I love a good historical fic book and this one was no exception. The writing was simultaneously relatable, fun, mysterious and easy to digest. I enjoyed meeting and following the characters, particularly Sophie, on her journey abroad and throughout life with a new job (even if she was dealt a short straw to begin with)!
Thank you BooksGoSocial, NetGalley and MaryAnne Clark for the opportunity to read this.

Secrets at the Aviary Inn by MaryAnn Clarke. BooksGoSocial, 2025.

This dual timeline book by award-winning, best-selling author MaryAnn Clarke has two engaging stories about young women.
In 1945, Ava is meeting her boyfriend Rupert at 11am at London’s Holborn Circus when a bomb is dropped on their meeting spot. She finds Rupert’s damaged dove cage on its side, with Ares and Kythereia, his two beloved doves curled up dead inside and no trace of Rupert. Ava searches but finds no trace of him so accepts that he is one of the hundreds killed there that day.

In 1997, aspiring-writer Sophie with a new English degree and plans for grad school, is travelling in the UK with her architecture grad student boyfriend Marc-Antioine, flakey, undependable and a compulsive flirt. When he abandons her in York, he takes her backpack containing her Canadian passport, cards and almost all her money instead of his own, with his laundry and shaving gear. Sophie gets a job as night clerk in an inn where she befriends a cast of slightly quirky people as she continues to wait for Marc-Antoine to come back for her.

Sophie is one of the most decent, caring, positive and appealing characters I’ve ever encountered. This book is well written and satisfyingly predictable in the best possible way.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Secrets at the Aviary Inn free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #SecretsattheAviaryInn #NetGalley

this was a historical fiction right up my street. MaryAnn Clarke has such a breadth of book writing and her genres span many i love. you can really see her talents help add perfect element to each book ive read from her. she has the historical with the added mystery and romance nailed.
i love this journey she went on and i was intrigued too. i wanted to find out her answers just as much as she did by the end. and the mixture of the other aspects of her journey was eqaully as compelling. i love how her stay and job at the inn added yet more ingredients for a perfect read. you then get all the side characters and arcs that come in to play. and perhaps a little romance. and heavens this girls deserves some sort of happy ending please. so will that come from knowing the answers or knowing herself more. or perhaps a bit of both can settle this girls heart and show her home.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read Secrets at the Aviary Inn by MaryAnn Clarke. I enjoyed my time at the mysterious Aviary Inn and getting to know a.host of eccentric people associated with the inn. Good jib!