Author: Natasha Lester
ISBN: 978 0 7336 3465 9
RRP: $29.99
Her Mother’s Secret is a story of hopes, dreams and longing; it’s also very much a story of the society of the times.
In the closing days of the first world war Leo is making mascara in the chemist shop of a small English town and hoping to bring cosmetics into everyday life. This was a time that looked down on women wearing makeup and it was quite stigmatic. Leo dreamed of changing all that; and of creating a lipstick that lasted. She wanted to create makeup for every woman, so that women everywhere could make themselves feel beautiful. Society still believed that mascara and rouge were the warpaint of whores and harlots so they had to be purchased clandestinely, Leo wanted to change all that.
Instead of peace Armistice Day brought Spanish Flu into Leo’s small town and among the many lives it took was that of Leo’s father, having nothing left to keep her in town Leo decides to chase her dreams all the way to New York.
Her Mother’s Secret is the tale of Leo chasing that dream but it’s also the story of her falling in love and everything that encompasses when the man you fall in love with is wealthy and in demand.
There are secrets, lies and betrayals as well as more than one loveless marriage. Appearances and marriages of convenience are an important element of the society of the time, and the story.
Leo arrives in Manhattan full of dreams and big ideas but things aren’t quite so easy. Leo needs a job and somewhere that she can work on her cosmetics on the weekend, neither is easy to secure for a woman but Leo refuses to give up.
Lester has written another fiesty heroine determined to broker change for the women of her time; not content to sit back and do what is expected of her.
The synopsis tells very little of the story and there is so much going on that I don’t want to elaborate on any of that.
Leo is passionate about her cosmetics dreams and determined to see them through, she works tirelessly to make it a reality and she’s not willing to have it handed to her. She would prefer to work herself to the bone to see her dreams realised than have someone hand success to her.
Her Mother’s Secret is an intense read that I had trouble putting down, once I picked it up I was hooked. Leo was a fantastic heroine; bright, determined and loyal. Some of the other female characters were far from admirable and yet even they were redeemed in the end, most of them anyway. I had some theories about what was going on but Lester played her cards well and I was completely surprised by the way things panned out.
An insightful and well researched fictional look at life in the time between the first and second world wars. A time when women were not taken seriously.
I urge you to give this book a go and I challenge you not to fall in love with the characters, the settings and the vivid pictures Lester paints. A story of empowerment and chasing your dreams and not letting the mistakes of the past be repeated down through the generations.
Her Mother’s Secret is book #12 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2017.
Natasha Lester can be contacted on NatashaLester.com, Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks to Hachette 15 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading Her Mother’s Secret so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
Her Mother’s Secret is published by Hachette and available this April from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I thoroughly enjoyed Her Mothers Secret by Natasha Lester.
Set at the end od WW1 in 1918 we find our main character Leonora working in her father chemist shop dreaming of making cosmetics and has to do this in secret because these things were frowned upon in this time period.
I am a big fan of a historical novel and I must say this one certainly did not disappoint me at all.
Leo leaves her small English town life for New York City meeting two love interests and many interesting and compelling characters along the way.
Who would have thought that cosmetics was such a taboo topic back in the day.
A fairly long book at 385 pages but one that will drag you into Leo’s world and you will not even notice the time passing by until you are sadly at the end.
By far my favourite book I have read this year so far.
I would highly recommend Her Mothers Secret and want to say a thankyou to Beauty and Lace and Hachette for allowing me to read and review this great novel.
I don’t think I have hated a villain in a novel as much as I did in Her Mother’s Secret. I was captivated by the story (which was based on true events of the beginning of the make up industry) and the beautiful characters.and imagery I really couldn’t put this book down. Highly recommend.
Wow, this was a book I really didn’t know quite what to expect from especially when the blurb on the back is so vague. I haven’t read any of Natasha Lester’s other books but I will be reading them now as this book really had me hooked.
This book is set in the time from the end of WW1 to the beginnings of WW2 and it is an interesting look at what society was like during that time. The heroine of the story is a young lady named Leo who all she wants in life is to make cosmetics and have the world embrace them, which is easier send then done. She ends up moving to New York where succeeding at your dreams comes with a lot of hard work. This story is also a love story as Leo meets a department store heir named Everett and their lives become entwined in unexpected ways.
The book is split in to four parts which I enjoyed as each path seemed to focus on a different time in Leo’s life and mindset. Towards the end of the book we see the story change to include Everett’s daughter when she starts to face similar pressures in life that Leo faced.
This book was so well written and researched that I felt I also learnt a lot about that time whilst falling in love with Leo as she faces some horrible challenges in her life.
Do yourself a favour and read this book! 🙂
WOW…. Probably the best book I have read for a while. From the start of the story it was filled with emotion and struggles, this book was written so well that it transported the reader into the story. Written with such candor and emotion. The story with the lies and twists of love, hate, envy, resentment and loss was so believable. The story flowed well from Leo’s younger years for the next 20 years… I would recommend this book to anyone I was sorry it ended and hope there is a follow book as this story has only just begun……
I was hooked on this book from the very first chapter. Such a captivating story with likable characters, one of those books that I consciously slowed down my reading in the second half because I didn’t want to finish the book so soon! This book captures the era so believably and has a great pace through the story. Even though there is romance, I feel it carries more depth in the story than some others and as such was utterly entertaining and enjoyable to read. It’s always exciting to discover a new author and I can’t wait to track down other books from this author.
Thank you to both @Beautyandlace and Hachette Aus for the chance to read this book.