I’m really delighted today to be helping launch the blog tour and sharing my review of the latest book from Rachel Sweasey, The Island Girls: published today (21st October) by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), as an audiobook, and in paperback. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
And once again, a new-to-me author today. With my rediscovered love of historical fiction – and I’m always particularly partial to a dual timeline – I’m not at all sure how I managed to miss Rachel’s first book with Boldwood, The Last Boat Home (just 99p, or free via Kindle Unlimited). Although, to be fair, I did spot it before release and bought a copy to catch up with later, the Dorset setting (I had the loveliest holiday on the Isle of Purbeck a couple of years ago…) only adding to the appeal of its wartime story. As soon as I saw the synopsis of her latest, I knew this was a book (and author) I just had to read this time – let’s take a closer look…
1941: For the townspeople of Poole on the Dorset coast, the war feels like it’s right on their doorstep. And with more and more men leaving to fight, one fisherman’s daughter is determined to do whatever she can to help. Peggy volunteers to use her skills on the water to work with the flying boats alongside the RAF based in the harbour. But when she is asked to undertake a special mission, she will have to make a terrible choice – between her duty to her country and her only chance of happiness.
1998: Rebekah has travelled halfway around the world to take up a role on Brownsea Island. This tiny island off the coast of England is a treasure trove of natural wonder, but it still carries the scars of fighting. And when Rebekah discovers a lost letter from the war, hidden all this time, she becomes determined to deliver it, fifty years later.
But the idyllic Dorset harbour hides many more secrets, and Rebekah’s search for the truth will change her life in ways she never imagined possible…
I was absolutely fascinated by the historical backdrop to this story – Poole Harbour becoming the only wartime civilian airport in the UK (for a while) with BOAC’s flying boat operations, the links with the Harbour Heights Hotel and Poole Pottery’s showrooms, the Australian RAAF squadron based nearby, Brownsea Island as a clearing station for Dutch and Belgian refugees. In her notes (at the book’s end) about the historical detail and which elements were fact or fiction, she says that her research was “deliciously addictive” – and I was so caught up by her enthusiasm that I went down a Google rabbit hole of my own for a while too, wanting to read more. But it takes an author with vision and imagination – and wonderful storytelling skills – to weave that background into such an engaging dual time story, with two perfectly balanced storylines and such well developed characters, that I found entirely impossible to put down.
In 1941, Peggy – the daughter of a fisherman, so very familiar with boats – is a volunteer, ferrying passengers to and from the flying boats using the harbour. The possibility of romance with an Australian airman has to be put on hold when she’s tasked with a mission – to get closer to a new arrival on her team, whose presence on the night of a precisely targeted bombing has raised suspicion that he might be a German spy. The story that then follows is drama-filled, as his personal history and true identity becomes clearer, and Peggy’s sense of duty and personal bravery drive her actions – edge-of-the-seat writing at its very best, but very engaging at an emotional level too.
In 1998, Rebekah – born in Brisbane, but drawn to Dorset by the stories told by the neighbour she knew as Aunty Pig – is working as a wildlife ranger for National Trust, living and working on Brownsea Island. Her solitary, close-to-nature life is one she enjoys, and she looks forward to the daily departure of the visitors and other guides, allowing her to be at peace with her surroundings. Until Paul appears – a historian, marooned on the island, who she finds it surprisingly easy to both like and trust. Growing closer as she helps him with his research, they find an intriguing wartime letter than never reached its intended recipient – and together, with the links between the two storylines becoming increasingly clear, they set out together to make sure that it is finally delivered.
The shifts between past and present day stories are perfectly handled – very smoothly done, cleverly linked, and never a single moment when I would have preferred to remain with the one I was reading. There’s real depth to the characterisation – and not just Peggy and Rebekah, but every individual who plays their part in their stories – and the author’s emotional touch is simply perfect. There’s a wonderful sense of place to both past and present – the author’s depth of research is used as it should be, to bring the locations (and the era, for the wartime story) so vividly to life. And I really enjoyed the slow reveal, the uncovering of so many secrets as the pieces fell into place – it was a story I found both moving and totally captivating. And Rebekah’s developing romance? That was really rather lovely too.
The story that unfolded has stayed with me long after reading the final page – this really was a rather special book that I couldn’t recommend more highly, and I’ll very much look forward to reading more from its talented author.
About the author
Rachel Sweasey is a historical fiction novelist. She lives in Australia, where she was born to English parents, but bases her fiction in Poole where she grew up, which provides inspiration for her WW2 stories. Her first book for Boldwood was The Last Boat Home.
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Dorset is one of my favourite counties. This sounds like my kind of story.
And I really think it might be one you’d enjoy Rosie!