The Secret Chord

The Secret Chord had a very interesting set of characters. Kate and Tilly, who was raised by nuns after her parents died, were best friends and roommates at a Catholic boarding school. They also happened to sneak up to the convent belltower at night to kiss. Even though this risky venture happened only three times, it had lasting memories for these teenagers. However,Tilly had her heart set on becoming a nun. Upon graduation, each went their separate ways until 12 years later when coincidentally both accepted temporary teaching positions at their same boarding school. Things were different but the same. Kate still had deep feelings for Tilly who did not become a nun. Instead, Tilly was engaged to a vicar, a recently widowed man in his fifties with two young children. While Kate experienced loving relationships, Tilly, still very religious, was extremely innocent and naïve in terms of relationships and sexuality. As Kate and Tilly navigated the halls of St. Joan of Arc with a professional demeanor, their downtime consisted of a renewed friendship and overt emotional feelings, especially by Kate. These feelings did not go unnoticed by Tilly’s fiancé or some of the older students.

This was one of those stories that you can actually sense the emotional and sexual tension slowly building throughout the story. The author did a great job describing Kate’s constant struggle not to cross any relationship boundaries and at the same time sizzling with an overwhelming desire to connect with Tilly on all levels. The need was great, the want was constant, but both women had to be in the same mindset to be free of any guilt or regret. This anticipatory element made this story an exceptional read.

It was also nice to see that even though nuns were secondary characters, the author allowed them to offer quiet acceptance when most needed. They didn’t regurgitate the church’s stance on homosexuality, but made their own conscience decision based purely on love.
The Secret Chord was not your typical romance, it was much more.
Highly recommend!
An ARC was given was an honest review.

Romance at its finest.

<i>"Tilly had longed for a simple life and devoting herself to God. Kate had longed for a simple life and devoting herself to Tilly."</i>

Rarely do I feel like a book so emphatically resonates with me. All of the pieces have to come together just right. And they did.

Kate and Tilly were best friends at their catholic boarding school. After graduation, they lost touch. Kate has tried to get over Tilly for 12 years. Kate ends up taking a temporary teaching position at the school. And Tilly ends up walking right back into her life. To Kate's surprise, Tilly never took her vows to become a nun. To even more surprise, Tilly is engaged to be married to a handsome Vicar and stepmother to his children.

This was so very complicated. There was longing that I felt in my bones. Deep feelings so heavy they were destined to be revealed. Interactions charged with want. Emotions ran the gamut.

Virginia Hale is such a talented writer. She showed us this beautiful relationship between two women. No telling. Showing us with looks, words, and touches. I read a ridiculous amount of books and so few of them can make me feel what the characters are feeling. I loved. I ached. I desired. I hoped.

And who hasn't ever felt this way but never had the words as eloquent to describe?:

<i>"It was hard to throw Tilly a buoy when she was in desperate need of a lifeline too."</i>

I didn't even have to finish this book to know it was going to be one of my all time favorites. Not a single complaint. I loved all of the author's decisions and direction. I'm feeling like this review is inadequate because I can't find the right words to say how much I loved this.

I recommend this to everyone. Romance, second chances, feelings of unrequited love, religious guilt, emotional affair, infidelity, slow burn, will they/won't they, and ferries.

<i>I received an ARC from the publisher for an honest review.</i>

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
Virginia Hale first impressed me with her debut novel "Echo Point". Her writing style is almost impeccable and her stories are always complex and interesting. "Where There's A Will" was my favorite story of her until now. "The Secret Chord" is another level of quality though and it's the brilliant testimony of Hale's creativity and evolution as an author.


Kate York met Tilly Wattle when Tilly lost her parents at an early age and she was sent to live with her aunt, a Catholic nun who lived and worked at an all girls school, St. Joan of Arc. Tilly grew up in a very religious way and her dream was becoming a nun.
The girls became best friends since they met but when they became teens their feelings for each other changed. Kate wanted to have a life with Tilly and be able to love her openly but Tilly already had her dream of becoming a nun and Kate was not able to change that. When Kate went to college she stopped contacting Tilly with the hope that she will get over her and continue her life.
Several years later they are both back at St. Joan’s working as teachers for a semester. Kate still has feelings for Tilly but Tilly is now engaged to an Vicar, who has two small children.

I don't want to say more but I think this novel is one of the best I've read this year. I didn't want it to end, I would really like to see Kate and Tilly in another book as they are such complex and rich characters.

Wow wow wow. I had to make myself stop halfway to get some sleep before going back to The Secret Chord as soon as I woke up this morning. This novel is a rollercoaster of feelings, emotions and angst and I’d happily go for more.

Tilly and Kate were schoolmates at St. Joan’s Catholic school, they were roommates and then a bit more but didn’t go very far, as Tilly was planning on becoming a nun. When they meet again twelve years after graduation as temporary teachers at their old school, Tilly is engaged to a much older man, a vicar who seems mostly interested in her as a nanny for his two young children. Kate, on the other hand, is still as in love with Tilly as she was at sixteen.

I don’t know what it is with books involving Catholic characters but I often postpone reading them (I’m not a Catholic, which might be partly why) only to find that they’re often the most intense. Reconciling religious feelings and being attracted to women makes for a great romance when it’s well done. Tilly is so naive and at the same time so willing to understand, so strong and sweet and complicated, Kate doesn’t stand a chance. My heart was breaking along with Kate’s and mended with hers as well. It could be very annoying, this back and forth Tilly is doing, but it’s so cleverly written that it’s inherently poignant.

This book is going to stay in my mind for a while, no doubt.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Intense, Emotional, Mind Blowing, Brilliant!

So this is my first book by this author and I’m amazed by how well written the book was!
The connection between the MCs, the love they had, the angst and the fireworks between them is just crazy! The writing is sooooo good that it moves you from inside! Rarely do I get emotional with books, in general I’m either happy, entertained, frustrated or just simply with a big smile on my face.
This book is different, the emotions are so real! It’s the kind of book that will make you think, and it will last in your head for a while! The struggle they go through, is so well written that you feel it in your gut!

The idea of nuns and convents wasn’t very appealing to me at the beginning, but storyline is so much more than that!
I highly recommend this book! You will not be entertained, but rather you will be deeply moved!

“I received an ARC for an honest review.”

I have a confession to make, even thought this is her third book and she's won a Golden Crown, I hadn't heard of Virginia Hale before reading this gem. It really is one of the best books I've read in a long time and thoroughly deserves the five star rating.

Kate & Tilly are friends from St. Joan's convent boarding school who meet again when both wind up teaching in their Alma Mater (Kate has decided that living in and being in charge of a girls' boarding school is the best way to make a clean break with her ex-girlfriend!) Despite some fevered kissing as students, a memory Kate clings to, Tilly is now so buttoned up that the pupils of St. Joan's initially think she is a novice. With a wonderful Aussie/NZ turn of phrase, the girls describe her as "So daggy she's almost hipster".

From the off the tension between the two is palpable and Hale plays is beautifully. A simple act like Tilly closing the clasp of a watch over Kate's wrist can become the layered and sensual act: "Head-spinning, she let Tilly fold the clasp into place. As she carried her gaze over Tilly’s features—the slightest protrusion of her chin, her fine nose, porcelain skin—a sudden urge to kiss Tilly overcame her. It was strange, the marriage of anxiety and arousal, the need to run, the equal, all-consuming need to press Tilly back on the bed and discover every inch of her skin in ways Tilly had probably never imagined. With Tilly’s fingers curled around her wrist, her thumb pressing the clasp to lock, Kate’s fist tensed, contracted like a Venus flytrap." I very rarely quote passages of that length in reviews but I could easily put in fifty of them from this book, so striking is the descriptive writing.

As well as the romantic aspect, parts of "The Secret Chord" are very funny, particularly the passages featuring the school students. As someone who has taught teenage girls and worked as residential staff in a boarding school I can vouch for the accuracy of their portrayal! Some of the nuns are also hilarious, although they are a damn sight nicer than any of the ones I encountered in my convent school days.

Finally, I don't want to risk spoiling anything but when you get to the bit about "The Secret Chord", it's heart-wrenching. That's the other thing that Virginia Hale has done so well, made me cry my bloody eyes out!

I think the best recommendation I can give this book is that before I had even finished it I went and bought Hale's two other books, which I subsequently devoured and adored. Definitely an author on my watch list and I can safely say that Virginia Hale has achieved 'buy without needing to read the synopsis' status.