Synopses & Reviews
Heartbreaking and deeply compelling, Mrs. Sinclairs Suitcase is a compulsive page-turner about thwarted love, dashed hopes, and family secretsbook club fiction at its best. Roberta, a lonely thirty-four-year-old, works at The New and Old Bookshop in England. When she finds a letter inside her centenarian grandmothers battered old suitcase that hints at a dark secret, her understanding of her familys history is completely upturned. Running alongside Robertas narrative is that of her grandmother, Dorothy, as a forty-year-old childless woman desperate for motherhood during the early years of World War II. After a chance encounter with a Polish war pilot, Dorothy believes shes finally found happiness, but instead she is faced with a dilemma so monumental, the consequences affect her granddaughter decades later. And so, the parallel stories of Roberta and Dorothy unravel over the course of eighty years as they both make their own ways through secrets, lies, sacrifices, and love.
Review
“A riveting debut with an impeccably researched past and charismatic present-day voices.
Mrs. Sinclairs Suitcase is like opening a literary treasure chest, full of sharp-edged gems glittering with all the beauty and heartache of humanity. Youre sure to carry this story with you wherever you go. I know I will.” —Sarah McCoy, author of the
New York Times and international bestseller
The Bakers Daughter and
The Mapmakers Children
“A moving reminder that history is not just a pageant of world-shaking events, but a weave of individual lives that are often as inspiring as they are tragic.” —David R. Gillham, author of the New York Times-bestseller City of Women “Vivid and seductive, the tale begins in a blazing crash in World War II and twists through a tangle of mysterious circumstances, misunderstandings, and repressed desires. Irresistible . . .” —Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman, authors of the national bestseller Freuds Mistress “Walters creates a totally absorbing world, and takes you right into the heart of her story. Beautifully done, and heartbreaking, too.” —Esther Freud, author of The Sea House and Hideous Kinky “A heartbreaking tale of loss, missed chances, and enduring love.” —Good Housekeeping (UK) “A first novel of great charm and assurance, beautifully told and utterly gripping.” —The Times (UK)
Synopsis
A heartbreaking and deeply compelling debut, Mrs. Sinclair s Suitcase is a compulsive page-turner about thwarted love, dashed hopes, and family secrets book-club fiction at its best.
Roberta, a lonely thirty-four-year-old bibliophile, works at The Old and New Bookshop in England. When she finds a letter inside her centenarian grandmother s battered old suitcase that hints at a dark secret, her understanding of her family s history is completely upturned. Running alongside Roberta s narrative is that of her grandmother, Dorothy, as a forty-year-old childless woman desperate for motherhood during the early years of World War II. After a chance encounter with a Polish war pilot, Dorothy believes she s finally found happiness, but must instead make an unthinkable decision whose consequences forever change the framework of her family.
The parallel stories of Roberta and Dorothy unravel over the course of eighty years as they both make their own ways through secrets, lies, sacrifices, and love. Utterly absorbing, Mrs. Sinclair s Suitcase is a spellbinding tale of two worlds, one shattered by secrets and the other by the truth.
"
About the Author
Louise Walters