Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Emily Madden, Mira, $29.99.
Stories that touch the heart and uplift the soul are on everyone’s agenda, especially Emily Madden. History, romance and family secrets take centre stage here.
Here’s a wonderful opportunity – a time warp one could say – that engages you to the core. In-depth research is also evident.
Rightly described as a sweeping family historical saga of long lost love, it’s an ‘emotional and engaging journey’ set in 1940s Hawaii and Sydney.
“The passion of forbidden love and the devastation of war reaches across generations in this poignant tale that is heart-wrenching, but ultimately uplifting.”
The scene is set in the opening when in Honolulu, Hawaii, we meet the protagonist Catherine McGarrie (‘Kitty Cat’) just before the start of the Pacific War and the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor. We are aware of the imminent danger to Hawaii’s idyllic way of life.
It’s a complex story of lives that have been taken away, entrenched confidences, disaster, disloyalty, sorrow, wasted changes and deprivation. It’s poignant, sadness abounds and tears touch the heart.
As the story goes, on the evening of her 16th birthday party, Catherine wants nothing more than for the night to be over, even though the opulence of the ballroom befits the daughter of a US Navy Rear Admiral. Then she meets Charlie Florio, a navy officer from the other side of the tracks, a man her parents would never approve of. As rumours of war threaten their tropical paradise, Catherine and Charlie fall in love.
Then the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 changes their lives forever.
Then 75 years later, anything but lucid, age and painkillers have taken their toll. Catherine tells her story to her granddaughter, Kit, revealing the tale of a long–lost treasure.
There is a possibility that the truth will reunite her family after Kit uncovers the secret. Perhaps, the truth will tear them apart. A skeleton in the cupboard that spans generations could unite a family – or destroy it.
