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A Time to Tell

by Maria Savva (Goodreads Author)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 56 ratings · 24 reviews

Set between the 1950s and the start of the 21st Century, "A Time to Tell" is the poignant story of Cara, from her dramatic attempted suicide to her roles as a smitten eighteen-year-old, wife, widow and grandmother, and her final, passionate reunion with the man she has always loved. It is also the parallel tale of Cara's prodigal son Benjamin and his daughter Penelope, who...more

Paperback, 308 pages

Published February 1st 2008 by Pen Press Publishers Ltd (first published December 13th 2006)

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May 16, 2011 Sheri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-by-good-read-authors, favorites

A Time to Tell (Maria Savva)
A fantastic story. Spanning from the 1950's to present A time to tell is the story of one family's life. Set right in the center is the Matriarch Cara. She has a deep secret that has haunted her, and is still doing so to this day. Her children each have their own inner demons they must conquer and face. This family is torn apart due to this past sin and Cara is determined to somehow pull them all back together to what they once were. But can she pull off this seemingl...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Quentin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thank you Maria Savva for reminding us all that the novel is still alive and well!

'A Time to Tell' begins with the attempted suicide of Cara Hughes; in love with, and carrying the child of a man she's just learned is already married. Spanning some 50 years and weaving a complex, multi-generational saga of love, family, relationships, abuse and healing, Maria Savva's tale can trace its roots back to the classic novels of the Bronte sisters -- though as compelling and thoroughly entertaining as a...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a novel about secrets. It begins with Cara as a young woman attempting suicide, and most of the novel takes place in Cara's old age, as many of the secrets within her family begin to unravel.

From the first scene, the first big secret is born. Cara is attempting suicide because she's discovered that her lover Frederick is a married man. She then quickly marries Billy, the man who saved her from drowning. But what she can never admit to anyone is her suspicion that their first child, Benja...more This is a novel about secrets. It begins with Cara as a young woman attempting suicide, and most of the novel takes place in Cara's old age, as many of the secrets within her family begin to unravel.

From the first scene, the first big secret is born. Cara is attempting suicide because she's discovered that her lover Frederick is a married man. She then quickly marries Billy, the man who saved her from drowning. But what she can never admit to anyone is her suspicion that their first child, Benjamin, is Frederick's not Billy's.

By the end of Cara's life, the secrets have multiplied, but in a sense many of them can be traced logically back to that original secret. Benjamin always feels like an outsider in the family and is bullied at school for looking different from his two other siblings. He develops violence and 'toughness' as a defence, and soon gets into trouble. He later beats up his wife so badly that he almost kills her, and goes into hiding for years. Later on his daughter, having grown up in an atmosphere of domestic violence and then missing her absent father, marries a man who is just like Benjamin and abuses her.There are many more secrets in the novel - almost every character has one, including Cara's sister Gloria and the unexplained events around the death of Cara's friend Beattie (perhaps this, actually, is the original secret from which the others come).

What I liked about the book was that, when it does finally become the "time to tell" all the secrets, the results are often unexpected. I was afraid that it might be a sort of morality tale where, once the secrets are revealed and the characters face up to the truth, everything is neatly resolved. But it happens more subtly than that, and so feels more true to life. Sometimes the characters are able to forgive, and at other times they are not. Their reactions feel real.

There are also some great evocations of place, particularly 1950s Huddlesea, where you can really feel the claustrophobia of living in a town where everybody knows everything about everyone else and judges them on any mistake.

Sometimes I felt that the characters' motivations or feelings were spelled out, rather than being hinted at and left to the reader to discover. For example, when Cara is living with her granddaughter Penelope, it's immediately made clear that her husband David is abusive, so the description of his violence afterwards feels a bit predictable. I would have preferred to be presented with the facade of a happy family and discover the truth gradually, through Cara's growing suspicions.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were believable, and the description of a family's secrets and the way they build on each other was convincing and memorable.(less)

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Jun 10, 2009 Trish Lamoree rated it 5 of 5 stars

An exploration of how being a victim once can cascade throughout generations within the same family, each generation sure that theirs is the only one with the problem. Maria Savva explores the depth of both the abuser and the abused without the great dramatics of Oprah. Instead, she steps into the issues softly and gently as if your grandmother's hand led you to discover the deepest secrets that no one ever really should have kept.

A Time to Tell flows perfectly between the time lines of all thre...more

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Aug 12, 2010 TheSecretWriter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern, fiction

'A Time to Tell'is a very well written book that tells the fictional story of a girl called Cara through her life span from teenager wife widow to grandmother. It is a story of loverelationships and the dark side of domestic violence. This is an eventful story which is sad and disturbing at times. The story is carefully written in respect to some what disturbing issues that can unfortunately occur within some relationships. Domestic violence is not often talked about openly within our society. M...more

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Oct 04, 2008 Julie Powell rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

A Time to Tell raises important issues surrounding what has been named ‘domestic violence’. It was interesting (and sad) to see how history repeated itself throughout the generations, echoing the tragic dilemma of humankind.

However, the switch between ‘times’ was cleverly done in this sophisticated story of Cara and her family, giving a good insight into the relationships to which we can all relate.

A Time to Tell has a great prologue that creates enough intrigue to pull in the reader and has a...more

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May 14, 2009 Katherine Marple rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maria Savva's A Time To Tell was beautifully written. It's a story that follows an aging old woman who travels through all her memories in present tense. It's about losing love- making sacrifices- learning to love again- caring for people who make mistakes- forgiveness- and learning to accept others, including all of their falicies.

A Time To Tell was also about miscommunication. In the story, we witness Cara, the aging storyteller, being neglected. She is old and has mulitple sclerosis, so cann...more Maria Savva's A Time To Tell was beautifully written. It's a story that follows an aging old woman who travels through all her memories in present tense. It's about losing love- making sacrifices- learning to love again- caring for people who make mistakes- forgiveness- and learning to accept others, including all of their falicies.

A Time To Tell was also about miscommunication. In the story, we witness Cara, the aging storyteller, being neglected. She is old and has mulitple sclerosis, so cannot take care of herself. However, her mind is in full capacity and is reeling from memories that have shaken up her life and resurfaced over a short period of a few months. It seems that all comes crashing down at the same time. Loss of a family member, divorces within her children's lives, abuse, neglect and recovery. It seems that no one is really listening to her, or to her needs. Most of the story takes place in her thoughts- she hardly ever speaks her mind.

This is frustrating for me to read because I like to say what I think. I'm just that kind of person. I wanted to scream at her: "Tell them! Tell them what you really think and how they are making you feel!" No one deserves to be ignored.

Many of the characters are so caught up in their own lives that they simply don't see what is all around them.
Forgiveness is a very difficult trait to learn... and then to take use of.

A Time To Tell, I feel, is completely about forgiveness. Many things take place in a person's life. The decisions are made at the time, with what information is held on hand, and with the resources that are available.

It leads to my personal motto: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Live and let live. Forgive and move on. You cannot stew forever on what "could have been." It is, and you can't change it. You can only learn to live with the situation and cope with its consequences.

Savva writes to open your heart, open your mind, and allows you to see inside the lives of her main character, Cara.
Lovely. (less)

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Apr 04, 2010 Tiffini Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a complicated family!

It is also a book whose topics (domestic abuse primarily) that need to be discussed in ways such as Savva has done. It's told in a voice that most of us can relate to in at least some way. She paints very good descriptions and draws very realistic people for whom the reader can easily feel for. I wish that the back and forth POVs were a little easier to follow: assuming you're in one POV because the words are italicized and then learning you're not in the perspectiv...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Dionne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I have never read anything from this author before, but I’m so glad I did. It’s been the first book in a while that I couldn’t put down. I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen to the characters. If I had to label it, I would say family drama, contemporary.

There was always a lot going on, and a lot of it sad. I admit, at times, I did think that too much was going wrong—but thinking about what has happened to many people I know, I r...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Alan rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had high expectations of this book, too high as it turns out. Reviews and star ratings indicated a worthwhile exploration into the nature of family secrets and domestic violence. By page 100 I gave up in disappointment having suffered through paper thin characters, all too speedy resolutions of conflicts and secrets and the implausible re-emergence of a lost acquaintance, all of which are more suited to a poor tv soap than a highly acclaimed book.

Having read again through the reviews on this s...more

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Apr 01, 2010 Charlie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: indie

What a family! Everyone has his or her own dysfunctional way of dealing with a situation whether it is suicide, alcoholism or abuse. Each person's inability to cope is fascinating, while at the same time, mundane. Assumingly set in an average class of people, the seemingly extraordinary behavior becomes ordinary. What happens within the family and behind closed doors is swept away and neatly hidden, or expressed as a private matter that will be dealt with, but never really is. The people presuma...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Paul Keefe rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Time To Tell is the spellbinding story of Cara Hughes, and the dark secrets that plague her and her family. From the time she first falls in love, and that relationship’s tragic ending, to meeting her first love again as an elderly woman, we are transported as voyeurs through the heartbreak of Cara’s life.

Now, confined to a wheelchair, Cara must confront the torrent of problems that have coursed their way down through her family, washing over each in turn, inflicting suffering on those she tru...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found A Time to Tell compelling and looked forward to reading it every day, (I very often found it difficult to put down! Always a good indication of a good read.) It is a solid, complex story that rolls along with a steady, and at times, breathless pace. It has a distinct, emotional voice that speaks from Cara’s point of view that is clearly from her generation. Cara is hobbled by the psychological second-guessing of her actions in the past, which is a chronic aspect of the human condition, w...more I found A Time to Tell compelling and looked forward to reading it every day, (I very often found it difficult to put down! Always a good indication of a good read.) It is a solid, complex story that rolls along with a steady, and at times, breathless pace. It has a distinct, emotional voice that speaks from Cara’s point of view that is clearly from her generation. Cara is hobbled by the psychological second-guessing of her actions in the past, which is a chronic aspect of the human condition, we’re all guilty of some bad decision that we regret, and it’s painful to fess up because we fear how others will react to such news. The occasional shift to a different character’s perspective to examine another side to the story is an element that I appreciate (because there’s always more than one side to a story), but it wasn’t consistently used enough throughout to be a natural rhythm of the narrative, therefore, it caused a few ‘wait a minute’ wobbles for me, mostly because Cara’s presence is so dominate. There were times I wished that the telling of the story could have slowed down a little, sometimes I felt a bit hungry for more “meat”, but that’s just me, I enjoy gnawing on well written details. I felt this way especially in places where it was rapid-fire dialogue as it careened toward the end; I found myself skittering along looking for a place to catch my mental breath. When I reached the end, I said “Whew!” And then proceeded to back-track to reread what I just went through, I saw that all the pieces to the puzzle were there, but they fit loosely. Looking back further, there is a distinct difference between the earlier chapters of the book and the last ten or so. I’m not saying that this is bad or good, as I’ve found this style in other books as well, the endings tend to be more streamlined to herd the reader toward the finish. The ending itself was cleanly broken off, leaving the reader with a sense that life (such as it is) goes on after the book is finished, even though it isn’t quite a pretty picture, but the implication is there that things will be all right (eventually)—the beauty of art imitating life, a timeless and contemporary novel. I say again, Well done, Maria Savva! (Rating: four stars out of five.)(less)

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May 10, 2009 Andrea Howarth-Salazar rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would definitely recommend this - I read 'A Time to Tell' in just one day. I found that I really identified with Cara from beginning to end and shared her feelings throughout her rollercoaster ride of family revelations! There was a sense of deep satisfaction in the ending when Cara was reunited with Frederick. The plot is complex and the themes socially relevant, but in the end it was the character and feelings of Cara that hooked me and I found myself reading on to find out what would happen...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Klaudyna Z. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-books

I can't figure out why everybody gave this book such high ratings. I didn't like a single character in this book. They all had secrets that they were keeping from one another. I felt like Cara didn't have the balls to own up to her mistakes and I couldn't believe that she acted like she didn't care about how her son Ben was abusive and almost killed his first wife. I thought Penelope was too pushy and Gloria was just a bitch. The ending was terrible too because I felt like there was no real clos...more

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Jul 04, 2010 J. King rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fiction-memoir

I struggled a great deal with this book: I was slow getting into it; the characters at times seemed to behave randomly; I found numerous missed story opportunities (e.g., that looking after Cara might have been just the thing to treat Tom's depression, that Cara might have required a fundamental shift in how she saw herself before she forgave Gloria); some of the prose felt overly expositional (sequences of "Who cares?" with bits of "Wow!" in between); I often felt the characters changed their p...more

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Mar 06, 2010 Jerry Travis rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: fiction

After reading this book, I ordered two more! I've already got a person in mind to send one of the extras to, and the other I'll keep around for the future. (I almost always keep a copy of anything I've read, for reference.)

Within the pages of "A Time to Tell", intertwined with a compelling story, is the stark reality of domestic violence. From time to time, I do a little psychological counseling for people who either can't afford or won't go to see a professional counselor, and I can't think of...more After reading this book, I ordered two more! I've already got a person in mind to send one of the extras to, and the other I'll keep around for the future. (I almost always keep a copy of anything I've read, for reference.)

Within the pages of "A Time to Tell", intertwined with a compelling story, is the stark reality of domestic violence. From time to time, I do a little psychological counseling for people who either can't afford or won't go to see a professional counselor, and I can't think of a better way to educate them about the psychology of mental and physical abuse, than to read this book. Presented, as it is, in the context of an engaging novel, it's much more likely to be read and comprehended than dry pamphlets, self-help or psychological textbooks.

Quite frankly, as a writer myself I'm a bit envious of Maria Savva's storytelling and writing ability. The last ten chapters build steadily towards the story's climax and the book got very difficult to put down. Her use of foreshadowing is blatantly obvious in some places, and skillfully subtle in others, providing a real life feel to the story. (Sometimes we know what's coming, and other times we get totally blindsided.) For instance, Gloria's self-righteous meddling in her sister's affairs turns out to be at the root of many of Cara's problems. In later life, Gloria realizes she has a lot to be forgiven for and does patch a few things up with Cara. Yet we're left with the feeling that she hasn't quite come clean, though we have no idea what she still might be holding back. All gets revealed in the end, but not by Gloria. I thought revealing a little, but not too much, skillfully accomplished this, so that the story develops naturally towards its surprising conclusion.

I love stories like this where you can learn things of practical value, while you're being recreationally entertained. This is not fantasy, which does provide escapism, but leaves you ill equipped to deal with the real world. Books like this should be required reading for graduation from high schools everywhere, and on the reading list of anyone who wants to live in a better world. (less)

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Mar 18, 2009 Maria rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

This is my latest novel. 'A Time to Tell' is a romantic drama/family saga which spans 50 years and three generations of the same family. It is the tale of Cara, an elderly woman who has regrets about secrets she has kept from her family. As the novel progresses, we see how these secrets may have affected the lives of her loved ones, and she reaches a point in her life when she feels that she must reveal all, even though it is the last thing she wants to do. It is also a story about Cara's grandd...more

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Jan 30, 2010 Stuart rated it 5 of 5 stars

Powerful & Emotional Insight Into Relationships & Forgiveness

Wow!‘A time To Tell’ is a potent story that packs a punch. From the very beginning, we are drawn in by Cara Hughes dramatic, failed suicide attempt. What follows is an emotionally charged page turner spanning over 50 years of Cara’s life. Maria Savva is an exceptional storyteller, bringing the many colorful characters to life as they face some of the darker issues, which trouble today’s society. Abusive relationships, secrets,...more

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Mar 24, 2010 Jen Knox rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Time to Tell is a great book. The story is multi-faceted: part mystery, part love story, part psychological thriller. I loved the swift touch Savva seemed to have with her scenes, painting them in soft, wide strokes that caused this reader to feel comfortable to lose myself in the scene without being over-burdened by detail or under-burdened by sloppy writing.
The only minor complaint I had was with the perspective shifts. When visiting Cara's past, we're in italics, and thrust as though into a...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Molly rated it 1 of 5 stars

Holy horrible, melodramatic soap opera of a book...enough said...

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Mar 28, 2012 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, england

An interesting tale of family secrets and domestic abuse. Another change of pace for me from the whdunits I'm so fond of.

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Apr 06, 2012 Dierdra Byrd rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A Time to Tell was not a page turner but the story was enough to hold my interest. Parts got repetitive and boring for me and at times I just did not like the characters at all. This was more in the second half of the book as I did enjoy the first half but I really did not care for the "twist" and the ending.
Overall I probably would not recommend this book but I did enjoy the first half so felt like I should at least do 3 stars.

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Sep 27, 2010 Maria rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

The kindle version of my novel 'A Time to Tell' :)

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Apr 26, 2013 Dan Grubb rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Maria Savva

Published works:

Coincidences 2001
A Time to Tell 2006
The Game of Life a short story (Writers' News magazine) 2008
Pieces of a Rainbow 2009
Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales) 2010
Second Chances 2010
Fusion 2011
Cutting The Fat 2011 (co-author Jason McIntyre)
Flames a short story (The BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology - Volume 1) 2011
The Dream 2011
Isolation a short story (The Bestse...more

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