The Tree of Lost Secrets — Lynne Kennedy

Helen Ainsley is a best-selling mystery writer struggling with cancer. She begins to doubt her storytelling ability, so to restore her confidence, she returns to her childhood home in rural Vermont in hopes that the serenity will rekindle her imagination. Ainsley Hill Farm was originally an Inn dating back to the American Revolution. With a new-found friend, an old golden retriever, and an ancient sugar maple, Helen's life is about to change. The majestic tree acts as a portal into past injustices, and Helen must bring closure to the lost memories of the dead. An ambitious and adventurous story, The Tree of Lost Secrets is a masterpiece of historical mystery.Helen moves back in time to events that were tragically impactful throughout human history. She finds herself thrown back into bloody battles of World War Two, Italy and the anti-Nazi partisan movement. She then moves back to World War One, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Halifax explosion, which obliterated the city in an instant and took thousands of lives. Next, Helen learns that Brattleboro was a stop on the Underground Railroad and runaway slaves used the Inn as a sanctuary on their journey north. Finally, she returns to the Inn's early days during the Revolution, where she discovers that her ancestors played a significant and dangerous role in the survival of the thirteen colonies.Through her venerable maple tree, Helen finds her own storytelling artistry re-emerge as she sets out to immortalize the heartbreaking past of the Ainsley Hill Inn.