What the Wind Knows ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Genre: Historical Fiction
US Publication: March 1, 2019
Print: 411 pages
Audio: 12 hours 24 minutes
Confetti Rating: 5 stars
REVIEW:
The only thing negative I could possibly say about What the Wind Knows is that Irish I’d read it sooner.
Sorry about that. You know I can’t help myself.
But in all seriousness, this novel is pretty close to perfection. In honor of Saint Patrick and the leaves of a lucky clover, I raise these four points of admiration:
- While there is a time travel element, this is not “Irelander.” Our heroine Anne does find herself mysteriously back in the 1920’s, but then it’s a linear historical fiction narrative. There’s no hopping back and forth from time period to time period. As someone who tried and failed twice to read The Time Traveller’s Wife, this was a welcome surprise. Fear not the time travel trope here.
- I learned stuff! Anne ends up in the company of Michael Collins (the Irish leader, not the astronaut, obv.) and his crew in Ireland’s struggle for independence. Harmon easily layers in historical detail that feels key to the story and not like a lecture.
- There’s romance, but Anne and her beau keep the sexy time door fairly closed. I’m not big on steam, and what we get here is mist, at best.
- Each chapter opens with a poem by Yeats. I never find the time (or inclination?) to read poetry, so bonus!
That’s all really just a long-winded way to say you shouldn’t put off reading What the Wind Knows any longer. ;)
This and Harmon’s other novels are available as part of the Kindle Unlimited program with WhisperSync for those who prefer the audiobook format. (As of 3/16/21.)
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.
The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.
As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?