Secrets Of The Cottage By The Sea by Rebecca Alexander #bookreview #HistoricalFiction #Women’sFiction @bookouture @NetGalley #TheIslandOfLostSecrets #SecretsOfTheCottageByTheSea #dualtime

My Rating

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Book Review

Have you ever had a few moments to yourself watching the clouds or sitting near a river bank and watching the flow of water or just counting stars in the night sky? Not that I have experienced it much but it gives a feeling of serenity and sublime peace to think about. Rebecca Alexander’s Secrets of The Cottage By The Sea (The Island Of Lost Secrets) is one of those books that make you crave for such tranquility.

Welcome to Morwen Island, all of you. Welcome to the story of Patience and Elowen and the Kittiwake Cottage!

I have always loved dual-time narratives, but most times it is always the past that holds my interest rather than the story in the present, but Rebecca Aleander’s writing is such that both timelines are utterly captivating. The story of Patience and a lone young boy Dutch saved from the seas during WWII and then the story of Elowen finding herself on the Island and her love with Bran holds the readers’ interest magnificently. The island and its inhabitants and the whole lot of lovely characters residing there feel like our own. The reading experience was so immersive that I wanted Morwen Island to be somewhere nearby where I can walk around and experience the island in all its glory.

Essentially about secrets that are made and the repercussions that may affect generations to come, Secrets Of The Cottage By The Sea also explores relationships and friendships. For starters, Patience is a grandmother every kid would love to have around and as a teacher probably the world’s best. Then there is the sweet and loving romance between Patience and Dutch so touching and heart-warming, and everyone on the Island is kind of aware of the truth but ignores it for the sake of the warm friendly relationship they all seem to share. Elowen arrives on the island to rediscover her roots but as she settles back down to the place which was her childhood home, she realizes slowly the kind of hold the place has on her and her innermost…