Today I am excited to bring you my stop for The Watchmaker’s Daughter Blog Tour. A completely gripping and heart-wrenching novel about love and bravery in a time of terrible danger. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be swept away by The Watchmaker’s Daughter.
My Review
Debut author Dianne Haley has written a superb book.
There have been many WWII books written and they are good but one that has a different topic covered such as this one really catches your attention.
What keeps your attention is the page after page reading of danger,heart wrenching heartbreak the characters face though not of their own causing. Such injustice done to children just trying to escape to a better life.
You get very invested in the character’s lives,holding your breath as you read the risks they are taking through espionage and secret communications.
France has fallen to the Nazi’s and Switzerland’s people know they could be next but a long time jeweler needs the business with the Germans to survive. As his daughter does bike deliveries for him she, unknown to her father ,smuggles messages for the French Resistance, hidden among his watch deliveries.
It is a huge risk she is taking but she does it while thinking of Philippe, her childhood sweetheart who is a soldier based in secret military fortresses in the mountains.
When unexpected danger strikes will she stay safe, will her father?
Highly recommended!
Pub Date 25 Apr 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
Grab Your Copy Here
Good Reads Synopsis
I have to help them,’ Valérie says, her eyes filling with tears at the thought of the frightened children shivering in the rain and hiding from the Nazis. ‘I know you do,’ Philippe replies as he pulls her tight, ‘And I love you so much for that. But will you promise to be careful? Remember how precious your life is too?’
1942: Gazing out of her shuttered bedroom window towards the snow-covered Alps, Valérie Hallez feels like a traitor to her beautiful country. France has fallen to the Nazis, and everyone knows that Switzerland could be invaded next. But her father Albert is a local watchmaker who relies on German trade. As she helps him entertain German customers, she sees their Nazi insignia sparkling in the firelight. And guilt fills her heart as she listens to her crackling radio which speaks of terrible camps in Germany. So when a friend asks her to hide Jewish refugee children who will be sent back to the Nazis if they are discovered, Valérie knows she must join the fight against evil…
In defiance of her father, Valérie smuggles messages for the French Resistance, hidden among his watch deliveries. And when darkness falls, she runs through narrow cobbled streets to hide children in his old workshop. Her heart is broken by their terrified faces, and it pains her to feel so distant from her father. But she finds comfort in letters from Philippe, her childhood sweetheart who is a soldier based in secret military fortresses in the mountains. And in his brief hours of leave, they snatch precious moments on their favourite bench by Lake Geneva.
Then a hidden document that could alter the course of the war tells her Philippe is in grave danger. And Valérie faces an impossible choice. Will she betray the Resistance to save the man she loves?
A completely gripping and heart-wrenching novel about love and bravery in a time of terrible danger. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be swept away by The Watchmaker’s Daughter.
About The Author
Author social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhaley30
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dianne-Haley-Author-105318942048374
Website: www.diannehaley.com
Originally from the north of Scotland, Dianne now lives with her husband in Edinburgh and has two grown-up children. After a thirty-year business career in London and Edinburgh when Dianne wrote between projects, she is now writing full-time.
Dianne and her family have been visiting the area round Lake Geneva since 1992 and love the Alps in all seasons. The inspiration for her series set in WW2 Switzerland came from a drive through Geneva’s old town on a rainy October evening, the cobbled lanes a perfect setting for secrets and hiding places.
Thank you for stopping by the blog today. Have a wonderful day!
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