February Book

 

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. ;)