What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon Published by Lake Union Publishing on March 1, 2019
Pages: 411
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Amazon B&N
A woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything…
Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.
The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.
As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?
Amy Harmon combines science fiction with historical fiction in this unique romance.
It’s the time travel aspect that appealed to me most. Anne Gallagher unexpectedly travels back in time to 1921 Ireland at the start of the Irish Civil War. I was absorbed by Anne’s challenges in assuming another woman’s identity while adapting to everyday life in a foreign land and a time gone by. At the same time, she grapples with the implications of knowing volatile events that are yet to occur. I also enjoyed the mystery of how she fits in with the past and the present.
The romance between Anne and Dr. Thomas Smith starts off tentatively and builds beautifully. It is pure and passionate and a respite from the dangerous conflict that surrounds them.
Historic events unfold through Anne’s eyes and through Thomas’s journal entries. Ireland’s war of independence from Britain is thoroughly researched and the subject is obviously one that the author is passionate about. However, I felt a bit overwhelmed by so much information and the many players involved. The story drags in places but I continued to be invested in the characters. In addition to Thomas, I particularly liked Michael Collins, the enigmatic leader of the revolution. Anne’s relationship with the young boy she cares for melted my heart.
What the Knows is a heartwarming, educational, and thought-provoking story.
Recommended for fans of:
Ireland
History
Science fiction
Romance
About Amy Harmon
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in seventeen different languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.
Amy Harmon has written fifteen novels – the Washington Post bestseller What the Wind Knows, the USA Today bestsellers The Bird and The Sword, The Smallest Part, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as the #1 Amazon bestselling historical From Sand and Ash, The First Girl Child, The Queen and The Cure, The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and the New York Times bestseller, A Different Blue. Her latest novel, Where the Lost Wander, a historical romance, will be released April 28, 2020 by Lake Union Publishing.
I’m not into time travel, so that was more of a turn off for me when deciding to read this one. I wasn’t surprised that I liked it, though. Amy Harmon can make me like things I don’t normally. Great review!
Great review! This is on my Jan TBR, so hopefully I’ll get to it this month.