Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Canelo Publishing, and author June Francis for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

June Francis is a prolific author of slice-of-life type historical fiction set in Liverpool, England. Having visited Liverpool a few times, I thought I would enjoy reading about it in the historical context of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Secrets and Lies is a book that illustrates what happens in a family when people don’t communicate.

Olive is returning to Liverpool following her work for Britain in the war effort. She sent her daughter, Joanna, to live with her mother as she and the man her daughter presumes is her father are separated. Family strife led Olive’s mother, Flora, to hide her husband’s illness and death from their daughter. Olive is quite upset upon learning that her father died, and she was never told.

There’s acrimony between Olive and Flora to begin with, and all of this just makes it worse. However, Olive has a secret. Before he died, Olive’s father gave her his football pool numbers and urged her to keep going with them. She did and now has a nice nest-egg with which to start life over in Liverpool. She plans to buy her own house closer to the sea and possibly her own business.

However, Olive receives a letter from Joe, the American GI she met during the war. Joe lives in California and recently lost his wife and son. He claims to be going blind and would like to see his daughter before that happens. Olive’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Theo, already revealed to Joanna that he isn’t her real father. It would seem Olive is getting hit on all fronts. When Joanna learns the truth, she wants to visit her father in California to see what he’s like. Olive worries that Joanna will want to stay there. For reasons, Olive can’t accompany Joanna to California, so she sends her in the care of Alfie, her closest friend’s son, who is just a couple of years older than Joanna, and Jay, the son of another American GI that she knew in the War.

This is a slice of life when Britain was still in recovery mode from the Second World War. When I visited Liverpool myself, I was surprised to learn that they were bombed this far north. There is some discussion in the book of places where the effects of these bombings still linger at the time this is set.

Olive kept the secret of her daughter’s parentage from Joanna as well as her mother. Theo was convenient at the time to get her out of trouble. It seems that happened a lot in Britain at the time. Joanna is angry at first, then accepts what her mother tells her as the truth. She’ll later gain a better understanding of how, during times of isolation and stress, people can make poor decisions. Flora is so nasty at the beginning of the story that I had to wonder why her family keeps in contact with her. In the end, we learn her story and that, like many others, she made the best of a situation but always resented it to some degree and ended up taking it out on her family.

This isn’t my usual type of read. It’s a sweet story that argues against keeping secrets since they come out in the long run. Flora’s secret affected her personality, causing fractures in the relationship between her and her two children. Olive’s secret was revealed not by her. They both loved men they could not have, and could have possibly given each other support had they been able to communicate.

I thought some of the relationships seemed rushed and forced, but that might be indicative of the times. I can’t imagine knowing someone is your true love from a couple of meetings twenty years before. I wouldn’t know whether they were slobs at home, or any of a whole host of other annoying habits that could drive you crazy. At the same time, Olive is a capable woman who could survive independently if she wanted to. She represents the possibilities for women after the War, when they could envision more than just being a housewife and raising children.

There might be some language barriers for Americans who read this. There are some slang terms and food descriptions that will be hard to grasp. At the same time, I did enjoy a look at what life was like during this era. It’s a well-written book, but I just have to admit that it’s not the type of story that usually holds my interest. I think if it does sound interesting to you, it’s a story you’ll enjoy.