I’m unable to do my typical review style of this book because there is so much that happened, it’s impossible to sum up without spoiling it, and the blurb does it much better than I could.
I was already a big fan of Moyes before starting this one. I love that she takes the reader back in time, to an event that, at least for me, was completely unknown. There are several pivot points in this book, and one of them involves secrets Isabel is keeping. It was absolutely refreshing that we got to that pivot point much sooner than other books might have. The tension wasn’t impossibly long and drawn out, and that aspect alone makes this a 5-star read.
Second Survivor is a fine piece of historical fiction that adds some romance, and a mystery/thriller aspect that keeps you reading long after you should be asleep. The characters are rich and multidimensional. I liked that there were multiple plot lines at play here because they worked well together. The author’s note at the end of the book goes into great detail about the shipwreck of the General Chanzy, and the intense research Moyes did into the book. Such a great read!
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Second Survivor is available on Amazon for $2.99, it’s enrolled in KU.
Blurb:
Isabel Fontaine’s lavish lifestyle came to a crashing halt the night the General Chanzy sank. At 18, she had everything—fine luxuries, a prominent family, and an extravagant estate in Marseille. The one thing she didn’t have was her freedom. As the sole heir to the Fontaine fortune, her future was forged with a betrothal to a stranger from a foreign country, but when her family perishes at sea, Isabel sees this as a chance to hide her identity and change her fate.
Taken in by poor, elderly farmers on the Spanish island of Menorca, Isabel is torn between the growing affection for a neighbor and the guilt of living a lie. The simplicity and genuine goodness of this life take her on a journey she never believed was possible, yet, as time passes and the threat of her untruths face exposure, Isabel must make an agonizing choice.
When that choice is taken from her prematurely and danger cultivates from an implausible guise, will Isabel accept the outcome, or fight to save those she loves?
Told from the perspective of four characters, Second Survivor is a twist on the tragic shipwreck . . . the General Chanzy in the Mediterranean Sea. Facts from this disastrous sailing on the night of 10 Feb 1910, between Marseille and Algiers, share the horrific details that 156 people aboard the barge lost their lives. There was only one survivor. This story shares the fate of a Second Survivor.
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