Blog Tour: The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva

As a young woman, Rani had lived an interesting and free life. Her father was an exiled prince of India. He had married a young German woman and had Rani and her younger brother. Her father was quite determined to leave his royal life behind, until suddenly he is called back to court in India. Suddenly the man who believed in equality and education for all, in encouraging Rani to think independently, became the opposite of who he had been. Rani and her mother were forced to live in the women's court, only seeing her father and brother when they deigned to visit, and any thought of education or independent thought are out the window.

Rani finds a way to escape from her gilded cage and becomes friends with a poor young man named Prashad. Soon she is hatching a plan to escape. When it all goes horribly wrong, Rani is exiled to the other side of the world, to Cambridge. There she makes quite an impression and is soon selected to work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. With her family not responding to any of her letters, Rani is beginning to make a new life for herself, until a face from the past reappears with devestating consequences.

There were several reasons why I agreed to read this book. One is the Indian connection and the other main one is Bletchley Park, because I find the stories of the work that was done there endlessly fascinating. 

It is, however, always a risk when you try a new author and there were things that both did and didn't work for me. I do enjoy a dual timeline story, but this is one of those occasions where I am not sure that the modern story was completely necessary to the story. That part of the book was about a woman who is trying to figure out her family's story, a story that has been not talked about at all. Her family have always been quite isolated emotionally from each other.

I did find the writing very descriptive. If the author was describing a scene where the sky is blue, then then the sentence would include something about the wind, the grass gently crunching underfoot, the wispy clouds on the horizon. It was quite noticeable.

I thought that the premise was very interesting, and as always the Bletchley Park parts were always interesting.

Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy of this book. I am sharing this review with The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog.

About the book

The Secret Keeper

1938: Rani, the bright and spirited daughter of an Indian Crown Prince, leads a privileged if lonely life. Longing for freedom and purpose, she escapes the confines of her father’s palace and meets Prasad – a poor young man – with whom she falls deeply in love. But her plan to gain her father’s approval for the match disastrously backfires.

Estranged from her family and haunted by guilt, Rani’s path takes her from Cambridge to Bletchley Park and a new world of intrigue and secrets. Against the backdrop of war, Rani finds comfort and a sense of belonging with fellow codebreaker William and his young son. Could they heal her heart and become the family she craves?

Then Prasad reappears – and past and present collide, shattering Rani’s fragile happiness. As retribution for the hurt she caused him, he demands she pass him secrets from Bletchley. But at what cost?

Torn between her past and her present, love and loyalty, Rani must face up to a heart-wrenching sacrifice . . .

Purchase Links - https://mybook.to/thesecretkeepersocial

About the Author 

Renita D’Silva has had eleven historical fiction novels published, the most recent of which is The Spice Maker’s Secret. Her short stories have been featured in several publications and have been shortlisted for the Love Reading Very Short Story award and longlisted for the BBC National Short Story award. Her first psychological thriller, The Neighbour, won the Joffe Books Prize 2023.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: @RenitaDSilvaBooks

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