The Storm Beyond the Tides by Jonathan Cullen

More and more when I read novels set during the era of WWII, I am seeking ones that explore life on the home front, rather than in the occupied territories. Mainly because I’ve read a lot of WWII fiction and as with any topic, I like a bit of variation. The Storm Beyond the Tides is set on an island off the coast of Maine, USA.

Prior to reading this, I had no idea that these Maine Islands were so involved in WWII. Not only were there military bases there, but German U-Boats within range. And this is what home front WWII fiction can bring to readers – a whole new perspective on the ‘world’ part of WWII. It was all quite fascinating but equally as grave and the sacrifice that communities within these small islands made cannot be overstated and nor should it be forgotten.

Whilst romance provides the catalyst for many events throughout the novel, I wouldn’t pin this story down as a mere war time romantic tale. It has a lot more substance than that and explores many themes around discrimination and tolerance, socioeconomic imbalances, and family obligation.

Visit my full review on this book here.

I’ve teamed up once again with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. It’s going to be a little different for 2020, the card has less squares, allowing us to run bingo on the second Saturday of each month. Also, for the first time since beginning bingo, I haven’t specified genre, type, or even fiction or non-fiction for the categories. 2020 is all about themes, and from there, the choice is wide open.

Hope to see you joining in! If you want to play along, just tag us on social media with your bingo posts each month. You can also join the Page by Page Book Club with Theresa Smith Writes over on Facebook, where we all post in the same place on the same date and chat over each other’s entries. Alternatively, drop a link each month into the comments of my Saturday bingo post so I can follow your progress blog to blog.

#BookBingo2020