Rachel Hore is a UK Sunday Times bestselling author. whose latest book, The Hidden Years is the story of secrets, loss and betrayal set in Cornwall during World War ii, and then looking ahead closer to contemporary times, to the heady days of the 1960s.

Hi there. I'm your host, Jenny Wheeler, and today on the Binge Reading Show, Rachel talks about families and their secrets, and the strange coincidences when life mirrors art in ways we can't possibly anticipate.

Our Free Books Giveaway

Our Free Books Giveaway this week is Sweet Snow Closed Door Romance, a selection of Valentine's Day love stories to round out the month, including Tangled Destiny, the prequel to my of Gold and Blood Historical Mystery series.

This offer closes February 29, so act right now. The links for where you can download those books can be found in the show notes for this episode on the website, the joys of binge reading.com.

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY - ROMANCE

​https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/HRDk8Mo8mSQsBhQxhON9​

Buy Me A Coffee

Before we get to Rachel, just a reminder, you can help defray the cost of production of the show by buying me a cup of coffee on buy me a coffee.com/jennywheelx.

And if you enjoy the show, remember you can also leave us a review so others will find us too.

Word of mouth is still the best recommendation for people to find the show and great books they will love to read.

Where to find links for this episode

Rose Tremain

https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/absolutely-and-forever-9781784745202

Ann Cleeves

The Shetland series:

https://anncleeves.com/shetland/index.html

The Vera series:

https://anncleeves.com/vera/index.html

Ann Patchett:

https://www.annpatchett.com/

Paul Harding

https://www.paulhardingauthor.com/

Where to find Rachel Hore Online

Website: https://rachelhore.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelHoreAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel.hore/

Introducing women's fiction author Rachel Hore

Rachel Hore - UK best selling author with over 1 million books sold

Jenny Wheeler: But now here's Rachel. Hello there Rachel, and welcome to the show.

It's great to have you with us.

Rachel Hore: Thank you, Jenny. It's really good to be here.

Jenny Wheeler: Look, Rachel, I understand that The Hidden Years is your 13th novel,. Is that correct?

Rachel Hore: Yes it is. Unlucky for some, but I'm cheerful about it.

Jenny Wheeler: That's great and it, they're all in very much the same vein. You haven't been one of those authors who's jumped genres. They're character, driven family stories of upheaval and secrets.

Sometimes cross-generational, sometimes not so much in the dual timeline. I wondered how you came to identify that as maybe the area that you were most interested in writing about in the beginning?

Love of family deep and long lasting

Rachel Hore: I think it came from quite deep inside. I've always been very interested in stories of my own family. My maternal grandmother was one of those sorts of grandmothers who was the repository of tales of characters in the family.

And, of all the things that had happened, good and bad, and who was guilty and who said what to whom and so on.

I became very fascinated by that, and although the first of my books, The Dream House, wasn't about any real life family members, it was about family issues and family secrets which was my main motivation really.

Jenny Wheeler: I believe that every family has secrets. I've been a bit of an amateur genealogist myself in my time, and it's amazing when you start to dig what you discover, isn't it?

Rachel Hore: Yes it is. Some of these things might seem very ordinary, but when they're happening in your own family, they are very special. Tt's the old one, that blood is thicker than water. The links of family are very important.

But actually, people within families are always struggling to find their plac...