Set in Poland in the present and during the Second World War, The Beautiful Truth is an unforgettable novel of families, heroism and of the possibilities of finding late love. For readers of Helen Dunmore, Sadie Jones and Rose Tremain.’A thrillingly observant writer and crafter of highly sensual prose’ Daily MailCatherine never knew her father. A Polish exile, he disappeared when she was a small child, leaving her only a pair of binoculars and a lifelong love of the stars. Now in her forties, she leads a settled academic life in Cambridge – until one day she receives a letter with a Polish postmark from an American film-maker who is in Krakow to research the wartime experiences of his aunt. What Konrad has uncovered will send Catherine on a voyage of discovery not only into Poland’s past, but into her own history. And what she uncovers there will change her life in ways she could not possibly have imagined.
Moving between present-day Krakow and wartime Poland, The Beautiful Truth tells a passionate and moving story of the way ordinary lives are swept up in extraordinary events. Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, it will not be easily forgotten.
Moving between present-day Krakow and wartime Poland, The Beautiful Truth tells a passionate and moving story of the way ordinary lives are swept up in extraordinary events. Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, it will not be easily forgotten.
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Reviews
'Clearly well-researched and engrossing narrative . . . beautifully written'
'Moving and insightful . . . Young, courageous and frightened Krystyna in 1939 seems just as alive as confused, middle-aged Catherine in present day. Though the two never met, how their stories intertwine reveals the tragic yet beautiful truth of secret pasts'
Praise for Hotel Juliet:
'Africa and aviation, red dust and wide, white skies . . . this romance will soon dispel those January blues . . . A thrillingly observant writer and crafter of highly sensual prose, Seaward employs the language and lore of the skies to considerable metaphorical effect . . . its richly descriptive escapism is seductive'
Hotel Juliet is a breathtaking work and a deeply moving elegy to the transitory nature of family life
A gripping evocation of love and passion amid the wild African landscape
This poignant epic is a real page-turner . . . a mesmerising, well-crafted novel
A cinematic novel of breadth and beauty, love and aviation. Superbly written, the author's descriptions, particularly of masculinity, smells and voodoo are possessed of an almost ineffable resonance.
'Hotel Juliet very quietly binds a spell on the reader and I found it unusual and absorbing'
'A poignant love story that spans two decades and two continents'
The double narrative of The Beautiful Truth switches back and forth from the present to wartime Poland, deftly highlighting the suffering of a nation that bore the brunt of atrocity from both sides