Book reviews by D.G. Kaye

Sunday Book Review – Secrets – In the Shadows Lurks the Truth – Judith Barrow

Published on by

Book reviews by D.G. Kaye

 

Today’s book review is on Judith Barrow’s Secrets – In the Shadows Lurks the Truth. A novelette introducing some of the characters and their background secrets they carried when introduced into a riveting Family Saga trilogy following the Howarth family through the decades.

 

Secrets by Judith Barrow

Get this book on Amazon

 

Blurb:

Ashford, home of the Howarth family,is a gritty northern mill town, a community of no-nonsense Lancashire folk, who speak their minds and are quick to judge. But how many of them are hiding secrets that wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of others?
Judith Barrow’s Howarth Family trilogy, Pattern of Shadows, Changing Patterns and Living in the Shadows, along with the prequel, A Hundred Tiny Threads, published by Honno Press, is peopled with just such characters. Here are some of their secret stories – the girl who had to relinquish her baby, the boy who went to war too young, the wife who couldn’t take any more…
“Judith Barrow has surpassed herself in writing this great family saga… There is such a wealth of fantastic characters to fall in love with and ones to hate!” (Brook Cottage Books)

 

My 5 Star Review

This short but engrossing read introduces us to some of the characters in Barrow’s Pattern’s trilogy. These juicy tidbits reveal some of the secrets in backstory of some of the characters we’ll come to know in Barrow’s books. These secrets revolve around the family saga of the Howarth family in wartime England and continue into following decades. We get a sneak peak into what some of these characters endured, encompassing issues such as: An abused wife in Edith Jagger’s Secrets, Nelly Shuttleworth’s Secret about how she tried to save her baby from being taken at birth by fleeing a nun’s adoption home, Gwyneth’s Secret and about how she met the patriarch in Pattern of Shadows, a man we’ll love to hate.

All these stories leave us hanging and have us wanting to discover what happens next with a wonderfully written cast of characters who suffer tough times. If you love Family Saga stories you’ll love this series.

 

87 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Secrets – In the Shadows Lurks the Truth – Judith Barrow”

    1. Thanks Diana. Actually, I think this book can be read before or after. Pattern trilogy is a series through the decades. I’ve only read the first in the series and some of the characters in the prequel haven’t been introduced yet in the first book and now it’s got me curious to find out about the others. 🙂 x

      Like

      Reply

      1. Thank you, Debby. Yes, either, I think. Even though it’s a prequel, it was actually written because these characters wouldn’t leave me alone.lo. I’m haunted by them.l xxx

        Like

    2. Hi Diana, Readers tell me it can be read before or after. The truth is these two characters shouted at me to write their stories to show why they were as they were in Pattern of Shadows, so who am I to argue!! Thanks for dropping by.xx

      Like

      Reply

  9. A terrific review, Debby. ? Judith, what a great idea to introduce the characters of your books through these short stories, giving us a snippet of them.I’m drawn in by the review and want to read more…heading off to look closer at this book. ?

    Like

    Reply

      4. OMGGGGGGGGGGG Judith. Get Dropbox! Twice I almost lost manuscripts to computer crap. You must back up to a cloud service besides anything else you may want to do. If you’d like to sign up let me know. I wrote an article on it with a signup link from me. If you do, you’ll get extra storage space ❤

        Like

      1. Debby, I am so grateful!! I feel like asking the publishers to send free copies to everyone!! So long I’ve waited to write these stories and share this trilogy. xxx

        Like

    2. Thank you, Lisa. Couldn’t resist writing these stories of the minor characters. The first of the trilogy is based in the first German POW camp. A family saga that has many repercussions. Thanks for dropping by.xx

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment