From a Distance

by Raffaella Barker

One of Britain’s favourite chroniclers of life and the rural dream returns with a compelling story of a family divided by war.

April, 1946. Michael, a soldier, returns to Southampton on a troop ship. Brutalised and in shock, he cannot face the life that awaits him at home. Impulsively he boards a train to the western tip of Cornwall, where his life is shaped by his heart and the fragmented Britain he has come back to.

More than half a century later, Kit, an enigmatic stranger, arrives in Norfolk to take up an inheritance he doesn’t want – a de-commissioned lighthouse, half hidden in the shadows of the past, now sweeping its beam forward through time. According to Kit, his life is complete, and he doesn’t wish to see anything the lighthouse’s glare exposes. But the choice is out of his hands.

Luisa, a second generation Italian, has so far lived through her children and has reached a point of invisibility. The constant push and pull of family life has turned like the tide, and she is suspended, without direction. Kit and Luisa meet and neither can escape the inevitability of Michael’s split-second decision at the Southampton docks.

Moving between the post-war artists’ colony around St Ives in Cornwall and present-day Norfolk, Raffaella Barker’s new novel explores the secrets and flaws that shape our interactions across generations. From a Distance is a tender and compelling story of human connection and the yearning desire we have to belong.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Family, British Literature

336 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 2014

About the author

Raffaella Barker was born in London in 1964 and moved to Norfolk when she was three. Her father, the poet George Barker, had 15 children; she is the oldest of those by the novelist Elspeth Barker.

She spent her childhood in Norfolk sulking and refusing to get dressed, going everywhere in her nightie. She recalls worrying about how to respond at school when asked how many brothers and sisters she had. She did not know the answer.

After Norwich High School, Raffaella Barker moved to London and did life modelling and film-editing. She landed a job on Harpers & Queen magazine and later freelanced as its motoring columnist. For 10 years she wrote a column for Country Life about her week.

Her debut novel Come and Tell Me Some Lies was published in 1994, followed by The Hook, Hens Dancing, Summertime, Green Grass, the children's book Phosphorescence and A Perfect Life.

Divorced, she lives in Norfolk with her three children aged 17, 15 and eight.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to have a bitch about Internet Archive - I would guess about 90% of my reads come from there - and in the last couple of months nearly everything that I have read and wanted to read is now listed as "Borrow Unavailable" - apparently they are going through a big copy-right law case?

Does anyone know anything about this - does anyone use Internet Archive? For me it was a fabulous resource. Here I am in the middle of nowhere Portugual - the local libraries don't stock English books, and the local bookshop ditto. The nearest useful bookshop would be in Lisbon/Lisboa.

So I have turned my attention to Kindle - which I've also discovered has a lot of titles - that are "Not available" - basically a lot of books I would like to read.

I don't want to order anything from the big A.uk because anything coming across the water into the European zone is indefinitely held up in Portuguese customs, so I have resorted to scanning titles from the Big A's flatform across Europe - Spain, France, Germany etc; and comparing prices and postage for books in English.

The above book - I started to read, and I was distracted by olive-picking which requires a dedicated and fast attention span - I put this aside for a few days and when I returned to it discovered that is is now "Borrow Unavailable". I had read about 75% but to be honest I was flagging. Barker clearly has had a boost in her literary career from being the daughter of the famous poet George Barker. My observation of her writing would be that she has talent and yet has bent it into a rather convoluted plot emphasising romance and expensive English locations - Cornwall and the Norfolk coast - with pretty families to follow. So, on this occasion I suppose I should thank Internet Archive for preventing me from wasting anymore time on Ms Barker.

Friends - anyone else facing a similar dilemma in sourcing their reading material? I loved, LOVED, loved Internet Archive - it was a free online library with millions of titles. Does anyone have any information about the future of Internet Archive - you do get an update from them if you write in - whereby they say - 'sorry, problems due to the court case'.

Thanks folks, if you read this.

[Noa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, cute book. Superslow but it felt relaxed as opposed to boring. Not usually what I like but it just worked I guess. This was a book about these mid-life characters who are a bit lonely, you know them. But I was relieved to find out they weren't so damn MOPEY all the time. You know these books where the main characters just mope around all day, do nothing or do something stupid, and just don't say anything to anyone? These people all had their issues but they went out the door, accepted help, enjoyed talking to others. So refreshing. BEING MOPEY ISN'T THE SAME AS BEING DEEP.

SPOILERS below

I was so happy to discover the family ties and the lack of cheating. So often cheating is made out to be romantic but it just isn't. Fall in love with someone else? Tell. Break up. Face your shit. Or don't do anything. These characters were aware of that, and that was nice, although a bit confrontationless. But I'm ok with that.

[Alison Cubitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My hardback review copy of Raffaella Barker's latest novel From a Distance (released May 2014) came courtesy of a Goodreads giveaway. And what a beautifully packaged book it is too. David Mann's jacket designs are gorgeous and this one is no exception.
From a Distance has two parallel stories. The first starts in 1946 when returning soldier Michael gets off his ship in Southampton and instead of turning right to go home to Norfolk, where his parents and unexciting girlfriend Janey are waiting, decides he can't face life with them yet and turns left to Cornwall.

The contemporary story is told from two different points of view – the first is Luisa's and the second is Kit's. A mother of three, Luisa is consumed by her busy domestic life at Green Farm House. She worries about her eldest daughter who has flown the nest on a gap year. A gap year? On a teacher's salary when a three year degree now costs £27,000?
Luisa is half Italian and descended from a family whose business was ice-cream. Since her eldest left home she's been busy working on a food start-up, resurrecting the family ice-cream business. And it is the foodie descriptions of making ice-cream which I enjoyed the most about this book, and where I felt that the writer really lets rip describing these pleasures. Food, it seems, is Luisa's substitute for a satisfying love life.

Her teacher husband, Tom seems distant and busy with work. His pet name for Luisa is Tod and he pats her on the shoulder and says stuff like, 'good effort, Tod,' No wonder she's interested when Kit from Cornwall walks into her life.

Kit runs a successful textile business and has been so busy with work that he's had no time for love since his wife died. His mother left him a lighthouse in Norfolk, tenanted and taken care of by a lawyer. He's been too busy (and presumably wealthy enough) until now to bother to even go look at his new holiday home. Lucky old Kit.

This book is beautifully written with lovely descriptions and details yet is let down by characters who don't seem to have any flaws and there are occasional weaknesses in some of the dialogue too. The pace of the two stories is too slow and I skipped some of the more introspective parts of the historical story in the first half. It was either that, or give up and it isn't until the last third that there is any real momentum to the story.

When Luisa and Kit meet at the lighthouse the meeting seems forced. Luisa catches Kit talking to the trespassing sheep and for some strange reason, 'he decided to call them all Virginia.' And then he starts to talk to one and introduces himself with a 'do you like it here, Virginia?' Most women would have beaten a hasty retreat by now, but Luisa isn't so easily put off. There is a lot of banter in this scene with dialogue that is both clumsy and awkward. There are only so many gags you can make about trespassing sheep and there is little here that drives the story or reveals character, which I found irritating.

There are a number of references to Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Kit's mother had an inscribed copy, the inscription which reads: 'I still dream of you.' Kit has never read the book 'and probably wouldn't do now, he'd never been keen on those novels about nothing much.' And of course there's the lighthouse on the book cover, with its potent sexual imagery. And for some odd reason Luisa too has a sudden thought about Virginia Woolf when trying to balance a toy lighthouse on one of her showstopper desserts at Kit's housewarming.

While I bought into Luisa's life I found it harder to be convinced by some of Michael's introspection in the post-war story. Some of his concerns seem to be rather too 21st century for a returning soldier. Michael's love interest in Cornwall is fabric designer Felicity. Michael frets that he doesn't belong in that world of the artists' community but the trouble is I am none the wiser what that world was from this novel. Michael is happy with his life with Felicity and when his son is born his life should be complete. Yet it is at this point he decides it's now time to go back to his old life in Norfolk, a motivation, which I don't really comprehend. So he abandons his son, which his girlfriend accepts without so much as a murmur, yet alone a demand for financial support and Michael returns to Janey and has two children with her. Janey too is the forgiving sort and lets Michael off the hook by telling him he doesn't need to tell her what he's been up to in Cornwall.

In the contemporary story, Luisa and Kit continue to flirt by text message as Luisa by now has the hots for her new neighbour and him with her. Luisa frocks up in her most revealing dress and they dance together at Kit's housewarming party while Tom, Luisa's husband barely notices.
But the big reveal of the story means it's impossible for these two to be together, which is a big let down. This is, after all, Middle England. Luisa has to put her sexuality away and button up her cardigan and go back to making different flavours of ice-cream. Yet it was Luisa herself who tells us, 'today, Luisa found she was suffused with a gnawing regret for the things she had never done. She hadn't ridden a motorbike, she hadn't lived in another country, and she hadn't kissed the wrong man.' You just wish she had.

[Kay D · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminded me of lazy summer evenings, sitting in the garden with friends and family, chatting about nothing of consequence into the smal hours and watching the sun rise again the next morning. It had the same sleepy quality to it, where things moved at their own pace and nothing was rushed.

I entered the Goodreads givewaway to win this book as I was interested in the way in which the strands of the story would mesh together. The two main locations in the book - Cornwall and Norfolk - are both places I am very familiar with and I thought the atmosphere and character of the two places was wonderfully portrayed. Again, it's the relaxed pace of life that is very endearing.

Unfortunately, the whole storyline has this kind of pace and pleasantness to it that didn't really give it much of an edge. There was no conflict, no crisis (other than that related to sheep or ice-cream), no unlikeable characters (everyone was pleasant and relaxed). One surprise at the end which, for me, failed to shock or alter the pace of the story.

The way the elements of the story merged together often felt forced. There were also a few unanswered questions - at the beginning of the story Michael made it clear he had to leave Cornwall, but never explained why (unless I missed this?), and his partner accepted this. It was as though the author was shying away from any negativity by making everything that happened absolutely fine. Another example of this was Kit and Luisa's first meeting, where, within minutes of meeting, Kit was feeling her clothing? In what way is this not creepy behaviour? I would've been out of there. But here, it was all fine.

The way in which the story was written was also slow-paced, and relied a lot on characters' reminiscences. There were so many passages devoted to characters recalling events from years past. It slowed the story to the point of nothing happening. If people are standing around thinking about times past, they aren't doing anything. There is no action. Even (potentially) the most active scene in the story, the party at the lighthouse, was told in recollections. This was disappointing, as I thought by this stage that we were getting somewhere. Some of the descriptions were very nicely written, but the main points I can recall now were to do with ice cream, a van and some sheep. The main point of the story got swamped by little details.

The dialogue was at times jumpy and difficult to read, with characters taking tangents that were at times irrelevant. There were also a few continuity issues that made the writing seem a bit sloppy in places.

A note on the book itself - I was quite concerned that, if this is the finished copy of the book, there were a distracting number of errors. These were mainly missing words but there were also some sentences that appeared to have at least two words in the wrong order. This definitely needed a final check-through before it was issued.

To conclude, I didn't completely dislike this book, it just wasn't the book for me. I like a bit more action involving at least one troubled character. This was all a bit too nice.

[Jill's Book Cafe · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a Distance tells the stories of 3 main characters Michael, Kit and Luisa.

Michael’s story starts in 1946 when as a soldier he returns to Southampton on a troop ship. Finding himself unable to return to his native Norfolk he boards a train to Cornwall. Kit and Luisa’s story are set in present day Norfolk. Kit is a confident and successful businessman who arrives to take up an unusual inheritance, while Luisa is settled with a family and is struggling to re-assert her own identity as her children grow up.

The story alternates between Cornwall and Norfolk as we learn what happened to Michael and how his decisions have major implications for Kit and Luisa in the present day. It was a pleasant, comfortable read which really I enjoyed. I particularly liked Luisa, probably because it was easier to identify with someone whose life had been largely given over to her husband and children, until she almost ceased to exist as herself. Her sense of self and personal creativity seemed to be exclusively channelled into her passion for making ice cream. The arrival of Kit however awakens her latent feelings for life and love and she begins to blossom as the woman she once was.

I had more difficulty in understanding Michael, I could see why Michael was loathe to return back to his family and fiancé after the rigours of war, but I had difficulty in accepting that having settled with Felicity and having a son, he should suddenly feel he had to finally do the right thing and return home. I can understand the pull of belonging to a place and the ultimate belief in the family, but not when faced with a new son. I would have preferred some sort of compromise. Similarly it was hard to see how Felicity could be so accepting of his actions. She might have been part of an artists’ group and possibly seen as more avante garde, but this was still England in the 1940’s and if nothing else, financial support would have been an issue. That said, it did not really diminish my enjoyment of the book, it just stretched my credibility a little, it might well be perfectly credible for other readers.

Without spoiling any of the plot the denouement brings the past and the present together in a way that while hinted at, had a final twist. I suspect many readers though might have preferred an alternative ending for Luisa.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Boorrito · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

This book was a misfire for me. The chapters set in post-war Cornwall kept my attention but eventually suffered from the same weakness that the parts in modern day Norfolk did, which was a complete avoidance of conflict. I don't mean that everything should have ended in EastEnders style bust-ups, but every revelation in this book seems to be calmly accepted by all those involved, almost as if Barker decided that once she'd built up to a conflict she didn't actually want her characters to go through with it because everyone was too nice.

I also nearly gave up after the first chapter from Luisa's point of view. I understand that her development from being an ignored push-over to a woman who people notice again was part of the plot, but it was like wading through molasses to read. The introduction of Kit picked the pace up after that chapter, but not enough to make up for everyone being too nice and the avoidance of conflict.

It's a shame because I really liked Barker's depiction of Cornwall, and I think Felicity was an interesting character. In fact, I found her the most interesting character. I wish the story had been focused on her and then with Felicity building her business instead of being told how she did by Kit.

Beautiful cover though!

[Caitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan. Thought I would enjoy a lot more than I did. Not even sure if I finished the book to be honest...

[Phoebe Figalily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I overall enjoyed this book, though found it frustrating. Not everything went the way I felt it could have - although perhaps it went the way it should have. I don't have to love it, even though I "get" it. Mostly. For what was a rather quick, easy read, with characters that honestly didn't have quite enough solidness to them in my opinion (I personally was never really able to "see" them with my mind's eye), I did find myself emotionally invested, especially with Michael and Felicity's story. I liked them and their world and baby Kit more than the modern day character's world and grown Kit and their story.

A tad redundant as far as Luisa's life, inner life, and ice-cream creations. I was frustrated that we never heard from Tom, but by the end of the book I realized that the point was Luisa. It was what connected her to Kit, separated her in a way from Tom, and it all needed to be from her perspective. If we had heard Tom's point of view, things may have gotten too murky. It would have altered that part of the story too much.

"I think if it wasn't for you guys being here, I would put the Lighthouse on the market, but as it is, it feels like some day this could be a new chapter", Kit tells Tom. I can't see Kit living amongst them. Visiting yes, obviously, but not living there. How do you get past what transpired between Luisa and him? Even though the characters (a.k.a. the author) never confront it head-on, the adults all "know". It's definitely, tangibly, "there". Would it dissipate with time, or grow stronger?

What it boils down to with Michael, I realize, is what he sees as paying honor to his original duty. Kudos. On the other hand, he makes a woman fall madly in love with him, then leaves her to raise their son alone. That seems rather counterproductive to the concept of duty. On the other hand, it seems that Felicity knew he would not stay. She seemed to understand that he was fighting his demons, and doing so in order to return to his old life. A big part of me (and my modern-day perspective) feels that it was unrealistic that Janey had waited all those years for Michael. Especially when there was no word of or from him for so long. Then again, back during the time of WWII people certainly were more dedicated to one another than they are nowadays. She obviously saw it as her duty to be there for him. Part of me gets all of this, but so much of me thought there certainly was room for a compromise somehow. There HAD to be a better way. I don't know. Then I guess the story would, again, have been too altered.

Americanogig's 7/2016 review sums things up nicely. "Perhaps duty should triumph over happiness, perhaps happiness over duty. Depending on how you feel, this might or might not be a satisfactory book for you."

[NickeySummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her books, this one had a bit more depth than some, but was still an easy read. Set post WWll and then present day, the story tells of one man and his struggle to find his place in the world after the atrocities of war. The choices he makes and the people he meets effect all around him for good and not so good. I found the decisions he makes tough to understand tbh, his moral compass is strong and despite falling in love he does the ‘right’ thing in the end, maybe? Then she throws a wee flirtatious scenario in in modern day, that again brings morals into account.
Over all a very enjoyable and moving story.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've loved some of Barker's other books but sadly not this. All the characters were quite bland and underdeveloped. I felt like the story in wartime Cornwall was the real heart of the novel and could have been really fleshed out but was wasted. The modern day characters were mostly irritating and flat. I felt that the writing here was not as good as she had done previously; the metaphors predictable and sometimes cheesy. I finished it out of a sense of loyalty and feeling that it might improve but was disappointed.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much about the ice cream. Some weird flavours mentioned too.
Kit's announcement came very suddenly and wasn't fully explained, partly because Luisa wasn't listening so the reader wasn't told either, and suddenly everything fell flat with hardly any plot continuation.
Dora's part seemed superfluous, as did a few others.
Not one of her best.

[Ellie Strasburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay but did not stand out to me much. It is a good family drama story, but not enough to give this book more than 3 stars lowkey. Still a good read though if you are looking for a quick book to get through.

[Flint · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first I've read by Raffaella Barker ... great read.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

ladies mag quality

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good you don’t want to finish it!

[Nicole Hartig Koobear Siberians · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet book ... easy read

[Philister Kazira · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

[Gusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining plot. Weak ending.

[Petra Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow read, despite 3 stars I have enjoyed. Ideal summer read.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads first reads for this book which I applied for as was intrigued as to how the two time period would flow.

I found it to be an enjoyable easy read and the two time periods flowed together easily although overall it was slow and everyone was just too 'nice', I felt it could have been more that it was.

Many of the characters were lacking in depth. I could understand Michael's feelings as to why he was unable to return directly to Norfolk and instead pitched up in Cornwall but why did he feel such an outsider with regards to the artists community? this was never really explained and could not have been purely because he felt he wasn't an artist as he had been accepted within. After he left did he forsake his child completely with no further contact with Cornwall other than buying the lighthouse in Felicity's name? How did Kit feel about growing up with no knowledge of his father? And given the way life began for him its surprising no-one else had said anything as they all knew his father.

I like Louisa who was the most real character, she moved the story along with some very unusual ice cream recipes, repressed sexuality and in the admitted regrets. Tom came across as way too remote for her so it was understandable that she flirted with Kit although given the storyline he was supposed to have wanted Dora.

The ending was a bit of a let down, surely it would have taken more than a cushion for them to realize that they were family, and the skype message from New Zealand was contrived. Poor Louisa had to return to being the ice cream queen with not a lot else going on but it would have been much better if she and Kit could have found a way to be together after all we are now in the 21st century.

[marlin1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

On returning home from the war Michael can't face the life that may wait for him in Norfolk. a fiancée he hardly knows and his guilt that he lived while his brother died in the war.
A split second decision sees him take a train in the opposite direction to Cornwall and he finds himself in a town called 'Mousehole'. Here he meets Felicity and falls in love, but a new chapter in his life sees him thinking about the family he left behind.
Fifty years on, after his mothers death, Kit comes into an inheritance of a lighthouse in Norfolk. With no idea why it's in his possession, he travels there to see his inheritance and to decide what to do with it. There he meets Luisa, a sparkling being who loves her family and has a passion for making unusual ice cream flavours but feels she is missing out on life. Kit is embraced by Luisa, her family and the locals and a revelation comes to the fore.

This novel is told on two time lines, there is Michael's story after the war and the present time which is told alternatively by Kit and Luisa. I found it a little slow at first but it fell into a gentle rhythm I enjoyed. There are some instances in the story that I had to suspend disbelief, especially during Michael's story with Felicity and just accept it the way it was, which I don't want to go into as it would be a spoiler.
I could also feel Luisa's angst at not being taken seriously by her family even though she was loved by them all and her thrill of Kit's attention. The characters drew me in, especially in the present time and I loved the interactions of the family.
This is the first book I've read of Raffaella Barker's but it won't the the last.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book because I loved the cover, and any story with a lighthouse in it is a winner with me. It started off as a definite 4 star, with its family-secret-from-the-past storyline, switching between the story of Michael and Felicity in post-second world war Cornwall, and Kit and Tom's family in 21st century Norfolk. It was heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. I was immersed in the author's evocative and lyrical language as she described the Cornish seaside town with its fishy smells, scavenging seagulls, squat buildings tumbling to the sea, blue cornflowers, the ever-changing sky and the effervescent light. But then, the defining moment in the plot that resulted in the family secret was so ludicrous and unnecessary that I lost interest. Surely the author could have come up with a better reason for Michael's actions. This spoilt the story for me. The cover gets the 3 stars.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is made clear that this book is intended to be like the ice cream made by the heroine: enjoyable but not lasting or substantial. I enjoyed it and I liked reading about Norfolk, but something about it didn't quite work for me. The storyline about the links over time wasn't satisfyingly convincing. I felt at odds with the narrator's apparent moral viewpoint on the man's failure to sort himself out. I'm sure people did behave as he did following the war, but it just didn't convince emotionally.
Rereading in 2021 I enjoyed it more. I still felt that the man Kit's leaving his partner and child in Cornwall, failure to see his ageing parents and marrying someone he didn't really want to were glossed over in rosiness and not really made believable. However perhaps George Barker's behaviour helps to explain this in some way.

[Jo Verity · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book via a giveaway and was looking forward to discovering a new writer.
I'm afraid I gave up after about 80 pages. Neither the story nor the characters engaged me. There seemed to be too many people mentioned - several beginning with the initial M - whom I wasn't sure were vital to the story and therefore wasn't sure how much attention to pay them. And far too much ice-cream talk.
It may be that my two previous reads - 'Benediction' (Kent Haruf) and 'In a Foreign Country' (Hilary Shepherd) were 5* quality which made this one seem extra insipid. Sorry. I shall pass it on and maybe the next reader will be more positive.
PS I think the design on the dust cover is beautiful.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing in this book. I liked how the characters were built and the places described. I enjoyed the plot and how in the end all the disparage pieces were woven together. All in all it was an enjoyable read. That being said, it was one of those books that after finishing itand thinking about it -- I thought WHAT? This ending doesn't make any sense! If these characters had found their soul mates in each other, as the story says, then it wouldn't have ended this way. The protagonists would have tried to find a way to make it work somehow -- they being human, would have at least tried. Instead they just walk away and have separate lives with bittersweet memories. Ya, right... too contrived! Well written but needs a more realistic ending.

[Americanogig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for an author who has the power to make you feel like you are physically in the novel and Barker does that quite well. Which is fortunate because I've always wanted to visit the English seaside, especially Cornwall (I suppose there is a lot of English seaside, now that I think about it - being an island and all). A story about passions and the connections that forged by them, echoing through the lives of others. A very well-written story, it's still difficult for me to love because of the threads of fatalism that seem woven into the essential fabric. Perhaps duty should triumph over happiness, perhaps happiness over duty. Depending on how you feel, this might or might not be a satisfying book for you.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Raffaella Barker. In the story, she has a man drive from Cornwall to Norfolk in England to claim a lighthouse he had inherited. The back story of the connections between these two places is shown through the life of Kit's father, Michael, a World War II vet, who ends up setting up lives in both places. The story continues with the next generation and their connections. I enjoyed the characters and her writing style. At times, however, she settles things too quickly, and one wonders if an editor came along and had her chop out too many pages.

[Elizabeth Grieve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was, for me, one of those books which makes you regret the time spent on it ... I had kept hoping for it to get better, but it didn't. The characters were not particularly sympathetic, and I didn't like the writing style which seemed quite odd at times. The part where Michael left Cornwall did not feel at all realistic, and there was far too much about the ice cream. It seemed like 'chick lit' mixed up with a wartime story, and in my opinion, didn't work.

I hadn't read anything by this author before, and this didn't inspire me to do so now.

Reviewed in exchange for a preview copy.

[Casey McDonagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was HARD to get through. It took me over 3 months to read it and only 40% of that is because of school. The idea of jumping between 2 time periods and 3 different characters sounds interesting, but honestly it was hard to be invested in any of their stories until about 2/3 of the way through the book. It reminded me of the Hobbit in a way because the author went into so much detail about useless stuff that it was painful. BUT. 3 Stars. 3 stars that it earned. There was a twist at the end that was cool. I love a good twist. I ended up really liking the last 45 pages.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked Michael and Felicity's story sections the best. They drew me in and were interesting. The rest annoyed me. I have no patience for flirtatious affairs. Also certain parts of the plot didn't make sense to me -- why wouldn't the daughter seek out her brother after she had been told and was holding onto his watch? Why wouldn't Kit's mother tell him while she was dying? All other adults involved were dead so she could have just explained in person.