Rachel Hore has critical acclaim from sources as diverse as TV presenter Judy Finnegan and the Guardian, who describe the work as “pitched perfectly for a holiday read.” After anticipating “a compelling story of war, secrets, family and enduring love” all that was delivered was a sense of disappointment.

Her seventh novel, typical of her previous work, is set in Paris during the 1940’s and 50’s telling the story of Kitty and her daughter Fay. However, their dark secrets and hidden lives have so many twists and turns the narrative can be hard to track.

It pivots round binding memories, not shared until now, that have the power to protect them yet also to destroy their fragile existence.

Kitty, a promising concert pianist sent to study at the Paris Conservatoire as war with Germany threatens, meets Dr Eugene Knox. 25 years later and her daughter Fay, a promising violinist, goes to Paris during increasing political turmoil over Algerian refugees. She meets Adam Warner – a man she met once before on a school trip to Paris. She is, not for the first time in her life, beset with memories of déjà vu. Has she been here before?

It takes a few chapters to get going. In parts the book is rather tedious and frustrating due to the lack of progress in the story. This is unfortunate given the effort that Rachel, a trained historian, has clearly put in to authenticating the story and crafting the main female characters to the reader.

Although well researched with a remarkably detailed timeline, the pages are littered with clichés. This parody wouldn’t be complete without token romantic interests, and Gene Knox and Adam Warner seem duty bound to be there. Sadly their characters lack as much depth and colour as the main ladies.

However, I did enjoy the contrasting undertones of hope and desperation, friends and enemies, loyalty and betrayal – the juxtaposition between what seems healed and the stark reality.

One of Kitty’s friends, Milly, even comments “When peace was threatened, we discovered the shame of war. When war seemed averted, we discovered the shame of peace”

Full of romantic optimism, the story was not as compelling or as adventurous as other works in the romantic genre from the likes of Susan Elliot Wright, Alison Moore and Veronica Henry. That said it is an honest attempt to engage with the reader nonetheless.