Unspoken by T.A. Belshaw
Book Blurb:
A heart-warming, dramatic family saga. Unspoken is a tale of secrets, love, betrayal and revenge.
Unspoken means something that cannot be uttered aloud. Unspoken is the dark secret a woman must keep, for life.
Alice is fast approaching her one hundredth birthday and she is dying. Her strange, graphic dreams of ghostly figures trying to pull her into a tunnel of blinding light are becoming more and more vivid and terrifying. Alice knows she only has a short time left and is desperate to unburden herself of a dark secret, one she has lived with for eighty years.
Jessica, a journalist, is her great granddaughter and a mirror image of a young Alice. They share dreadful luck in the types of men that come into their lives.
Alice decides to share her terrible secret with Jessica and sends her to the attic to retrieve a set of handwritten notebooks detailing her young life during the late 1930s. Following the death of her invalid mother and her father’s decline into depression and alcoholism, she is forced, at 18 to take control of the farm. On her birthday, she meets Frank, a man with a drink problem and a violent temper.
When Frank’s abusive behaviour steps up a level. Alice seeks solace in the arms of her smooth, ‘gangster lawyer’ Godfrey, and when Frank discovers the couple together, he vows to get his revenge.
Unspoken. A tale that spans two eras and binds two women, born eighty years apart.
Unspoken discusses the difficulties of being a woman in 1930s society as well as modern society from the eyes of a nearly 100-year-old woman named Alice and her 20-year-old great-granddaughter. I was completely wrapped up in this story from beginning to end, and I am excited to share my thoughts with you all.
Alice was attacked and impregnated at 18, which was nearly a death sentence for a young woman in the 1930s. She already ran her father’s farm so she was never going to be ruined economically, but she needed to find a way to get the father to stay with her in some form so she wouldn’t be socially destroyed. Putting up with Frank’s increasingly erratic and violent behavior is a lot, but dealing with it while pregnant and with a sick father is almost unbearable. Now, she is 100 years old and hasn’t seen Frank in many years, and decides to tell her story to her great-granddaughter during her final days. Jessica has been having trouble with her current boyfriend Calvin, but she refuses to let him keep her away from her Nana. Now, she is determined to hear Nana’s entire story before she passes away, and hopefully, it will give her the advice she needs on her current situation.
Nana/Alice took no crap from anyone. She was made to put up with a lot between her father and her child’s father, but she never wanted to be in that situation. She even refused to actually marry Frank, as she never loved him and never wanted to be bound to him. Her farm was her farm, no matter what Frank and her dad had to say about it. She never let her bad circumstances dampen her light, and continued to push through. I loved Alice with all my heart and was addicted to her story from beginning to end. Her moments spent chatting with her best friend Amy were some of my favorite moments in the entire novel. I wanted to know what her entire life had been like, as her character defied that 1930s “happy housewife” stereotype entirely. She was strong in a time when women were expected to be quiet and submissive, and this could be seen throughout all aspects of her character. The fact that she also went through all of this through the ages of 18-20 also made me respect her character just that much more.
I also loved how it was included that her children and grandchildren shunned her in some ways. This was sad to see, but it is realistic. Women were always blamed for the breaking apart of the family, even if they did their best to keep it together. She never told anyone the full story except for Jess, so I wonder how these facts would have affected her family’s view of her if they knew them while she was still alive?
Jess’ story was a bit less interesting to me, but it was realistic and moving all the same. Calvin’s POV is written often, so you know what is going through his head while he manipulates the women in his life. I believe this is a realistic perspective of an abusive relationship, from the experience I have had of friends telling me about their own toxic relationships. It may take a long time for the partner to become physically violent with the other, but that toxic emotional abuse can truly damage a person even more. I loved how caring Nana was to Jess. She knew Calvin was bad for her, but rather than always talking badly about him and trying to force her away from him, she just showered her in care until Jess grew the strength to make the choice for herself.
This story moved smoothly and I finished around half of it in one night, then finished the other half the next morning. I can’t wait to read more historical fiction by this author.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new historical fiction read.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Unspoken discusses the difficulties of being a woman in 1930s society as well as modern society from the eyes of a nearly 100-year-old woman named Alice and her 20-year-old great-granddaughter. I was completely wrapped up in this story from beginning to end, and I am excited to share my thoughts with you all.
Alice was attacked and impregnated at 18, which was nearly a death sentence for a young woman in the 1930s. She already ran her father’s farm so she was never going to be ruined economically, but she needed to find a way to get the father to stay with her in some form so she wouldn’t be socially destroyed. Putting up with Frank’s increasingly erratic and violent behavior is a lot, but dealing with it while pregnant and with a sick father is almost unbearable. Now, she is 100 years old and hasn’t seen Frank in many years, and decides to tell her story to her great-granddaughter during her final days. Jessica has been having trouble with her current boyfriend Calvin, but she refuses to let him keep her away from her Nana. Now, she is determined to hear Nana’s entire story before she passes away, and hopefully, it will give her the advice she needs on her current situation.
Nana/Alice took no crap from anyone. She was made to put up with a lot between her father and her child’s father, but she never wanted to be in that situation. She even refused to actually marry Frank, as she never loved him and never wanted to be bound to him. Her farm was her farm, no matter what Frank and her dad had to say about it. She never let her bad circumstances dampen her light, and continued to push through. I loved Alice with all my heart and was addicted to her story from beginning to end. Her moments spent chatting with her best friend Amy were some of my favorite moments in the entire novel. I wanted to know what her entire life had been like, as her character defied that 1930s “happy housewife” stereotype entirely. She was strong in a time when women were expected to be quiet and submissive, and this could be seen throughout all aspects of her character. The fact that she also went through all of this through the ages of 18-20 also made me respect her character just that much more.
I also loved how it was included that her children and grandchildren shunned her in some ways. This was sad to see, but it is realistic. Women were always blamed for the breaking apart of the family, even if they did their best to keep it together. She never told anyone the full story except for Jess, so I wonder how these facts would have affected her family’s view of her if they knew them while she was still alive?
Jess’ story was a bit less interesting to me, but it was realistic and moving all the same. Calvin’s POV is written often, so you know what is going through his head while he manipulates the women in his life. I believe this is a realistic perspective of an abusive relationship, from the experience I have had of friends telling me about their own toxic relationships. It may take a long time for the partner to become physically violent with the other, but that toxic emotional abuse can truly damage a person even more. I loved how caring Nana was to Jess. She knew Calvin was bad for her, but rather than always talking badly about him and trying to force her away from him, she just showered her in care until Jess grew the strength to make the choice for herself.
This story moved smoothly and I finished around half of it in one night, then finished the other half the next morning. I can’t wait to read more historical fiction by this author.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new historical fiction read.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 books.
About T.A. Belshaw:
T A Belshaw is from Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Trevor writes for both children and adults. He is the author of Tracy’s Hot Mail, Tracy’s Celebrity Hot Mail and the noir, suspense novella, Out Of Control. His new novel, the family saga, Unspoken, was released in July, 2020
His short stories have been published in various anthologies including 100 Stories for Haiti, 50 Stories for Pakistan, Another Haircut, Shambelurkling and Other Stories, Deck The Halls, 100 Stories for Queensland and The Cafe Lit anthology 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also has two pieces in Shambelurklers Return. 2014
Trevor is also the author of 15 children’s books written under the name of Trevor Forest. The latest. Magic Molly The Curse of Cranberry Cottage was released in August 2015
His children’s poem, Clicking Gran, was long listed for the Plough prize (children’s section) in 2009 and his short poem, My Mistake, was rated Highly Commended and published in an anthology of the best entries in the Farringdon Poetry Competition.
Trevor’s articles have been published in magazines as diverse as Ireland’s Own, The Best of British and First Edition.
Trevor is currently working on the sequel to Unspoken and the third book in the Tracy series; Tracy’s Euro Hot Mail.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tabelshaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/T.A.BelshawAUTHOR/
Website: http://www.trevorbelshaw.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4527461.T_A_Belshaw
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3lo6uHf
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2I1xkq9
Publishing Information:
Published in digital and paperback formats on 30th July 2020
Thanks so much x
You make this book sound so good! But definitely the cover sold me on it. It’s gorgeous! It’s going on my TBR