The Lost Letters of Playfair Street in Aussie Readers

Nov 27, 2020 Helen rated it it was amazing

I loved this story so very much, it was so hard to put down yet I read slowly to savour every word. Set in two time lines it is a story of love, and a game of clues that brings them closer together in the roaring twenties a time of excesses, parties and a time the world changed so much and then now as a secret love is uncovered and there are clues to follow to unravel the mystery. This is the story of Charlotte and Alex and then later Paige and Ryan, a must read, don鈥檛 miss this one.

It is 1929 a I loved this story so very much, it was so hard to put down yet I read slowly to savour every word. Set in two time lines it is a story of love, and a game of clues that brings them closer together in the roaring twenties a time of excesses, parties and a time the world changed so much and then now as a secret love is uncovered and there are clues to follow to unravel the mystery. This is the story of Charlotte and Alex and then later Paige and Ryan, a must read, don鈥檛 miss this one.

It is 1929 and the night of her engagement party, Charlotte Greene is soon to marry banker Floyd Clark, Charlotte is a very quiet young woman who doesn鈥檛 have friends but she does have her books, when she meets Alex Young one of the up and coming engineers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, there is an instant attraction, it is not long before Charlotte and Alex are playing a game where clues are left and they are sight -seeing all over the Sydney area, as their love grows things are getting harder with Charlotte engaged to Floyd and the economy changing very fast.

Paige Westwood has arrived in Sydney to help her best friend start up a new business, a country girl at heart Paige is looking forward to her new role in The Rocks Sydney, while setting up the house Xavier has bought in Playfair St Paige uncovers a few things stored in the attic, one of them being a chest filled with what appears to be love letters and clues that take the reader on a journey of Sydney. Paige contacts the previous owner Ryan Greene in England, this chest belongs to Ryan鈥檚 great aunt Charlotte Greene who mysteriously vanished in 1929.

Ryan is very interested in this discovery and finds himself on a plane to Sydney to check everything out for himself, when he arrives at the house in Playfair St Paige is stunned but is happy to welcome him in and then together they travel on a journey back in time to discover what happened to Charlotte and her lover? This is a journey filled with intrigue, lies, hope and the never failing love and another love is growing fast. There were many tears and smiles as I travelled back in time with Paige and Ryan to get to know Charlotte and Alex.

Alex and Charlotte have so much against them but love is strong, there is heartbreak and joy throughout this story, beautifully written, it pulled me in from page one, I felt a part of the story now and in the past, I loved Paige and Ryan as well and the strength they showed as it seemed so many times they would come to end of the mystery only to discover something more there are a lot of twists and turns as the truth is uncovered.

If you have never read a Michelle Montebello story then pick this one up I can assure you, you will be picking up her past books and loving them as well, she writes beautiful stories filled with emotion and love and intrigue, the research done comes through in the words, I was taken back to the 1920鈥檚 and The Rocks, it all came to life and following the clues was so much fun and I did know quite a few of them.

Thank you so much Michelle Montebello for my copy to read and review, I truly loved this one it is brilliant and I can鈥檛 highly recommend it enough.
...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2020 Nikki Sims-Chilton rated it it was amazing

This review first appeared on Beauty and Lace:
Wow 鈥� what a read! I loved this book. This book tells two stories in parallel. One of Paige (modern day) who moves to Sydney after having her heartbroken. When setting up a house as an office for her employer in Sydney, Paige discovers a chest of old letters (with the initials CG). Paige starts the journey of uncovering the story behind the letters.
The parallel story is that of Charlotte Greene (in the 1920s) ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2020 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, 2020-release, reviewing-by-request, read-on-kindle, arc, historical-fiction, gift-from-author, historical-mystery, own-read

Paige Westwood had fled Albury after heartbreaking news, preparing to establish her boss, Xavier鈥檚 new publishing business in the old rundown home he鈥檇 bought on Playfair Street, The Rocks in Sydney. As Paige surveyed the mess the old home was in, her delight in preparing it for business was foremost. Exploring the place, she was astounded at the things in the attic. And when she found a chest of letters 鈥� love letters 鈥� belonging to Charlotte Greene from 1929, she felt the tingle of excitement Paige Westwood had fled Albury after heartbreaking news, preparing to establish her boss, Xavier鈥檚 new publishing business in the old rundown home he鈥檇 bought on Playfair Street, The Rocks in Sydney. As Paige surveyed the mess the old home was in, her delight in preparing it for business was foremost. Exploring the place, she was astounded at the things in the attic. And when she found a chest of letters 鈥� love letters 鈥� belonging to Charlotte Greene from 1929, she felt the tingle of excitement rise in her. Ryan Greene lived in London, and it was he who had organized the sale of Playfair Street. She would get in touch with him to tell him of her find.

In 1929 Charlotte Greene was eighteen years of age. She was at her engagement party to Floyd Clark, a man many years her senior, a man she didn鈥檛 know, wasn鈥檛 sure she even liked 鈥� but her father and Floyd had organized it for the betterment of the Greene Steel company which was supplying steel for the build of the new and exciting Sydney Harbour Bridge. When Charlotte met the engineer for the job who was also at the party, Alexander Young, the attraction between the two was immediate. But Charlotte was engaged 鈥� she was taken鈥�

Charlotte was Ryan鈥檚 great-aunt and the mystery which had followed through generations was that she and her father, Walter had disappeared in 1929, vanished from the face of the earth. Charlotte鈥檚 brother James had been unable to find them; no one knew what had befallen them. The clues, the letters and notes in the chest, were the only lead Ryan and Paige had. But would they be able to decipher them, find the answers to the decades old mystery?

The Lost Letters of Playfair Street is the latest offering by Aussie author Michelle Montebello, and it was unputdownable! The two timeframes 鈥� 1929 with Charlotte and present day with Paige 鈥� were done extremely well. I enjoyed the history of the 1929 period with the building of the Bridge; the Depression and workers destitute; the desperation to do anything to survive 鈥� a tragic time well written. The present day was intriguing as I followed along with Paige and Ryan as they worked to solve the mystery. I loved The Quarantine Station when I read it; this one certainly didn鈥檛 disappoint. Highly recommended.

With thanks to the author for my digital ARC to read in exchange for my honest review. ...more

36 likes · Like · see review