1941, Canada: When Rosie Lyman and her cousin Violet join the Canadian Women's Army Corps, Rosie is uncertain about leaving her life in Ontario behind and entering a new and challenging world of duty and service.
From the moment Rosie signs up, the intensity of the work pushes all thoughts of home from her mind. And when she is selected for officer training and a placement overseas in London, Rosie finds herself swept up into an exciting world of classified postings she could never have imagined...
When she meets handsome Lieutenant Thomas Crewe, with sparkling blue eyes and a smile like a movie star, Rosie soon finds herself falling in love for the very first time. With precious moments together restricted to weekends on leave, the pair try to steal as much time together as they can.
But when Rosie hears that Thomas' division is flying in the D-Day invasion, she feels like her heart might break. Will he survive the battle? And can she find the strength within herself to go on if he doesn't?
***
'Oh, come on Rosie, don't you want to? I mean, really want to? Deep down?' Rosie Lyman laughed at the good humour - and more than a little mischief - glinting like gold in her cousin Violet's hazel eyes as she shook her head.- CHAPTER ONE, AUGUST 1941
***
(@bookouture, 27 March 2023, e-book, 260 pages, ARC from the publisher via @NetGalley, #BlogTour 27 March)
***
***
I loved the other Amherst Island books so couldn't wait to read the end of Rosie's story. I was not disappointed. Rosie is a lot more mature in this book but still the same shy, nervous girl she was in book one. I liked seeing how she's grown and changed or not changed as the case for some things. An Island Far From Home is set during WW2 and has plenty of trauma as Rosie find herself doing her bit for the war despite reluctantly joining the CWAC. There's also plenty heartache as Rosie falls in love and pays a high price to discover everything is not as she hoped. I laughed and cried reading this. It's a joy to read.
