An Extract From The Secret Sister by Jan Baynham

Why I Wrote The Lost Heir by Jane Cable A Celebration by Morton S. Gray

An Extract From The Secret Sister by Jan Baynham

This week, I am pleased to be able to share an extract from fellow Choc Lit / Joffe Books author Jan Baynham’s new novel – The Secret Sister …

Thank you for inviting me onto your lovely blog, Morton. I’d like to share an extract from my new novel, The Secret Sister, which will be published by Joffe Books/Choc Lit Publishing on Thursday 31st August 2023. Nervous and excited at the same time, I’m hoping that readers will enjoy Sara and Claudia’s stories as much as I enjoyed writing them. Because my novels are always set in rural mid-Wales and a contrasting location, creating a sense of place is very important to me. I like to think that my readers are transported to the places in the novel through my words.

In The Secret Sister, Claudia visits Sicily for the first time…

Porto Montebello, Sicily

White heat reflected up from the flagged walkway and Claudia stopped to mop her brow. She was used to summers being much cooler and often wet. Uncle Sisto had warned her of the intense August heat in Sicily, and she’d taken his advice regarding clothing. Now, she was very glad of the wide-brimmed straw hat and long-sleeved, cotton tunic keeping her cool.

She took out the street map of the city and found the pensione that was to be her base for the duration of the art course. Selected from a long list of lodging houses sent to her by the university, she’d chosen it both for its low cost and its proximity to the university building.

Picking up her suitcase again, she walked along the road on the shady side and turned into a straight, narrow street called Via Nova. Either side were tall town houses with floor-to-ceiling shuttered windows edged with metal balconies housing troughs and terracotta pots of trailing pelargoniums.

Halfway along the street was a busy trattoria with delicious smells of freshly ground coffee wafting in Claudia’s direction. She smiled when she remembered her father turning his nose up at the Camp coffee her mam made him with hot milk. Real coffee comes from roasted beans, not a bottle with a funny blue label, Sara, he used to tease her. Spaghetti didn’t come in tins either, according to him.

A few empty tables with raffia-seated bentwood chairs were laid with red-and-white-checked seersucker tablecloths. Each table was separated from the next by a wide trough of clipped laurel bushes.

Up along the wall and over the doorway, a magenta bougainvillea tumbled with its papery blooms. Miniature olive trees in large hand-thrown terracotta pots stood like sentries either side of the covered entrance into the seating area where menus were displayed. Most tables were occupied with people enjoying food and chatting noisily. A lump formed in Claudia’s throat when she remembered her papà telling her how much he missed eating al fresco, as he called it, when they were sat in Smoky Joe’s coffee bar in Pen Craig as rain lashed down the windows outside. She wondered how he’d been able to leave all this sunshine behind.

Claudia soon arrived at 239 Via Nova. She studied the façade of Pensione Piccione with its pale-ochre-coloured render. Metal shutters were positioned at an angle to let in fresh air and keep the sun out, and the large, dark blue bifold doors were folded back to reveal an inner glass door leading to an octagonal vestibule. A high domed ceiling was painted with ornate foliage, flowers and fruit — mostly lemons — and edged with ornate plasterwork that reminded Claudia of the Italian chapel back home. The large wooden reception desk also held bowls of lemons.

Nearby, she noticed a table with drinking tumblers lined up alongside a glass urn filled with water and slices of lemon, clearly inviting guests to take a drink. She loved the citrus aroma that made the place feel fresh and clean and immediately decided she’d made a good choice.

The young man, dressed smartly in a navy-blue uniform and crisp white linen shirt, looked up. His name badge informed her he was Signor Antonio Marchesi.

‘Buongiorno. May I help you?’

About Jan Baynham

Originally from mid-Wales, I live in Cardiff with my husband. We have three grown up children and five grandchildren. I started writing when I retired after a career in education and enjoy meeting up with other writers especially members of our local Cariad RNA Chapter as well as when attending talks and workshops. When not writing, I enjoy reading, family history, Pilates and looking after my grandchildren.

Social media links:

Twitter – @JanBaynham

Facebook – Jan Baynham Writer

Instagram – @janbaynham

Blog – Jan’s Journey into Writing

Amazon Page – Jan Baynham

About The Secret Sister

The novel, set in 1943 and 1968, in rural Wales and the island of Sicily, is a dual timeline dealing with secrets, forbidden love, sibling relationships and forgiveness. Two sisters work together to prove their father’s innocence of a crime he did not commit and clear his name. I had a wonderful time researching this story – a trip to Sicily last August walking in my characters’ footsteps and another to the Italian POW chapel in Henllan, in West Wales.

The Story:

TRAVEL FROM WARTIME WALES TO SIXTIES SICILY IN THIS BREATHTAKING CROSS-GENERATIONAL SAGA ABOUT A DAUGHTER ROCKED BY HER FAMILY’S SECRET PAST.

Wales, 1943.

Sara Lewis should be heartbroken when her husband doesn’t return from war. But he was never the kind husband she hoped for. And now she’s stuck with her cruel mother-in-law on the family farm. Sara must do what is best for her young son. So she leaves the farm for the safety of her sister’s home. Despite herself, she begins to notice Carlo, an Italian prisoner of war. Longing looks soon turn into love letters and a connection neither of them can sever. But fraternization between the prisoners and local women are forbidden. As their love grows, so does the danger all around them . . .

Twenty-five years later, their daughter holds her father’s hand as he takes his last breath and whispers a name: Giulietta. But who is Giulietta, and who are the young woman and baby in an old photograph? The secrets of the past collide as the family are shaken to their very core, forced to revisit memories they’d rather forget to uncover the truth.

Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Barbara Davis, Karen Swan, Amanda Weinburg or Anita Chapman.

Buying Link for : The Secret Sister

ALSO BY JAN BAYNHAM
HER MOTHER’S SECRET
HER SISTER’S SECRET
HER NANNY’S SECRET
THE SECRET SISTER

Thank you for visiting my blog – Morton S. Gray – Author. I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also find me on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Morton’s News – My six novels The Girl on the Beach, The Truth Lies Buried, Christmas at Borteen Bay, Sunny Days at the Beach, Christmas at the Little Beach Cafe and Summer at Lucerne Lodge published by Choc Lit an imprint of Joffe Books have been treated to new covers and are all currently only 99p/99c!!!!