Book Extract: The Evacuee’s Secret by Deborah Klee

Published June 6, 2025 | By Laura

I’m pleased to be welcoming Deborah Klee back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Evacuee’s Secret.

A forgotten village. A dangerous secret. A love that defies time.

In a Yorkshire village, condemned to be flooded as a reservoir, WW11 evacuee, Louise Pearson, commits a crime with devastating consequences.

A secret that keeps her away from her childhood home and her best friend and soul mate, Richard, for twenty years.

In 1965, fleeing a dangerous marriage, Louise returns to Yorkshire assuming a new identity. But the village she once knew and loved is about to be submerged to create a reservoir.

As the waters rise, so do the ghosts of her past.

Will Louise uncover the strength to face her demons and reclaim the love she left behind? Or will the secrets that surface pull her under forever?

A heart-breaking story of love, loss and betrayal.

Deborah has shared an extract from The Evacuee’s Secret with us today. We hope you enjoy.

*****beginning of extract*****

I am sharing the prologue to The Evacuee’s Secret, where we meet Louise as a fourteen-year-old evacuee in 1945. The story then moves to 1965 where thirty-four-year-old Louise has lived with a secret for twenty years. A secret that has kept her away from her soulmate and best friend Dicky. When Louise’s gangster husband threatens to expose her secret, Louise is compelled to return to Thorncrest, just as the valley is about to be flooded to create a reservoir.

*****

May 1945

Louise stood outside the farmhouse door, a cardboard suitcase at her feet. Her lower lip trembled, the lump in her throat painful. She couldn’t stop shivering; her bones felt cold as ice. Did they already know what she had done? Joan told her last night that she was being sent back to London. Louise assumed that meant she was going back home to Mum, but what if she was being sent to prison?

Louise turned to go back into the farmhouse to ask Joan, just to make sure, but the Red Cross lady came out. ‘Okay. Jump in the car.’

No goodbyes. Becks Farm had been her home, Ma and Pa, her family, since she was evacuated from London, two years and seven months ago.

One of the new farmhands whistled as he clanked a couple of milk pails across the yard. Louise didn’t recognise any of the lads and Land Army girls helping out. Milking the cows and feeding the chickens had been her job. Now, she had no place on the farm. Ma was staying with a friend in Harrogate. Louise hadn’t seen her since the day of the accident. Pa had died in hospital. The most important people in her life––gone. And it was all her fault.

There would be a post-mortem, and a police enquiry, Dicky had explained to her yesterday afternoon. The cause of the accident. The person to blame for Pa’s death. And, as Dicky pointed out, if Louise was found guilty, she could be convicted of manslaughter or murder.

‘But I didn’t mean to. I loved Pa.’ Louise had sobbed uncontrollably until Dicky took her into his arms. He was crying too. They clung to each other, as if their lives depended on it. He was her best friend. She loved him with all of her heart. A heart that was now breaking.

The Red Cross lady came out of the farmhouse. ‘You ready?’

Louise nodded. ‘Does Joan know I’m leaving now?’ Surely Joan would come out to say goodbye.

‘Yes. She’s signed the papers.’

‘Why am I being sent away? I’m needed on the farm.’

‘I understand there’s been a family tragedy. I’m sorry it’s so sudden for you, but I’m sure your own mum will be glad to have you home. Jump in. We’ve a train to catch.’

So, this was it. Dicky said she had been seen with Joan before the accident. Did Ma know she was responsible? Joan had driven Ma to the hospital, following the ambulance. What had she told her? Louise took a deep shuddering breath but could not control the sob that escaped. Of course, Ma hated her.

‘Louise.’ Dicky came hurtling through the gate. Louise’s heart leapt with joy at seeing him.

He was having difficulty breathing and bent over to get his breath. ‘I’ve summat important to tell you. I didn’t know yesterday you’d be leaving today or I would have told you then.’

‘Neither did I. Oh, Dicky. I don’t want to go. I’m going to miss you so much. I love you, Dicky.’ A week ago, she would never have said this. Dicky was her best friend, not her boyfriend, but she realised with a physical pain, as she anticipated his loss, that she loved him deeply. Never to see Dicky again was unbearable. He was part of her. He made her whole.

‘I love you too, Louise. I’m sorry. I was angry. I didn’t mean to …’

The car horn sounded, and they jumped like startled deer.

‘It’s okay, Dicky. I said lots of stupid things I didn’t mean. We’re always fighting, but I mean nothing by it. Oh, Dicky. I can’t bear it.’

The Red Cross lady wound down her window. ‘Get in the car or you’ll miss your train.’

‘But I’ve got to tell you…’ Dicky’s words were lost over the sound of the engine.

‘We’ll write,’ Louise called out of the window as the car pulled away.

They drove out of the gate and Dicky ran behind them, waving. His pale face and round-rimmed spectacles, disappearing. Becks Farm. Her once perfect life getting smaller and smaller as the car bumped along the lane. She had left a piece of her heart behind and nothing would ever be the same again.

*****end of extract*****

About Deborah Klee –

Deborah writes uplifting page-turners about friendship, community, and emotional courage. The Evacuee’s Secret is a dual timeline WW11 story; the first book in Secrets of a Sunken Village series.

Her podcast, The Mindful Writer and YouTube channel, Castaway Books, connect authors with readers; aiming to support and celebrate other creatives.

Deborah lives on the Essex coast, where she loves to walk by the sea or the surrounding countryside filling her pockets with shells, and acorns, and her head with stories.

Say hello to Deborah on Facebook, and Instagram.

Click to buy The Evacuee’s Secret on Amazon UK and Amazon US.