Tuesday 17 September 2013

A Gathering Storm

I have a scan today to check how the healing of my heart is progressing and I have to admit to being a little nervous, which is not like me. In fact, it kept me up last night, so I was very grateful to my friend Helen for lending me just the right book at just the right time. I had picked up books by Rachel Hore in the bookshop before, but put them down again as being not quite right at the time. This week, however, the timing for her could not have been better and when I picked up A Gathering Storm I found I could not put it down again!


Sometimes we need to lose ourselves in another world. I am exhausted from the school holidays and desperately in need of total bed rest, but I find that hard to accept, so being completely and utterly sucked into another world was the best distraction possible and when I couldn't read another word, I found I could just sleep the heavy, dreamless sleep I needed because none of my own thoughts were floating close enough to the surface to keep me awake.

I love novels that have a mix of romance and mystery (as in intrigue, not murder!) and prefer them to use the flashback device! I know it's as old as the hills, but I just love the thought of being able to visit the past, really just as it was, and a well-written story will likely be as close as I will get. This tale moves from Lucy's story in the present day, trying to understand the mystery that was plaguing her father when he died, to the time before and during the Second World War and deals with the emotional fall-out of the characters' decisions during that extraordinary time.

It was extremely well researched and therefore believable in all its myriad, little details which made the people and places so real. It clipped along at a fast pace and the author has certainly attained the art of never letting you finish one chapter without wanting to start the next one. She kept me up long past my bedtime, but sometimes we all need to hide from our own realities for a little while and I can highly recommend this tome as a particularly safe haven.

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