the words I never wrote by Jane Thynne

23rd book of 2021

Reading period: Mar 08th 2021 – Mar 17th 2021

Summary

New York, present day: On a whim, photographer Juno Lambert buys the 1931 Underwood typewriter that once belonged to celebrated journalist Cordelia Capel. Within its case she discovers an unpublished novel, igniting a transatlantic journey to fill the gaps in the story of Cordelia and her sister’s loving yet tempestuous relationship.

England, 1936: Cordelia’s socialite sister, Irene, marries a German man from a powerful family who whisks her away to Berlin. Cordelia remains in England to pursue the writing career she cherishes, but in the male-dominated world of journalism, she can only get hired as a typist. The sisters exchange letters as politics begin to boil in Europe and tensions come to a head when Cordelia discovers Irene’s husband is a Nazi sympathizer. Does that make Irene one by proxy? With increasing desperation, Cordelia writes to Irene, seeking to understand her loyalties. But the sisters’ letters don’t tell the whole story. So Cordelia decides to fill in the blanks by sitting down with her Underwood and—finally—writing the truth.

When Juno discovers the trove of letters the two exchanged, a vivid portrait of Berlin in the devastating years during and after the war comes into focus. In this moving novel, Jane Thynne offers an intimate glimpse into a lesser known side of World War II.

Rating

Review

I finally give four stars to this book after I finished reading it. At the beginning, I didn’t want to give a rating as for a big part of the book; I struggled to stay focus on it. For me, it wasn’t fair to give a rating in those conditions; however, for the last 40% of the book, I was just hooked by it.

This book tells the story of two sisters and a photographer. This story was a beautiful one about sisterhood. I like Cordelia and Irene’s relationship; it was incredible, even if sometimes it was rough, especially during WWII. The photographer who represents our timeline was an excellent addition to the story as she is present but not too much and has a fundamental role in this story (and it’s from someone who isn’t especially an enthusiast of historical dual timeline.)

I had some difficulties reading about Irene. Initially, I couldn’t connect with her or care for her; I found her a little too naive; her chapters were the longest to read for me. I think it’s because I see that from someone who studied it at school, and unlike her, I know what happened from the start to the outcome. In the end, I like her, and she and Cordelia are two different heroines that complement each other.

This book was first a great representation of Germany before the war and the rise of nazism. Then another of the end of the war and some of the consequences of this. Some passages where a little hard to read but accurate. Even if it’s fiction, it’s based on an actual event, and the addition of real characters helps a lot to make it more authentic.

I am glad to have read this book; the concept is just genius (thanks to it now I want a typewriter), and I will do a reread of this book as I think that I missed a lot of this story on account of my mood.

Liz.