Synopsis:
In an unforgettable love story, a woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything…
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?
My Review:
“There are some paths that inevitably lead to heartache, some acts that steal men’s souls, leaving them wandering forever after without them, trying to find what they lost…”
Such a gorgeous book! Full disclosure: I do not read fantasy or historical romance very often but I absolutely fell in love with this beautiful story about Ireland and her people. I adore Amy Harmon’s writing and she has created an imaginative and sometimes heartbreaking tale about both real and fictional characters.
I was addicted to this book from the very beginning. Anne had a very special connection with her grandfather Eion and treasured their time together. Their relationship actually becomes central to the story. But ‘What the Wind Knows’ is a love story and Anne and Thomas’ love for each other quite literally reaches across time. Amy Harmon skillfully weaves between narrators and time periods and I was left gasping as I read this story.
“He was simply Thomas Smith, as ordinary as his name, and yet . . . not ordinary at all. I could have written stories about him. He would be the character that grew on the reader, making them love him simply because he was good. Decent. Dependable. Maybe I would write stories about him. Maybe I would . . . someday. I liked him. And it would be easy to love him.”
There is a lot to learn about Ireland in this book and I devoured the story in just a day. Although the author did take some liberties for the sake of the story, many real historical figures exist in this book. What a fascinating tale! I also loved the attention to detail such as how women dressed in the early 1900s in Ireland and the vital role of the Catholic church in everyone’s lives at that time,
“I’ve often wondered whether the Irish would be who we are if the English would have simply been more humane. If they would have been reasonable. If they would have allowed us to prosper. We were stripped of every right and schooled only in derision. They treated us like animals, and yet we didn’t yield. Since the days of Cromwell, we have been under England’s boot, and still we are Irish.”
Overall, ‘What the Wind Knows’ is a beautiful, romantic and intriguing read. If you are looking for something different to read, give ‘What the Wind Knows’ a try! You won’t be disappointed!
“I am changed utterly. Irrevocably. And though love is indeed a terrible beauty, especially given the circumstances, I can only revel in all its gory gloriousness.”
(With thanks to the author for an advanced copy.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in fifteen different languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.
Amy Harmon has written eleven novels — the USA Today Bestsellers, The Bird and The Sword, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as From Sand and Ash, The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her recent release, The Bird and the Sword, is a Goodreads Best Fantasy of 2016 finalist.