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Love reading challenges? Check out my other blog:

2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

*January Reviews Link-Up.

*February Reviews Link-Up.

*March Reviews Link-Up.

*April Link-Up

*May Link-Up

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2023 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (4)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- Australia (3)
- Canada (6)
- England (12)
- France (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Scotland (1)
- South Korea (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
-Vietnam (1)

My Progress:


26 / 51 states. 51% done!

2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

Booklist Queen's 2023 Reading Challenge

Booklist Queen's 2023 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 52 books. 69% done!

2023 52 Club Reading Challenge

2023 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


41 / 52 books. 79% done!

2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 40 books. 68% done!

2023 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


15 / 40 books. 38% done!

2023 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

2023 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


9 / 25 books. 36% done!

2023 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2023 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

Book Bingo Reading Challenge


19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2023 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

2023 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


57 / 109 books. 52% done!

Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults!

Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults!
Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Ghostly War Bride Mystery Compelling and Hopeful

4:31 PM
 
(Image from Barnes & Noble)

In the devastating aftermath of World War II, Europe's battle-ravaged citizens are looking to the future.  They're rebuilding demolished communities, healing torn relationships, and piecing together their shattered souls.  For thousands of young women in England, France, Belgium, and other nations, hope lies across the ocean with their American G.I. husbands.  Ships, including the luxurious RMS Queen Mary, are commissioned to transport these women to the U.S.  On the vessel's maiden war bride voyage, more than a thousand eager wives and their children sail toward New York Harbor.  Among them is Annaliese Kurtz, a German ballerina married to a sadistic Nazi.  She carries a stolen passport and identification papers belonging to a dead woman.

Seventy years later, another woman at a crossroads in her life boards the Queen Mary.  Brette Caslake, a 34-year-old newlywed, hides a special gift.  She's able to communicate with Drifters, lost souls who hover in "thin" places.  While doing a favor for a friend aboard the ship, she encounters an otherworldly presence unlike any she's met before.  This Drifter points her toward a name: Annaliese Kurtz.  Official sources indicate the woman threw herself off the Queen Mary in 1946; the Drifter says otherwise.  Brette refuses to "indulge" ghosts, but this one is different.  This one demands a truth only Brette can find.

The more Brette learns about Annaliese Kurtz and the Queen Mary's war brides, the more intrigued she becomes.  Learning about their hopes and heartaches helps her face her own struggles.  In their courage, she might just find her own ...

Stories that oscillate between past and present always appeal to me, especially when they revolve around important historical periods or events.  A Fall of Marigolds, Susan Meissner's novel about two women living in New York City—one during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, the other during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011—intrigued me for that very reason.  After enjoying that novel, I was thrilled to learn that Meissner has a new book out, especially since it employs a similar format to the one used in A Fall of Marigolds.  In A Bridge Across the Ocean, Meissner indeed uses a back-and-forth-in-time structure to tell the story of a German woman desperate to escape at any cost.  Having Annaliese stow away on the Queen Mary allows Meissner to bring attention to a World War II footnote that often gets overlooked—the thousands of European war brides whose lives changed irrevocably because of their (often hasty) marriages to American G.I.'s.  While Brette's situation is interesting enough in its own right, it's the history that I found most interesting about A Bridge Across the Oceans.  There's plenty to enjoy about the book, however—sympathetic characters, tense situations, a compelling mystery, sweet romance, etc.  Although the novel deals with some dark issues, overall it's hopeful and uplifting.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this engaging author.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner)

Grade:

 

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

 

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, blood/gore, scenes of peril, and sexual content (not overly graphic, although there is a rape scene)

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of A Bridge Across the Ocean from the generous folks at Penguin.  Thank you!
Labels:,,,,,,,,,

5 comments:

  1. Jenny15 March, 2017 17:55

    I love learning bits of history I didn't know about. In a fun fiction story. Sounds like I need to check this author out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan16 March, 2017 15:48

      Me too! It's amazing how many little bits of history I've never even heard about. Makes me happy when authors bring them to light in an interesting way.

      Delete
  2. Lark 16 March, 2017 13:29

    It's the history part of this novel that interests me the most, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan16 March, 2017 15:48

      Most of the story takes place in the past, which is how I like it in these kinds of books!

      Delete
  3. Grace @ RebelMommyBookBlog18 March, 2017 04:07

    I also love past/present stories. This one and the other you mentioned sound s interesting - I added them both to my wish list!! Great review!!

    ReplyDelete

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Zero Days by Ruth Ware

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