Dare Not Tell

From WWI France to Australia and back again... Secrets will break your heart. (The Immense Sky Saga Book 1)

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 29 Nov 2021 | Archive Date 01 May 2022

Talking about this book? Use #DareNotTell #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Twenty years after he left WWI's battlefields, Australian Joe Parker thinks he has tamed all his demons. His American wife Sophie, a wartime nurse, thinks she knows all his secrets. He hasn’t. She doesn’t.

July 1939. The Parkers are looking forward to a long-delayed honeymoon in France before they sail home to Sydney. But visiting a site where Joe fought wreaks havoc with their itinerary and their marriage.

When they arrive at Villers-Bretonneux, the location of Joe’s most brutal battle, his long-buried memories erupt, including the ones he never told Sophie. And an impromptu trip to the French Alps only makes things worse when they discover German war artifacts on pristine alpine trails and the walls of the miles-deep Chamonix valley close in on Joe like the deepest trench he ever experienced. All the defenses he uses to hold his memories at bay start crumbling as the world teeters on the brink of a second world war.

Bonds of friendship and shared experience helped them endure the Great War, but Sophie begins to doubt how well she really knows her husband when the foundations of their relationship seem to shift out of control. Can their marriage survive this trip? Or will Joe’s need to keep his secrets break both their hearts?

Join Sophie and Joe on their journey of love, loss, secrets, and redemption, from France to Australia and back again.

Twenty years after he left WWI's battlefields, Australian Joe Parker thinks he has tamed all his demons. His American wife Sophie, a wartime nurse, thinks she knows all his secrets. He hasn’t. She...


Advance Praise

"Fans of historical fiction romance novels will be delighted to read the arch of Sophie and Joe's love."" - The BookLife Prize; 

"Dare Not Tell is heart-breaking, touching, mysterious, and thrilling. If you want to feel a lot of emotions all at once, this book is the answer."" - Feathered Quill

"

"Fans of historical fiction romance novels will be delighted to read the arch of Sophie and Joe's love."" - The BookLife Prize; 

"Dare Not Tell is heart-breaking, touching, mysterious, and thrilling...


Available Editions

ISBN 9798985261615
PRICE $4.99 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)

Average rating from 17 members


Featured Reviews

I’ll preface this review by saying I love historical fiction, and that WWI is one of my favorite eras in the genre. So I was especially excited to read this novel.

WWI was a devastating stain on an optimistic turn-of-the-century period, an era that witnessed such impressive advances in science and technology, with far too many of those advances channeled into rapidly changing warfare. It was not only the map of Europe to have undergone such a profound upheaval post-war, but also the psyches of young men who fought in that brutal war, and returned home to suffer silently with profound psychological and emotional trauma.

Schroller does a masterful job of touching upon many of these issues, and fully bringing the era to life. In this novel, she delves into the complexities of the battlefield and the longstanding trauma that endured in the minds of many soldiers for years after the Armistice.

Schroller has created two compelling characters in Joe, a young Australian soldier, newly arrived in France. On his first day of leave in Paris, he meets Sophie, a young American nurse, tending to wounded soldiers in Paris’ American Hospital.

Married with a young son, Joe has no intention of being unfaithful to his wife, nor does Sophie want to act on her attraction for this handsome and kind, but also very married, Aussie soldier. A friendship with a strong underlying current of sexual attraction forms, and the letters between Joe and Sophie help each to cope with their wartime burdens.

Their paths cross twenty years later, when they are free to act on their attraction. On a second honeymoon through Europe, their travels through France bring back many painful memories for Joe, alongside long-buried secrets that begin to emerge.

This was a beautifully written story, with a rich sense of place, that had me fully emerged in the WWI era and 1939 France. I loved that the story was told through dual timeline perspectives, allowing for realistic reflection about what happened during the war era. Joe and Sophie were such engaging characters and I fully enjoyed following along as their story unfolded. I highly recommend this novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Rarely do I come across a debut author who can write such a phenomenal book that makes me burst with excitement and makes me want to shout about it from the rooftops – Elaine Schroller and ‘Dare Not Tell’ achieved that today!

I was excited to discover that Schroller doesn’t simply focus on what happens to her two main characters, but she gives readers a glimpse into what they’re thinking when they react as well as what’s happening to them internally. Schroller has also chosen a unique setting for her novel. Not many authors cover WW1 nor the transition to the ordinary days of civilian life. These two facts put this novel heads and tails above other wartime fiction. However, it was a quality of writing, the visceral approach and the author’s ability to articulate exactly what she wanted us to take away that made it a five-star read for me.

I get excited when I realize I’ve just found the protagonist’s struggle and then his seminal moment. When an author is not only able to communicate her protagonist’s view of the world, but also the exact moment that this main character’s beliefs are thrown off course, I know I’ve found an author I love to follow. Let me explain. Second Lieutenant Joe Parker believed in the summer of 1916 that he didn’t need to tell those close to him what war was really like. He chose to keep it hidden. It was what he needed at that moment to keep his marriage and his military career separate. When he wrote home to his wife, he focused on what was keeping her occupied at home or what he experienced off the battlefield, so that he wouldn’t have to share the horrors he’d encountered. Schroller writes to show us that Joe needed to throw out that notion to remain human, keep his connections and survive off the battlefield. When Joe meets American nurse, Sophie Holt, and is able to freely share his battle experiences, he believes he has tamed the demons within. To justify his hidden secret, he tells himself that Sophie has seen the devastation of war and that she would understand that “some memories are better left buried, and some things are better left unsaid.” He carefully curates his relationship with her under these constructs and despite all his wartime correspondence with her, he still doesn’t tell her what happened at Villers-Bret. It isn’t until he’s on a return trip through the battlefields many years later, that readers are aware of Schroller’s masterful plotting. She constructs her plot so that Joe is forced to deal with his misbelief. Brilliant!

Sophie is so wise and the perfect mirror for Joe. When he blurts out, “How am I supposed to tell my wife?” it’s all she needed to hear to know that he hadn’t made the necessary leap from believing it was morally wrong to kill to believing it was his duty to do so. She encourages him to talk about his battalion losses and gains and works to help him make ‘the leap.’ Sophie’s misbelief is that she thinks after all these years that Joe has told her all his secrets. The author cleverly constructs the plot so that Sophie realizes she’s in the dark about the one secret that haunts him the most.

I’m so excited to find an author who capably allows readers to see what’s going on beneath her narrative. I think this is the heart of the story and Elaine Scholler proves herself a capable heart surgeon.

Connect with the author on her webpage and she’ll send you the prequel ‘The French Photograph’. It definitely drew me into Joe and Sophie’s story, but ‘Dare Not Tell’ took me to the heart of the story. I was happy to hear that their journey will continue in book 2 of the Immense Sky Saga and will eagerly anticipate the release.

Let’s show this debut author and her publishing team that this book is a winner – put it on your MUST read list immediately. Scholler can tap into what readers want from the experience. She has a unique plot, lots of romance and drama, some French and German phrases thrown in, but most importantly she provides the insight into why her characters do what they do. She allows us to experience Joe’s inner struggle right on the page and see why he makes the choices he does. I love collecting clues from my reading experience that allow me to better navigate my world and Scholler delivers.

I was gifted this advance copy by Elaine Schroller, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Was this review helpful?

What a beautiful story that started during World War I. They met by the Eiffel Tower in Paris; Sophie a wartime nurse and Joe an Australian soldier. They both lost their brothers and later their spouses. And they lost touch only to find each other again in Sydney years after the war ended. Now, in 1939, they received an invitation to visit the Australian war memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, the place Joe never spoke about to Sophie. He never told her about the battle and what had happened there. He agreed to go to France to honor his brother's and other soldiers' memory. When the war was over, Joe tried to move on. Visiting France brought back all bad memories and nightmares. On top of that, the situation in Europe started to be dangerous again. In Chamonix, with the mountain resort in which they were staying, they got involved in a mystery connected to Nazis.
 
This is a book of love and war. It's a touching story that underlines the importance of psychological trauma of those who fought in the war. I loved Sophie's support and involvement in Joe's post-war struggles. The story is peppered with a mysterious incident in the beautiful mountains of Chamonix in France where we meet another lovely couple, Will Ryan and Helene. I'm happy to hear that the next short story, Bouquet Of Poppies, will tell us more about them.
 
I invite you to read this historical fiction novel which will take you to the beautiful places of Paris, Sydney and Chamonix. I loved the historic elements of this book where I learnt about Australian's battlefields during WWI. Nicely written and engaging story from the talented debut author.

Thank you Elaine Schroller, Net Galley and the publisher Books Go Social for the gifted copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

This engaging historical fiction drew me in to World War I France and the lives of a surviving Australian soldier and American nurse as their paths cross years later. I really enjoyed following Joe and Sophie and experience their realities during and after the war. The second half of the book goes into suspense as they travel to Southern France near the start of the second World War. I think this novel could appeal to many different readers because it had more action and varied content and locations than a typical historical fiction. Well done for the author's debut novel!

Was this review helpful?

A debut author, a wonderfully written book and a unique telling of an older subject. This is a book that is soft and gentle at times yet hard and gritty at other times. It is a story that is so real and reminiscent of the times.

The two main characters, Joe and Sophie, are complex yet again so real and people you can relate to. The story is of love and war and how the decisions made affect the lives of those involved.

This book has it all. Love, war, tragedy, life and the affects of the decisions we make. It is about a couple that can't be and how their worlds evolve. It is well paced, well written and well researched.

A great book that I would recommend to all historical fiction fans and all fans looking for a great read.

Was this review helpful?

What an excellent debut novel from Elaine Schroller! When Australian service man Joe Parker stumbled across a crying little boy while on leave during WWI…he had no clue that he would meet a woman who would change his life. The war was tough for Joe. He lost his brother and many members of his unit. He doesn’t want to burden anyone with the things he has seen or done…but Sophie has seen things too as a nurse at the American Hospital in Paris. She wants him to trust her, to share his experiences, to help him through his nightmares. As they travel across Europe several years later, they are able to work together as a team and learn more about each other than ever before.

I loved this story! I had no clue of Australia’s involvement during WWI so the history lesson I received was much appreciated. I also loved that there is a bit of a mystery woven into the story. It also shows that PTSD was a thing long before it was recognized and I greatly appreciated that too!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Elaine Schroller for early access to this gem! It’s excellent!!

Was this review helpful?

Elaine Schroller’s Dare Not Tell is an ambitious tale of a soldier finding and losing and finding his soul mate in a time of war, cope with side effects of PTSD, recover from guilt from an incident in wartime, and solve a mystery in a foreign country.

In my opinion, there was just too much going on in the book as a whole to really appreciate the saga of the main characters’ relationship. I think this would have done better as a series so the reader could digest each era of the couple’s lives before moving on to an additional plotline. So, for that reason I didn’t love the book to a point of wanting to read it over again.

However, Schroller’s writing style is quite beautiful and the story flowed well to highlight a lesser-known stock of soldiers from Australia in WWI from a US reader’s perspective.

Was this review helpful?

Satisfying historical fiction with a big dollop of romance and a swirl of mystery.

Set partly in WWI and partly on the eve of WWII, we follow Joe, an Australian soldier turned police officer, and Sophie, his American wife who worked as a nurse in Paris during WWI, as they travel around France in the summer of 1939. They've come partly for relaxation and partly to visit a war memorial where Joe's brother, who was killed in WWI, is commemorated. But being back in France awakens Joe's wartime memories, and as he struggles to cope Sophie begins to worry.

I didn't quite know what to expect from this, but the narrative dragged me in straight away and I felt like I was right there with the characters. I was so pulled in that at times it was a bit overwhelming, but I was really impressed by how realistic everything felt. The author had obviously done a lot of research, and the historical and cultural detail really added to the story. In the author's note at the end Schroller mentions some specific real life events and photographs that she used for inspiration; that was very interesting so I'm glad she shared those. There are a lot of different places, people and settings in this book, but everything felt very true to life. I think that realism was the main reason I enjoyed the book so much, although I liked Sophie and Joe a lot and had fun spending time with them. The story has a fresh, lively feel, and even through the sad parts there's an air of optimism. In part 4 a mystery element is introduced and I was worried that would be too much, but it worked well and weaved perfectly into the overall story.

I definitely recommend this to historical fiction fans, I'm so glad I read it. I hear there is a sequel coming and I can't wait to get more of Joe and Sophie's story. Thank you to the publishers, BooksGoSocial, and Netgalley for providing me with this arc, I really appreciate it.

Was this review helpful?

I enjoy historical fiction and have read a few good books set during WWI but “Dare Not Tell” blew me away. A war story, love story, mystery, travel log….all wrapped up in a well written and engaging book that takes place in two different times…1916-1918 and 1928-1939.
Sophie and Joe meet in Paris during WWI. She’s an American nurse working at the American Hospital there and Joe is an Australian Lt. on leave. They become friends and pen pals, serving as each other’s outlet to help deal with the horrors of war with someone who understands how bad it is. While they each have more-than-friend feeling for each other, Joe has a wife and young son back home in Melbourne so they keep their feelings to themselves. They part ways at the end of the war and don’t keep in contact.
Through a series of events over the next 10 years, Joe and Sophie both end up in Sydney and reconnect. Their mutual attraction is still palpable and they are both available to act on it. They marry and all is well until they receive word about the 1939 dedication of the Australian Army WWI memorial in France and that Joe’s MIA older brother’s name will be on it. They decide to attend but returning to France brings up horrible memories and guilt for Joe. Something he’s never shared with Sophie and is fearful she stop loving him if he does. Will their love endure what they experience and what secrets are revealed in France?
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

Having visited the Somme area many times I found this book very easy to relate to. The wartime storyline was strong and well written. The main characters feelings are I am sure something that was felt by many who fought.

The characters were all likeable coming across as friendly, intelligent and passionate about their cause.

I was not as drawn into the Chamonix 'mystery' storyline although could see how it tied in with the Alpenkorps angle of the book.

The mention of 'The Circuit des Champs de Bataille' stemmed me researching it more and telling my husband who actually went and found a fiction book all about it!

I am glad to read that the author is working on the next book in the series and look forward to learning more about the younger characters and their role in WW2.

Was this review helpful?

A poignant love story told from a dual point of view. Sophie and Joe's love affair starts off as a forbidden longing and soon grows as they correspond with each other, sharing their joys and anguish during the time of WWI. I enjoyed reading the letters they shared, anticipating their eventual falling in love. This is a story about the tragedy of war and how love conquers even our greatest fears.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: