Blog tour ~ guest post: The Secret Daughter of Venice by Juliet Greenwood + a paperback giveaway for UK residents

I am delighted to have Juliet as a guest today ~ thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organizing.

⤵ check out what my fellow bloggers thought of this one ⤵

Genre ~ Historical WW2 Fiction

Publication date ~ May 14, 2024

Get your copy on ~ Amazon

Add to your never ending TBR  ~ goodreads

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it.

Travelling through the settings of The Secret Daughter of Venice

I loved setting The Secret Daughter of Venice in so many different locations. While one strand of the story remains in Venice during WW2, the main character, Kate, escapes the confines of the family home near Stratford-upon-Avon to experience the Birmingham Blitz, followed by taking orphaned children to safety in Cornwall. Then, after the war, she makes her way to Naples, to the summit of Vesuvius and the coastline near Sorrento, before finally following the trail of her lost birth mother to Venice.

While I know Cornwall and Venice well, and I grew up in the rolling countryside surrounding Stratford-upon-Avon, I needed to draw on memories of visiting Vesuvius and Pompeii a long time ago, when I was only ten. That might be longer ago than I care to remember, but once I started looking at photographs online, and searching through Google Maps (what on earth did we do as writers before Google Maps?!), the memories came flooding back. Some of them were so vivid, I wasn’t quite sure if they were just my imagination, until we found some of my dad’s old slides in the attic and had them turned into digital versions.

And there they were. My memories were real. I had the images of us as a family exploring the ruins of Pompeii – far smaller in those days than the excavations that have been completed since – and going up to the summit of Vesuvius. I’ve no idea how we got to the top, I’m assuming you could drive most of the way. The photographs start with us following our guide around the summit, with views of the countryside stretching to the coast down below. The next photographs are of the guide telling each of us to put a hand in a vent, to feel the sulphurous steam that was still emerging, while the crater fell away ominously into deep shadow below. I still remember the heat, and sharp smell of rotten eggs, and being uneasily aware of the crater, so that I was glad to get back onto the path, with its views and its fresh air.

But, vivid as those memories might be, the one that really sticks out isn’t in the photos. It was the moment our guide told us of being on the side of the volcano as a young lad during WW2, the last time Vesuvius erupted, and the terror of trying to escape. It was only brief, but it made it real to have someone there who had actually experienced such an event, as well as living through the horrors of fascist rule and Nazi invasion. It’s something I’ve never forgotten throughout the years. In many ways, it’s one of the stand-out events in my life that made me want to become a historical novelist. Books take us through time and space, and to locations far away, but also (so I hope) to live forgotten, or nearly forgotten experiences along with the characters.  

And so the journey Kate takes in The Secret Daughter of Venice was born. I hope you enjoy following her journey, both inward and outward – including when she stands on the summit of Vesuvius with a young man who tells her of being on the side of the mountain when the volcano began to erupt …

Book blurb:

The paper is stiff and brittle with age as Kate unfolds it with trembling hands. She gasps at the pencil sketch of a rippling waterway, lined by tall buildings, curving towards the dome of a cathedral. She feels a connection deep in her heart. Venice.

England, 1941. When Kate Arden discovers a secret stash of drawings hidden in the pages of an old volume of poetry given to her as a baby, her breath catches. All her life, she has felt like an outsider in her aristocratic adoptive family, who refuse to answer any questions about her past. But the drawings spark a forgotten memory: a long journey by boat… warm arms that held her tight, and then let go.

Could these pictures unlock the secret of who she is? Why her mother left her? With war raging around the continent, she will brave everything to find out…

A gripping, emotional historical novel of love and art that will captivate fans of The Venice Sketchbook, The Woman on the Bridge and The Nightingale.

Purchase Links

Author Bio –

Juliet Greenwood is a historical novelist published by Storm Publishing. Her previous novel, The Last Train from Paris, was published to rave reviews and reached the top 100 kindle chart in the USA. She has long been inspired by the histories of the women in her family, and in particular with how strong-minded and independent women have overcome the limitations imposed on them by the constraints of their time, and the way generations of women hold families and communities together in times of crisis, including during WW2.

After graduating in English from Lancaster University and Kings College, London, Juliet worked on a variety of jobs to support her ambition to be a full-time writer. These ranged from running a craft stall at Covent Garden to running a small charity working with disadvantaged children, and collecting oral histories of traditional villages before they are lost forever. She finally achieved her dream of becoming a published author following a debilitating viral illness, with her first novel being a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and her first two novels reaching #4 and #5 in the UK Kindle store.

Juliet now lives in a traditional quarryman’s cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales, set between the mountains and the sea, with an overgrown garden (good for insects!) and a surprisingly successful grapevine. She can be found dog walking in all weathers working on the plot for her next novel, camera to hand.

Social Media Links –

Storm: https://stormpublishing.co/

Website: http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/

Blog: http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood

Twitter: https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julietgreenwood/

BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/julietgreenwood.bsky.social

Giveaway to Win 3 x Signed copies of The Secret Daughter of Venice (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Enter here ~ http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494587/?

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