by Amy Harmon
Overall: “She must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find.” This sentence from the blurb for What the Wind Knows, would normally make me take a pass on a book. I’m not big on romance, but enough people had mentioned the time-travel and historical fiction aspects of this book that I decided to dive in anyway. Following the death of her beloved grandfather Eoin, Anne Gallagher returns to Ireland to scatter his ashes but finds herself mysteriously drawn back in time to 1921. Reunited with her grandfather, a child, her appearance leads everyone to believe she is his lost mother, also called Anne. Anne is fascinated to be back in this period and finds herself falling for Thomas, Eoin’s adopted father, despite not knowing how long she has until she returns to her real life.
Likes: This book has lots of historical detail about life in rural Ireland in the 1920s and was a good reeducation about the events leading up to the creation of the Irish Free State. The alternating storyline with Anne’s perspective and then Thomas’s through his journals worked well. I enjoyed getting to know historical figures like Michael Collins better. The ending was satisfying without diminishing the mystery of the time travel or creating any truly ridiculous paradoxes (always a risk with time travel).
Dislikes: The first half of the book, when Anne arrives in 1921, dragged. A lot. I put the book down several times. I’m glad I finished it, as the pace picked up in the second half. The romance was a bit swoony for me, and Thomas suffered a bit from what I call “perfect man syndrome” – handsome, rich, morally upright, etc. Great for those who enjoy that, but not my cup of tea.
Bottom line: I liked it enough to finish it, but I don’t know that I will be picking up a similar book anytime soon.
FYI: assassination, violence, attempted murder, loss of a grandparent, loss of a family member.
Liz Helfrich 