Katharine Swartz’s The Widow’s Secret is the latest in her Tales from Goswell series. Abigail Fenton’s husband James is a ship owner in the 1760s, and they live a comfortable life until the tobacco which is a mainstay of James’ business is all sold to larger companies than his. Looking for other cargo he makes a fateful decision – to transport slaves. Abigail is uncomfortable about this, and her life becomes more complicated when James gives her an African child as a present. A child he expects to be treated as lower than a servant but whom childless Abigail comes to love as a daughter to the consternation and horror of her household staff, family and peers. Then James sets off on a year-long voyage – and doesn’t come home.
In 2020, when marine archaeologist Rachel Gardener is summoned to Cumbria to investigate a wreck, a find from the ship makes her suspect the wreck was a slave ship. But why would it be there? As she investigates, and tries to ignore her crumbling marriage, unfolding events mean she can no longer ignore her estranged mother. And she must face the secret her mother has been keeping for 30 years.
Katherine Swartz writes engaging stories with characters you really connect with and with plenty of twists and turns. I was intrigued all the way through both timelines by what would happen next. I’m not sure I’m quite convinced by the way things play out with both Rachel’s marriage and her mother, but both elements worked well for the book. That said, the links with Abigail and Adelaide are wonderfully told and the Wesley elements work really well. The descriptions of the slave trade are horrifying and both Abigail and James’ struggles with their involvement are well written and believable. I highly recommend this book.
9781782642817, Lion Fiction, Published June 2020 (UK).
For transparency, I was sent the manuscript of this book for review, but I was not required to write a favourable review. All views herein are my own.
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