by Sharon Maas
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 430
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: India, 1940. and Rosie is devastated by the sudden death of her beloved mother. The parties, smiles and games disappear, and although Rosie is desperate to stay in her home, her father cannot look after her. All alone in the world, she is sent to Sri Lanka, to live with her mother’s friend Silvia and her three sons.
Time passes and Rosie flourishes in her new home amongst the mango trees and canna lilies. And one day, under the heat of the Sri Lankan sun, she falls in love for the first time. But her happiness is short lived, for the brutal war that has devastated families and torn Europe apart is creeping closer to their island. One by one the men depart Sri Lanka leaving Rosie with just memories and a broken heart she must hide.
As Rosie waits for letters that never come, tortured by stories of torpedoed ships and massacres of innocent families, she realizes that she cannot just sit and wait for news. She volunteers to help the army, working in military intelligence to protect her island paradise. But then her work brings shocking news that makes her blood run cold. The man she loved is missing, feared dead. Yet Rosie cannot lose hope – even as more women are left widows, more children left without fathers. But when the much longed-for news comes that the war is ended, and a limping wasted figure returns home, will one final devastating revelation tear Rosie’s world apart?
Kritters Thoughts: Rosie is a young girl at the beginning of this book and after the death of her mother, a family friend arrives to insist that Rosie come and live with her and her husband and three sons and have access to a family life full of love and opportunities that her father cannot provide alone. This is where this story starts and it moves through World War II, but from the perspective of a family in Sri Lanka and how different the worldview is from there.
This was one of those epic stories that spans some years and has a lot of ups and downs. Rosie goes through a whole range of emotions as she is living in a different home where she feels as though she only half belongs and still yearns for the home that she was born into. While at the same time a war is going on and they are wondering if it will reach their shores and if their sons will have to be involved.
I have read a lot of historical fiction and a lot of those take place during World War II, so to have a book set in a different location that I have never read about during a time that I have read a lot about was great.
This was my first Sharon Maas book and I am excited to see her future books, but also want to dive into her backlist and see what else I could enjoy by her.
Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row
Ebook 2021 Challenge: 85 out of 100
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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