Opening Lines with Jan Baynham: The Stolen Sister

I’m welcoming the super lovely, and ultra-talented, Jan Baynham to my place today to share the #openinglines from her brand new novel: THE STOLEN SISTER

Thank you for inviting be back to your lovely blog, Jenny.

Introduction

The Stolen Sister is my sixth novel. It has all the features which readers are coming to expect of my books – a dual timeline, contrasting locations, family secrets and two love stories. In this novel, there is also the theme of grief, resilience, sibling relationships, romantic love, a search for identity and reconciliation. It’s set in beautiful Crete in 1963 and again twenty years later, as well as rural mid-Wales. The Stolen Sister is the story of Greta, a young Welsh painter who arrives in the fictional town of Fáros Limáni to join an art commune. In 1984, her daughter Zoë travels to Crete to carry out her mother’s dying wish to have her ashes scattered into the sea there even though she knows nothing of her mother’s connection with the island. Through my words, I hope I’ve been able to take the reader on a virtual trip to this stunning island, as seen through Zoë’s eyes as she returns to the place of her birth for the first time.

Blurb

Lost letters. A secret Greek love affair. A daughter’s search for the truth.

Crete, 1963. Young artist Greta Ellis arrives at the sun-soaked port of Fáros Limáni, ready to paint and explore the beautiful Greek island.

There she meets passionate local, Andreas Papadakis, and Greta is swept up in a world of colour, freedom and forbidden love. But when tragedy strikes, Greta is forced to make an impossible choice that will change the course of her life — and her heart — forever.

Wales, 1984. After the death of her beloved mother Greta, silversmith Zoë Carter receives a sealed letter that upends everything she thought she knew. Greta’s dying wish is for her ashes to be scattered in Crete, a place precious to her . . . but somewhere she had never spoken of.

Searching through her mother’s belongings, Zoë uncovers a series of letters. Written in Greek and dated the year before she was born, they reveal a passionate love affair. And a tragedy that tore it apart.

Determined to know the truth, Zoë travels to Crete to follow the trail left behind in her mother’s letters. Through the olive groves and whitewashed villages of Crete, she begins to piece together a story of love, betrayal and loss — and discovers that her family was never what it seemed.

Perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Kate Morton, Dinah Jefferies, Santa Montefiore, Fiona Valpy, Barbara Davis, Angela Petch, Karen Swan or Anita Chapman.

First 500 Words

Prologue

North West Crete, 1967

Greta forced herself to smile as she watched her handsome new husband join in with the traditional Greek dancers, his blue eyes sparkling as he swayed his hips and dipped in time with the others as they circled the dance floor. The haunting sound of the bouzouki music filled the busy taverna above the noise of the fun and laughter of the diners. Since arriving in Crete four years before as a naive art student, she’d heard the instrument played many times but tonight there was something unnerving about the music. It seemed dissonant to her. Something wasn’t right.

She quickly dismissed the feeling when her three-year-old daughter wriggled down from her lap.

‘Me dance, too.’ Even though she could hardly keep her eyes open, the little girl ran towards the dancers who stopped and clapped, welcoming a laughing Greta and her daughter to join John in the circle. They all sidestepped and dipped, then kicked each leg in time to the music.

The meal at the taverna, situated a few miles out of Fáros Limáni, was to celebrate John joining his wife and daughter to make a new life together and to thank their American friends, Bill and Nancy, who’d helped them settle. John had left his temporary teaching job in Heraklion for a permanent post close to where they were going to live.

Returning to sit down at the table, Greta pulled the little girl onto her lap, loving how she snuggled into her and fell asleep, safe in her mother’s arms. She always looks so like her father as she sleeps. The same long dark lashes, the same beautiful face.

She looked at a smiling John, sitting next to her. How she loved her new husband! She couldn’t believe how lucky she was that life was good again . . . so why did she have a niggle of foreboding?

‘Someone’s exhausted. Shall we go?’ John stood and held out his arms to take the little one from Greta. Bill and Nancy stood to go with them.

They took the coastal road back to the port. Relieved John was driving slowly round such sharp bends and that the road was deserted, Greta relaxed into the seat behind him.

‘Not far now, sweetheart.’ John glanced in the rear mirror at the little girl fast asleep between Greta and Nancy.

A wall of rock loomed in the headlights.

Greta screamed. ‘John!’

John yanked the steering wheel in order to try to take the hairpin bend he’d been distracted from. ‘Holy shit! Hold on!’ Searing pain shot through the whole of Greta’s body as the car crashed into the cliff. She heard the thud of John’s head slamming down onto the centre of the steering wheel. Unable to move, deafening noise engulfing her — screams, the horn blaring continuously, her daughter wailing, panic in voices.

‘Oh, God.’ Bill shook his friend. John didn’t respond even as Bill shook him harder. Choked, he said, ‘I’ll get Greta out first. You lift the…

Here are some of the amazing reviews for Jan’s incredible work.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The most compelling, evocative, heart-wrenching book I have ever read.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Captivating and emotional . . . A top, top, must-read.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘One of the best sagas I’ve read in a very long time.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A novel that will transport you to Greece, with its sensory delights of sights, sounds and flavours.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The vivid imagery used to paint Greece is stunning and made me feel as if I was there. If you enjoy a multi-layered novel brimming with secrets, you’ll adore this story.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Historical fiction at its best.’

You can buy The Stolen Sister from all good retailers, including:

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Sister-powerful-emotional-historical-ebook/dp/B0GN9Z34YH/ref

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Sister-powerful-emotional-historical-ebook/dp/B0GN9Z34YH/ref 

BIO

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Radyr, on the outskirts of Cardiff. After retiring from a career in teaching and advisory education, she now writes historical fiction and sagas. Fascinated by family secrets and ‘skeletons lurking in cupboards’, Jan writes dual narrative, dual timeline historical novels that explore how decisions and actions made by family members from one generation impact on the lives of the next. Setting and a sense of place play an important part in all of Jan’s stories and as well as her native mid-Wales, there is always a contrasting location in sunnier climes. She is published by Joffe Books/Choc Lit. She enjoys meeting up with other writers, especially members of her local Cariad RNA Chapter as well as when attending talks and workshops.

X- @JanBaynham https://twitter.com/JanBaynham

Facebook – Jan Baynham Writer https://www.facebook.com/JanBayLit/?locale=en_GB

Instagram – janbaynham https://www.instagram.com/janbaynham/?hl=en-gb

Threads – https://www.threads.com/@janbaynham

Blog – Jan’s Journey into Writing https://janbaynham.blogspot.com

Amazon Page – Jan Baynham https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Jan-Baynham/author/B085DC6BKR?ref 

Many thanks for sharing your work with us today, Jan,

Happy reading,

Jenny xx