Set between the 1950s and the late 1990s, "A Time to Tell" is the poignant story of Cara, from her dramatic attempted suicide to her roles as a smitten eighteen-year-old, unmarried mother, wife, widow and grandmother, and her final, passionate reunion with the man she has always loved. It is also the parallel tale of Cara's prodigal son Benjamin and his daughter Penelope, whose unhappy relationship with her father has led her into marriage with a man whose own dysfunctional family have turned him into a person who at first seems strangely attractive, but turns out to have a dark and terrifying side...Rich in colourful characters and pertinent social themes, "A Time to Tell" is an eventful and often disturbing tale of the pain and pleasures of family relationships.
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More About the Author
Maria Savva was born in North London, UK in 1970. She studied Law at Middlesex University and The College of Law. She is a lawyer. She has always loved creative writing and began writing her first novel in 1997 when she was 'in-between jobs'. Published works: 'Coincidences' 2001,'A Time to Tell' 2006, 'Pieces of a Rainbow' 2009,'Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales)' 2010, 'Second Chances'2010, 'Cutting The Fat' 2011(co-author Jason McIntyre),'Fusion' 2011, 'Flames' a short story, included in 'The BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology-Volume 1' 2011, 'The Dream' 2011, 'Isolation', a short story, featured in 'The BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology - Volume 2' 2011. She is currently working on her fifth novel, a crime fiction story.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everyone deserves a second chance,
By
This review is from: A Time To Tell (Paperback)
How long can secrets and lies stay buried, and what damage can they do to innocent lives? A Time To Tell explores fifty years in the life of Cara Hughes. Cara's doomed love affair and suicide attempt are a riveting start to the book, and author Maria Savva launches us into the family's problems fifty years later. Widowed and disabled, Cara is shunted from her granddaughter Penelope's home when Penelope's husband escalates his abusive behavior. Two of Cara's children are embroiled in their own family problems, and her son Benjamin has been missing since he assaulted his own wife years before. Cara's only choice is to return to the small English town where she grew up, to stay with her sister from whom she is long estranged after a betrayal in their younger years.The tightly tangled strands of this family's past are teased apart in response to the turmoil of the present. As long-hidden truths are revealed, denial and confrontation explode and redemption is by no means assured. But even when the story is at its darkest, the family holds its course to find the truth at the origin. Savva's narrative style is simple and low-key with much of the complex back-story revealed in dialogue. There is a great deal of high-drama action, and though the events of the story create their own dramatic tension, the tone does not vary with the emotional content quite as much as I would have preferred. Yet this makes for a fast, story-centered read that I could not put down. In real life we may or may not get a second grab at the brass ring, but A Time To Tell had me believing in the possibility. Cara and her family peel back the layers until they find a core of truth and love. Like the characters in the book, the reader is rewarded. I congratulate Maria Savva on this absorbing family saga. Linda Bulger, 2008
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to Mend a Broken Heart ...,
By
This review is from: A Time To Tell (Paperback)
Maria Savva writes beautifully. What is most outstanding in this book is how the author so compassionately and sensitively weaves some dark secrets into the plot about family and human relationships. With depth and complexity, she tells about the life story of Cara from her teenage years, well into adulthood and into her old age. The story captures the reader's attention from the first. It starts with a suicide attempt by Cara when she was around 18 years old, fortunately she was rescued. She awakens and a young man named Billy is hovering over her. She believes he rescued her. Later, their friendship turns into love and they marry ... and have several children, all of whom have ginger colored hair, like their parents *except* for Benjamin,the oldest, who has piercing eyes and jet black hair. Billy is certain Benjamin resembles his own grandmother who had the same black colored hair. Benjamin suffers terribly for "being different" as bullies in the schoolyard pick on him and he buries his anger ever more deeply, unable or unwilling to tell his parents. He becomes a difficult angry young man ...with behavior problems.What Billy never knew is why Cara attempted suicide. The fact is, the rescuers may all have interpreted the event as an accidental fall over a cliff. Not long before the suicide attempt, Cara had met a handsome young man named Frederick. They saw each other secretly for several months, it turned into a physical love affair. And then a bomb was dropped, Frederick told Cara he was already married and had a family. She was devasted, not just because she fell in love with him but because she discovered she was pregnant with his child. He never had a chance to find out ... Next, Cara is in her 70s and reminiscing about her life. She has multiple sclerosis and is wheelchair bound, living with her granddaughter Penelope. Unfortunately, she often hears yelling between Penny and her husband Dave. Often, it is so loud, she turned the sound up on the television to drown out their words. Cara asked Penny about this but Penny dismissed it as nothing ... until one day, Penny packed up the children, told Cara also to pack her things, that they were moving to Huddlesea (where Cara had lived as a child and grew up). Penny tearfully admitted her *true* problems with Dave. In Huddlesea, Penny dropped Cara off to live with her sister Gloria ... to whom she had not spoken in about 50 years. No one in the family knew why they had a falling out. Cara felt abandoned and hoped she cold tolerate the arrangement, otherwise she would call her daughter to get her (despite there not being enough room to live at her daughter's house). As a teenager, Cara had shared personal information about her best friend Bea (Beatrice) with Gloria, hoping for some good advice to help her best friend. Instead, Gloria spread some awful news about Bea. It is very sad how Bea died ... Cara blamed Gloria. The author brings together these two elderly sisters after about 50 years and helps each one understand the problems they were grappling with emotionally which were not shared at the time. After fifty years, they learn about each other's thoughts and feelings and why each did what they did. Most fascinating and astonishing is how the author pulls Benjamin back into the family's life. Benjamin had in anger pushed his wife down the stairs and stormed out of the house, never to return. After fifteen years, Cara discovers her long lost son Benjamin and learns about his new life. Most surprising of all, is how Cara's first true love, Frederick returns into her life. It is through an astonishing coincidence related to Penny's life that he meets Cara again. Initially Cara opposed meeting Frederick after so many long, lost and painful years of separation. Yet, after she listens to him, she views past events from an altogether different perspective. Time may not heal all wounds but a loving sensitive person who reenters one's life ... just might. This is a most highly recommended book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
These are the days of her lives,
By Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: A Time To Tell (Paperback)
Family secrets abound in this saga, which spans more than fifty years of the life of Cara Hughes. Beginning with the trauma of her first romantic relationship and her subsequent attempted suicide, the story traces the circuitous journey through marriage, motherhood, illness, old age and the interaction that occurs along the way.Her relationship with her sister is strained due to an incident that occurred while Cara was a teenager, and she suddenly finds herself having to face the past when the two are thrown together after years of animosity. As the layers are peeled away, dark secrets start revealing themselves until the truth is finally out there. Cara's children and grandchildren also have tumultuous lives, into which not only rain shall fall, but also abuse, illness and even more secrets hidden from each other and the rest of the dysfunctional family circle. A bit long-winded in places, and with some uneven dialogue, this novel has so many characters that you may need to make notes to keep them straight. However, it succeeds in reinforcing the concept of the strength of the family unit even in times of adversity, and that first love, never, ever, ever dies. Rated: 3.5 stars Amanda Richards, March 29, 2008
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