Audio: The Song of the Jade Lily - Kirsty Manning

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 05-14-19

Publisher: HarperAudio

Historical fiction

To review

This one takes place during WWII and present time. With the grandmother and granddaughter. As always with dual timelines I did find one more interesting, and that was Romy's in -39. This one would have worked great as just that too, sure the other POV brought mystery, but still.

Romy and her parents leave for Shanghai in -39. And as always I googled things and the Chinese diplomat in Vienna did give Jews a chance the flee.

Shanghai is another world to them, and she loves it. Of course half is also under Japanese occupation. I did feel the book was lighter, not the right world, but later on they are all put in a ghetto. Evil things are told, but at the same time she fast forward the more troublesome years. Not that I want all darkness, this was not that kind of book.

Romy studied to become a doctor. She met Li, who became her best friend. She hoped her brother who was in Dachau would come to Shanghai (yes that was rather heartbreaking). I liked Romy.

Then in present day Alexandra looses her grandfather Wilhelm, and she takes a job in Shanghai. All she knows about her true origin is that Wilhelm and Romy adopted her mother from Shangai. So she investigates when Romy is closemouthed.

Ok so this was actually the weak point. The secret was not a secret at all. It was cruel of Romy to make it into a secret and not tell her daughter the truth. Because it was NOT a secret. Everyone would have been happier with it out in the open. Sigh, flimsy secrets.

So I can not say much about the child Romy adopts, the secret needs to unravel. Just, why it was a secret I do not know. Cruel, very cruel to keep it so.

There is heartache to be had in Shanghai, sadness, and hope for a better tomorrow. I enjoyed the story, and the end is rather bittersweet.

Narration

I have listened to Saskia before and I like her style. She manages well with accents and male and female voices. You easily fall into her narration.

1939: Two young girls meet in Shanghai, also known as the “Paris of the East”. Beautiful local Li and Jewish refugee Romy form a fierce friendship, but the deepening shadows of World War II fall over the women as they slip between the city's glamorous French Concession district and the teeming streets of the Shanghai Ghetto. Yet soon, the realities of war prove to be too much for these close friends as they are torn apart. 
2016: Fleeing London with a broken heart, Alexandra returns to Australia to be with her grandparents, Romy and Wilhelm. Her grandfather is dying, and over the coming weeks, Romy and Wilhelm begin to reveal the family mysteries they have kept secret for more than half a century. As fragments of her mother's history finally become clear, Alexandra struggles with what she learns while more is also revealed about her grandmother's own past in Shanghai. 
After Wilhelm dies, Alexandra flies to Shanghai, determined to trace her grandparents' past. Peeling back the layers of their hidden lives, she is forced to question what she knows about her family - and herself. 

Audio: Highland Crown by May McGoldrick

Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill, Saskia Maarleveld

Series: Royal Highlander, Book 1

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 04-30-19

Language: English

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

For review

Romantic fiction historical

I must say, this was not historical romance. Not quite historical fiction either, so let us say romantic historical then.

See, it was more about the struggle of the Scots, riots, talks of freedom, the run from the evil British, her being a doctor, than actual romance. When the book ended all I thought was Scotland needs to be free! So yes that says a lot.

Isabella are running from the British army (though I did think they spent WAY too much effort on finding her.) On her way to freedom she finds a cranky, but nice old lady. And then she meets Cinead.

Oh yes Cinead, the blurb makes it so that we get to know his secret, but that actually comes out at the end. Of course it was quite easy to figure out. But he was this nice guy who wanted to protect her, and that is so not easy with all those evil Brits after her. Brits are so EVIL! I know about what they did in Scotland, how they took land and destroyed villages, but ugh, they are so evil.

It was not the light read that I expected. Lots of darkness, mistrust and it does not even end with a solid hea, as the author says that their hea will continue in the next books (which are about her sister and stepdaughter.)

I did like it, but yes I do confess it was not what I expected.

Narration

Raphael Corkhill, Saskia Maarleveld

I have not listened to Corkhill before, but I did enjoy his narration, and he made it seem like the Cinead point and the quotes at the beginning was narrated by two different narrators. So that was very well done. Also Scottish accent, rawr

I have listened to Saskia before and I do enjoy her style. Isabella and a certain cranky lady sure shone through

Inverness, 1820 

Perched on the North Sea, this port town - by turns legendary and mythological - is a place where Highland rebels and English authorities clash in a mortal struggle for survival and dominance. Among the fray is a lovely young widow who possesses rare and special gifts.    

WANTED: Isabella Drummond 

A true beauty and trained physician, Isabella has inspired longing and mystery - and fury - in a great many men. Hunted by both the British government and Scottish rebels, she came to the Highlands in search of survival. But a dying ship’s captain will steer her fate into even stormier waters...and her heart into flames.     

FOUND: Cinaed Mackintosh 

Cast from his home as a child, Cinaed is a fierce soul whose allegiance is only to himself...until Isabella saved his life - and added more risk to her own. Now, the only way Cinaed can keep her safe is to seek refuge at Dalmigavie Castle, the Mackintosh family seat. But when the scandalous truth of his past comes out, any chance of Cinaed having a bright future with Isabella is thrown into complete darkness. What will these two ill-fated lovers have to sacrifice to be together...for eternity?

Audio: In another time - Jillian Cantor

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, George Newbern

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 03-05-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

Historical fiction

Thank you Harper for this review copy

My Thoughts

Going into this one I guessed it could be sad, and because of that I did not want to put it down. I needed to know what would happen to Max and Hanna!

It starts in 1931 where Max meets Hanna. He is a Christian (even if he does not care about religion), and she is Jewish. But most of all, this is Germany. This is bad and I kept bracing myself.

Because then suddenly it is 1946 and Hanna wakes up without any memories. What happened during the war? Where is Max...WHERE IS MAX!? Did Max get her out?

I did have my suspicions since Max seemed to know things, but the worst thing is that Hanna goes on with her life and what we get is 1932..1933...1936. 

I just wanted these two to be together. They loved each other so much. Stupid nazis! Stupid Laws!

Ok so I did not cry, but my heart did break.  Poor Hanna, poor Max.

And yes there is a secret in this book, I liked that aspect. It was different and tragic too.

Final thought

I could not put it down. All I knew was, what happened t Max?

Narration

I ave listened to Saskia before and I like her narrative style. She does it well

George was new to me, but he did Max well. They took their own chapters.

Blurb

A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II-and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival.

Love brought them together. But only time can save them...

1931, Germany. Bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist, and immediately he feels a powerful chemistry between them. It isn't long before they fall in love and begin making plans for the future. As their love affair unfolds over the next five years, the climate drastically changes in Germany as Hitler comes to power. Their love is tested with the new landscape and the realities of war, not the least of which is that Hanna is Jewish and Max is not. But unbeknownst to Hanna is the fact that Max has a secret, which causes him to leave for months at a time—a secret that Max is convinced will help him save Hanna if Germany becomes too dangerous for her because of her religion.

In 1946, Hanna Ginsberg awakens in a field outside of Berlin. Disoriented and afraid, she has no memory of the past ten years and no idea what has happened to Max. With no information as to Max's whereabouts—or if he is even still alive—she decides to move to London to live with her sister while she gets her bearings. Even without an orchestra to play in, she throws herself completely into her music to keep alive her lifelong dream of becoming a concert violinist. But the music also serves as a balm to heal her deeply wounded heart and she eventually gets the opening she long hoped for. Even so, as the days, months, and years pass, taking her from London to Paris to Vienna to America, she continues to be haunted by her forgotten past, and the fate of the only man she has ever loved and cannot forget.

Told in alternating viewpoints—Max in the years leading up to WWII, and Hanna in the ten years after—In Another Time is a beautiful novel about love and survival, passion and music, across time and continents.