Thank you @GetRedPrBooks & Lake Union Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of Where the Sky Begins in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection.
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Audible Studios
Published: August 2, 2022
Summary:
A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times best-selling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Tuscan Child.
London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’ world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go.
Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Awed as she is by the magnificent landscape, Josie sees opportunity. Josie convinces Miss Harcourt to let her open a humble tea shop, seeing it as a chance for everyone to begin again. When Josie meets Mike Johnson, a handsome Canadian pilot stationed at a neighboring bomber base, a growing intimacy brings her an inner peace she’s never felt before. Then Stan returns from the war.
Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again. Her newfound courage will be put to the test if she is to emerge, like a survivor, triumphant.
My thoughts:
I have read a few books by Rhys Bowen and so I was thrilled to be asked if I wanted to read and review her newest stand-alone. And when I saw it was not only set during WWII, but involved a tea shop, I knew I was in for a treat!
This book captivated me from the start. While I normally am a fan of the dual narratives in historical fiction, I love that we just get one timeline here…and it works so nicely. And not only that, we have one point of view. This just sets this book apart in so many ways. Josie is the type of character I love to root for and boy did I fall hard for her. She is feisty and strong and learns to stand up for herself when she needs to. I loved seeing her growth throughout the course of this novel.
I also loved the side characters that were introduced and how there was a bit of a mystery surrounding them. Not everyone is who they say they are and I definitely had my suspicions about some of them. I was proven right but I still loved the mystery surrounding this and how Josie was asked to help figure things out.
As with all historical fiction that I read during this time period, I did indeed walk away having learned just a little more. I think the author does a great job putting the reader in the lives of the people living in the English countryside during the war, having to deal with rations and whatnot. And what happened when people who were affected by the Blitz and left with nothing. This is the stuff that I love being able to get a feel for and reading about it gives me just that.
This is such a readable story and one that once I started, I did not want to put down. I definitely recommend this one to all historical fiction readers.
Audio thoughts:
I enjoyed listening to this one. It was narrated by Emma Griffiths and I thought she did a great job bringing the story to life. Her pacing and intonation was spot on and she infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into her voice as needed.
