ships and how it impacted the local people living on its shores. I would highly recommend this book.

First time reading this author & enjoyed the book. It is historical fiction about WWII events in a small coastal town in Scotland. Most historical fiction that I have read of this time period is set in England, France or USA, so this was an interesting change of scenery and viewpoint. Dual timelines make it a little difficult to follow but I don't know that there would have been any other way to have a complete story without using this format. The cover gives a more adequate description of the story than I ever could so check it out for any story details. Characters are generally likable and the story is sweet but filled with tragedy that is eventually set right in the present day.
I was provided an advanced reader copy & was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author,publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Great book for fans of historical fiction, I enjoy dual timeline stories and found Flora's story much more interesting than Lexie's. This one, however did fail to really grab me but I think others will enjoy it. Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the opportunity to view the ARC.

A very well written dual time line book. Very good character dynamics. I highly recommend it. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.