Author: Michael Crummey

It isn’t often that I read a book Pat recommends – our taste in books is very different. While Pat was reading this one I looked at the summary and thought I might like it so when he was done he passed it along to my pile of books.

The story mainly takes place during the Second World War, involves two main characters – Mercedes and Wish – and is set in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Mercedes is Protestant and Wish is Catholic so right from the start there are hurdles to overcome. When the war separates them you wonder if they will ever find each other again.

There were a couple of things that stood out for me in the book. Newfoundland had not yet joined Confederation so the narration talks about Canada and Newfoundland as separate countries. Also there is a Canadian-born Japanese interpreter in the POW camp where Wish is incarcerated; it was interesting to hear his backstory and see why he might have been fighting with the Japanese army.

Overall I liked the story but found the ending too long and drawn out. I don’t always need a happy ending but I like an ending – this ending was rather vague.

Goodreads Rating: * * *