{
    "id": 452023,
    "slug": "the-maids-secret-shari-j-ryan",
    "nstc": null,
    "title": "The maid's secret",
    "subtitle": null,
    "collection_title": null,
    "collection_part_number": null,
    "annotation": null,
    "description": "Czechoslovakia, 1940: \u201cWe will always have our memories,\u201d he says, as the soldiers pull him away. \u201cYou will survive this. You are braver than you know. Remember that, always.\u201d This heartbreaking World War Two page-turner shows that love is more powerful than hatred, bravery can overcome evil, and hope is stronger than darkness.\n\nIn the middle of the night, while I am curled in Ben\u2019s arms, there is a harsh knock on the door. My blood turns to ice. The love of my life is Jewish, and I am a Romany gypsy maid; every second that we exist in Hitler\u2019s Europe, we are in danger. Every day, we have been huddling around a crackling radio, listening for news of this evil war. Every night, we have feared we won\u2019t live till dawn.\n\nThe banging continues, and we leap out of bed. I can hardly breathe as I open the door, seeing Nazis standing before us. My heart cracks as the soldiers grab Ben.\nI\u2019m powerless to stop them from shoving him into a wagon, bound for the place of no return.\n\nThe love of my life is now imprisoned in wire with thousands of other innocent inmates. For every moment he is trapped behind the gates of hell, he gets closer to death\u2014surviving on scraps of food, and forced to work in gruelling conditions.\n\nThe soldiers haven\u2019t arrested me yet, but it\u2019s only a matter of time. I vow to stay alive for Ben, not to give up hope. I\u2019ll stop at nothing to escape the enemy as they hunt me down.\n\nWith our fate in the hands of monsters, will we ever see each other again? And will our love for one another save us\u2014or kill us?\n\nFans of Fiona Valpy, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Book of Lost Names will be utterly glued to this heart-wrenching and utterly gripping World War Two novel which shows that, if you have love, you can survive anything\u2026",
    "imprint": null,
    "language_code": "eng",
    "original_language_code": null,
    "page_count": 383,
    "duration_seconds": null,
    "publication_date_first": "2022-01-01",
    "publication_date_latest": "2022-01-01",
    "cover_url": null,
    "editions": [],
    "ratings_count": 0,
    "read_count": 0,
    "review_count": 0,
    "favorite_count": 0,
    "reading_status_read_count": 0,
    "reading_status_reading_count": 0,
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    "rating_average": null,
    "ratings_distribution": {
        "1": 0,
        "2": 0,
        "3": 0,
        "4": 0,
        "5": 0
    },
    "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:53:24+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2025-10-31T00:38:23+00:00",
    "publisher": {
        "id": 4547,
        "slug": "bookouture",
        "name": "Bookouture",
        "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:14:18+00:00",
        "updated_at": "2025-09-19T15:04:57+00:00"
    },
    "contributors": [
        {
            "id": 279644,
            "slug": "shari-j-ryan-2",
            "key_names": "Ryan",
            "names_before_key": "Shari J.",
            "prefix_to_key": null,
            "contributor_role": "A01",
            "readable_contributor_role": "Author"
        }
    ],
    "genres": [],
    "subjects": [],
    "campaigns": []
}