Title: Cave
of Secrets
Author: Morgan LLywelyn
Release date: 16th April 2012
Publisher: O’Brien Press
SMUGGLERS - BOATS
CAVES - TREASURE
When Tom is rejected by his father, he finds a secret second
family among the smugglers who trade in and around Roaringwater Bay Ireland
when land-grabbing is the order of the day. Friend turns into foe, and loyalty
counts for nothing.
From his new family, Tom learns all about boats and
smuggling – and secret treasure. And then Tom discovers the best-kept secret of
all…
Tom’s parents are hiding secrets from their family. His
mother is a sad and isolated; his father spends much time away trying to find
his place in this new society and when he returns, his attitude towards Tom is
always less than favourable. Tom and his sisters find themselves stuck by the
constraints of seventeenth century expectations. But Tom finds a way to escape
the drudgery of his family life and makes friends with a young boy and his
sister, who introduce Tom to a world wholly different from his own. On this adventure
Tom proves that he is no longer a boy – can he finally get the respect from his
father that he deserves?
This is another novel which I have greatly neglected. It
disappeared down the side of my bed at my mum’s house (where I haven’t lived
for 18 months!) after being on ‘to read’ pile on the bedside table and was only
recently rediscovered. I have to say, despite a ridiculously long wait to be
read, the book did not disappoint.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure that this book would be my cup
of tea (smuggling isn’t really my thing) but as a reader committed to reviewing
a wide range of genres for my beloved blog readers, I thought I would give it a
go. IT WAS GREAT! The novel was a bit of a slow starter which gradually
increased the drama, slowly reeling me in until I was completely hooked without
even realising!
As far as plot lines go, this book has a great one. Tom’s
family have several secrets, which for me was the key to keeping me reading.
Some of these are revealed to the reader bit by bit whereas others come as
shocks at the end. I was also kept engrossed as I got to know Morgan Llwelyn’s
brilliant characters. My favourite character has to be Maura, Donal’s younger
sister, who becomes Tom’s friend at the beginning of the novel and who is
always there to offer a humorous and often intelligent comment to diffuse the
most dramatic situation, despite her young age.
Once again, as historical novels from O’Brien usually do,
the author offers us some ‘Historical notes’ at the end of the tale to give us
a better insight into the context of the story. These notes were really
interesting too! The descriptions of Roaringwater House and Donal’s cabin are based
on real homes of the period so when reading this book, I advise you to pay
particular attention to these as they give a greater depth to the story and
really set the scene of how different people lived.
I think there is something in this book for a wide range of
audiences, even if you wouldn’t normally go for something like this. There is
plenty of tension, family issues, secrets and lies and true friendships, all
set in a really colourful period of history. To me, this review seems quite unspecific
but I don’t want to give the game away! I would recommend you give this book a
go. Ignore the blurb if you think it is something that you wouldn’t like, the
novel itself is brilliant in so many ways.
5/5 A surprisingly enjoyable read. Don’t underestimate
Morgan Llwelyn’s storytelling skills!
Many thanks to O’Brien Press for sending me a copy of the
book (although this was a while ago!)
