My Review:

A very beautiful and descriptive story told in the 1920s and 2020s via Rose and Alice. Slipping between Cornwall and the Greek Island.

Its very interesting how the ladies stories interconnect, with flowers, love, loss, hope and pain sprinkled within its a recommended read.

 

Cora Matthews
Cora Matthews is the pseudonym for the historical novelist, Katharine McMahon, who has written ten acclaimed novels, including the Richard & Judy Bookclub pick, and bestseller, The Rose of Sebastopol, and two novels about a pioneering woman lawyer, Evelyn Gifford, The Crimson Rooms and The Woman in the Picture. Her latest novel The Hour of Separation, is a heartbreaking love affair set in World War Two. Katharine delights in creating stories and relationships that find echoes in the past. She loves reading, theatre and cinema, and her spare time is devoted to family, and to walking in the hills and by the sea with close friends.

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Website: https://www.katharinemcmahon.com/
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The Girl with the Stolen Rose
The Middlemist Maids Book 1
Cora Matthews
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0HBQH26MZsocial
1922: Holding my hands in his, the only father I’ve ever known whispers the words that will change the course of my life: ‘Darling Rose, my most loyal maid. I’ve spent my life collecting the rarest of flowers from around the world. But now the time has come to return them to their rightful home. Promise me you will?’

Climbing aboard a steamship bound for Greece, a precious bloom wrapped carefully in her luggage, Rose is filled with nervous excitement. She has never left her village before, never known anything outside her life at Ashbourne House. But she has made a promise, one she refuses to break, and she needs courage now more than ever.

Stepping foot onto the island of Santorini, Rose is in awe of the wild Aegean sea sparkling against the rugged coastline. This is where the delicate wild rose once grew, and where she must ensure it returns to the land. But before she can, a chance meeting with a mysterious fisherman changes her fate forever…

A hundred years later, Alice Middlemist Jones stands on the very same secluded island. Grief has taken everything from her. Now, she is on a quest to uncover the truth of her identity. Piecing together clues about her unique middle name brought her to Greece where she meets Nico, a gardener who shows her a wild rose garden hiding secrets of its own.

What can an orphaned maid and a lost young woman say to each other across a century of starry nights? What really happened to Rose? And what will this beautiful, wild Greek island teach Alice about herself?

An absolutely heartbreaking and unforgettable novel about two women’s courage, sacrifice, and unexpected journeys to discovering who they really are. This unputdownable story set by the crystal-clear waters of Greece is perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Victoria Hislop and Santa Montefiore.


ISBN: 9781807224172
Publication Date: 18 September 2026