Eleanor's Secret

Part of Caroline Beecham's second novel is set in wartime London. Eleanor Roy's role at the Ministry of Food was to locate artists to paint works for the various buildings. One such artist was Jack Valente but before the conclusion of the interview he was whisked away by two man in suits.

Eleanor is later seconded to work with the War Artists Advisory Committee. Eleanor is a trained artist in a time when female artists are not valued as much as their male counterparts. The book is particularly interesting with its descriptions of this aspect of life in wartime London which has had little publicity.

In 2010 Eleanor contacts her grandaughter, Kathryn living in Australia, requesting that she return to England to locate Jack Valente. It is then that Kathryn learns of the secret that Eleanor has withheld from the family for so long.