Publication date: April 27, 2021
NetGalley
Simon & Schuster Canada
384 pages
Historical fiction, arc, digital, fiction
5/8/23-5/10/23. 5/5
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This review is my voluntary and unbiased opinion.
In 1933, Molly Ryan is an 18 year-old who wants to be a journalist but puts her dreams on hold to help support her large family during the Depression in Canada. Although her father is a police Sergeant, she drops out of school to add to the meager earnings from her brothers. She makes the most of her situation by spending time with her best friend, Hannah Dreyfus and her older brother Max. They spend time playing baseball and swimming as a distraction from the tolls of looming war. Tension begins to rise as Hilter begins his antisemitic campaign against the Jewish people. Molly is naïve regarding the dangerous effects of the antisemitic campaigns against the Jewish people, including her affection for Max. When a misunderstanding occurs between the Irish Protestant Ryan family and the Jewish Dreyfus neighbors occurs at Willowvale Park, the divide becomes evident when the largest ethnic riot in Canadian history erupts at Christie Pits.
By 1939, after years of night school and journalism classes, Molly finds herself working as the only female journalist for The Toronto Daily Star with Ian Collins as a senior reporter. She had dodged his mother's matching attempts for years and now finds herself working with every day. Her thoughts often went to Rhea Clyman, a tenacious female reporter, who work Max had shared with Molly as aspiration to follow her dreams. Now, as Canada enters the war with Britain against Germany, she reflects on the past years since the Christie Pits riot and the tragedy that shattered the of the bonds that once connected the families.
Unfortunately, by 1942 the war was imminent sending many able bodied men over seas to fight for their country. This story focuses on apart of the war not frequently mentioned as it was devasting failure of the British who sent unprepared Canadian military to Hong Kong assuring them they would be safe from gun fire. These men were sent with insufficient ammunition and training to respond to active gun fire. The Battle of Hong Kong should never have occurred but they completely underestimated the Emperor Hirohito who moved swiftly into the war ignoring the Geneva Convention. The Japanese planned an unexpected bomb attack on Pearl Harbor and swiftly moved on to the Philippines before eventually reaching Hong Kong. Those who didn't die were eventually captured and held as prisoners.
The novel explores the tragedies of war and the aftermath as experienced by the soldiers and their families. It is ripe with themes of friendship, acceptance, and the strength of the human spirit to confront and overcome emotional obstacles. There is love, loss, heart breaking experiences which will later exist as guarded stories passed on for generations. The author has done her due diligence in her thorough and painstakingly vivid descriptions of a story many would likely forget. But, like most stories about the war there are real people who fought and sacrificed their lives for their country. The stories are a testament and remembrance of those brave heroes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPj5qZZrxjH/?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1982169346&g=4400
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/letters-across-the-sea-genevieve-graham/1137251593?ean=9781982169343&bvnotificationId=a7635d5a-c177-11ee-9fa6-0e8e88ff4bd1&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=outlook.com#review/270694992
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPj5qZZrxjH/?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1982169346&g=4400
No comments:
Post a Comment