I am not typically a historical fiction reader but when a book comes along that just blows your mind as this one did, it has made me want to delve more into historical fiction books.

Emily grabbed my attention from the start and I could not put this book down, I devoured it in days. I had to stop reading to do the wife/mother duties and also to sleep!!!

The story begins in Hawaii 1941, Catherine (Kitty) McGarrie meets Charlie the love of her life at her 16th Birthday party. Fast forward to Sydney 2016 Catherine ends up in hospital and her granddaughter Kit Bennett visits her and this is where we hear the story of love, heartache and all about the lost pearl. We are the taken on an adventure of a lifetime.

Oh, if you are reading this review to find out what happened guess what, you aren’t finding out from me, sorry but you have to go get a copy and read it yourself!!!

But I will give you the heads up on one thing, before you start reading this book, clear your diary and make sure you have a box tissues handy as you are going to need them!!! (I wish someone told me this)

It is a beautifully written story and Emily has achieved a work of art with this novel. I was transported me to some wonderful places throughout this book. Emily has done some thorough research, which has made the description of the Pearl Harbor battle come across as authentic.

This story is one that I can honestly say is going to stay with me for a long time. I still feel the high emotions of the story today. It is a must-read book.

I highly recommend it!!!

Top Pick 2018

Living in Darwin where we remember the Bombing of Darwin each year in February, the Pearl Harbour bombing is very familiar. Because each year we are reminded that we were bombed only 10 weeks after Pearl Harbour – and the squadron that bombed us was led by the same Japanese commander who bombed Pearl Harbour. In fact the total number of bombs dropped on Darwin was two-and-a-half times more that dropped at Pearl Harbour. So I was overjoyed to get my grubby little hands on this book as it is a period of history that I can relate to. THE LOST PEARL has, for the most part, a dual timeline with two stories, the war years and modern day. Catherine dies in the first chapter and just before she dies she is speaking to her granddaughter Kit and mentions a lost pearl and the name of someone who is not Kit’s grandfather that she loved – but no further information than that. Kit wonders what, and where, the lost pearl is – her grandmother loved pearls and has given Kit lot as birthday and Christmas gifts. Kit decides to look for the lost pearl. When her grandmother’s will is read – Kit has been bequeathed her grandmother’s house. As Kit cleans the house of her grandmother’s belongings she decides to try and track down her grandmother’s secret. THE LOST PEARL then follows Kit’s journey to discovery. However, at the same time the reader is taken back to the bombing of Pearl Harbour as Catherine tells us her story. So for a while the reader knows more than Kit – but not everything. Some things the reader finds out at the same time as Kit. It is impossible to tell you some of the things that happened to Catherine as to do so would really spoil the storyline. Suffice to say my heart went out to her, and was angered at things that happened to this young girl.

While the story is fictional it is based on a lot of fact – and the customs of the day are recreated perfectly. The settings are brought alive on the pages – both in Hawaii and Australia. Another area well reproduced are the social divisions – class, colour and attitudes to women – which only goes to show that we really haven’t progressed all that much today. A young single woman today does have it so much better than a 1940s young miss, more say in her life than Catherine did. Author, Emily Madden, poignantly described the events which took place in Crown Street Women’s Hospital, Sydney – brought tears to my eye along with a thankfulness that my daughters and granddaughter do not have to worry about this. There is eventually a happy ending – and mysteries revealed. A very satisfactory read.

‘Read this book’, the reviewers stated. ‘I’m not sure’, I replied. ‘Read it!’. ‘Okay’. Wow! To think I was so close to missing out on such an incredible tale! This is one of ‘those’ books - it will leave you both breathless and speechless. The Lost Pearl by Aussie author Emily Madden can only be described as epic in every sense of the word - a family drama which spans decades.

This heartbreaking tale contains so much trauma, that inevitably, leads to such sadness. Yet right along side it is hope and love and you will be drawn in, clinging to that final thread of things will be okay. A dual time narrative that witnesses a granddaughter slowly uncovering the secrets from her grandmother’s dying words. This is a book with a lot of pages, but at no stage does it drag. In fact the opposite will occur, long into the night, when sleep should have claimed you, will you tell yourself, ‘just one more chapter’.

Here are just some of the aspects that make this book truly great. The research: this is a story infused with rich historical detail that will be confronting in some ways. Everything from the laughter and joy of prewar Hawaii, to the devastation and trauma of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, to the horrible treatment of unmarried pregnant women at the Crown Womens Hospital in Sydney. Then there are the themes: weaving through this tale you will be confronted with class and race issues in pre WWII America and of course sexism in the treatment of women. To do this requires some fabulous writing and Emily delivers on this aspect! There are a variety of plot lines, an array of characters that in the hands of a lesser author would become a messy storyboard. Not so here. It just all works so well. Finally, there are the characters themselves and delightfully we are given a variety of first person voices which allows the reader a greater understanding and connection. The engagement you will feel to both Charlie and Kitty in the past - even learning the reasoning behind William’s thoughts - will be so real and heart wrenching.

As you know I am an avid fan of historical fiction but the woven web of secrets and loss throughout this particular tale, will leave you feeling as if you were in places such as Hawaii on the eve of the bombing or waiting for a baby to be delivered in that terrible institution. This holds such poignancy about family and love, yet at the same time, slowly placing all the puzzle pieces on the board for you to move around and finally place together for an amazing journey.

‘It wasn’t the ending she had envisioned, but wasn’t that always the case? Life rarely let you live it out according to plan.’

I could not put this book down and for a long time found it difficult to leave Charlie, Catherine, Kit and Adam - even Kit’s family (especially her brothers) were delightful. There is just so much to love here that I cannot recommend it highly enough to people who love a story rich in drama, history and romance.

‘No, not goodbye.’ He dipped his head, planting a kiss on her forehead. ‘Until we meet again.’



This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Book blurb...
From Pearl Harbor to the shores of Sydney, a family secret that spans generations could unite a family – or destroy it.
Honolulu, Hawaii 1941
On the evening of her sixteenth birthday party, Catherine McGarrie 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, 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. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941 changes their lives forever.
Seventy–five years later, addled by age and painkillers, Catherine tells her granddaughter Kit her story and reveals the tale of a long–lost treasure. Can Kit uncover the secret and reunite her family? Or will the truth tear them apart?

My Thoughts…
I loved the emotional journey in this story, as well as the trip to war-time Hawaii and the glimpse of a 1941 Pearl Harbour.
The plot is both intricate and easy for follow—not an easy task. The author has done a very good job tying everything together, creating a story to capture both your heart and your interest, from beginning to end.
I loved the story about Catherine and Charlie most of all. The hardships they and their families endured following the attack on Pearl Harbour and the ensuing war seemed very authentic, sad and tragic.
I do love a tale of missed opportunities and this is one of those stories.
The events the main character, Kit, uncovers in her search through the past are well timed and perfectly plotted, rewarding the reader with just enough information to keep them reading well into the night.
A must read, but you may need a tissue or two.

Awesome, fabulous, amazing where do I start? I loved this one from page one I inhaled, devoured every word a story set across three generations from Hawaii 1941 to Sydney 2016 a young Catherine (Kitty) McGarrie meets the love of her life, her soul mate on her sixteenth birthday and what happens is an amazing story of love, heartache and a lost pearl, make sure you have a box tissues handy and wipe the calendar because you won’t want to put this one down.

Kitty is loving living in Honolulu with her father who is a Rear Admiral, her mother and brother who is also in the navy, her best friend is Penny and life is good, her mother is very upper class and organizes a big sixteenth birthday party and there she meets Charlie a sailor from the wrong side of the tracks but even at sixteen Kitty knows where her heart belongs, and Charlie is hit with cupids arrow as well love at first sight, but with talk of the Americans joining the war and Kitty and her mother being sent to Australia for safety, Kitty plans a day with Charlie a fabulous day of love and hope, but the world as they know it changes when early on the morning of December 7 Pearl Harbour is bombed and lives are lost and changed forever.

Seventy five years later Catherine has had a fall and in hospital and when her precious granddaughter Kit comes to visit she tells her a secret, a secret of a lost love and Kit a journalist takes on trying to find out more about this secret, but it could break a family apart or bring them together, a family that has learnt never to ask their mother or grandmother about her life in Hawaii before she came to Australia. Kit returns to Hawaii for the seventy fifth anniversary of Pearl Harbour and here she uncovers a lot more about her grandmother and will she discover a love for herself?

This is a must read book, I am still crying while writing this review, it is just beautiful, the research must have caused a lot of tears MS Madden, not just about Pearl Harbour but about things that happened here in Australia, it is emotional, moving and wonderful, I highly recommend it, truly it is one of the best books I have read this year and is going to stay with me for a long time to come. You rock MS Madden you made me smile and cry with this gorgeously written story thank you.

This was a great read, something different, starting in 1941 in Hawaii just before the Pearl Harbour attack, then moving to Sydney this historical part of the story caused a range of emotions, anger, horror, empathy, grief, happiness, hope and sadness. The story starts when Catherine meets Charlie, an impossible romance for the times back then. There were characters I didn't like, namely Catherine's mother who I feel was a very nasty person regardless of her reasons for being like that. Running alongside this story is Catherine's granddaughter Kitty's story and her search to find out Catherine's secrets and also in turn figure out her own life. As we slowly uncover the story of Catherine and that of Charlie, we get to read the story from some different characters perspectives and this filled it out nicely. There were parts of this story I found heartbreaking and caused me anger for the way young women were treated back then. I definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia & MIRA for a copy in return for an honest review

A really enjoyable read, it was very well written and had me think8ng about it long after I had turned the last page. My family also had a wartime romance child given up that no one knew about for many years.

Catherine McGarrie loved her home in Hawaii. She and her parents had moved from mainland America as her father was a United States Navy Rear Admiral, but even with the talk of war, the families of the forces were complacent – the peace, tranquility and beauty of Honolulu meant that surely war wouldn’t come to them. When sixteen-year-old Catherine met Charlie, a US navy officer, on the night of her birthday party, she was smitten. Charlie was her brother, Eddie’s best friend and therefore by his side often. As Catherine and Charlie fell in love, they knew they needed to keep their feelings secret – her parents wouldn’t approve – but their love was real.

But the 7th December 1941 changed their lives, and many others, forever. Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese – America was at war. The more than two thousand killed that day was shocking; Catherine and her mother were sent to the mainland, then on to Australia to ride out the war.

Seventy-five years later and Catherine was ninety-one. Not once had Charlie left her thoughts, even though she had married and had four sons. Kit, her beloved granddaughter was her joy. But with Catherine’s passing, it was left to Kit to search into the past and with little to go on, what she found was a shock to say the least. Her background as a journalist meant Kit was determined – against all advice – to find the answers. But would she? Could she? Three quarters of a century was a lot of years to search through…

Heartbreaking, traumatic – filled with sadness and hope; love and secrets – The Lost Pearl by Aussie author Emily Madden is an epic family drama which spans decades. The wrongs inflicted on young people back in those days was horrific; how they survived against all odds showed their courage and tenacity – many had their spirits broken, many came through it – but never unscathed. An exceptional read, The Lost Pearl is one I highly recommend.

And just to add: I found part of the blurb is completely incorrect after reading the novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.

The Lost Peal is a sweeping sago of love, loss and secrets spanning 75 years.

Set in 1941 Hawaii and 2016 Sydney, The Lost Pearl is mostly Catherine /Kitty's story of lost love and the secrets that she has kept from her family all her life.

I am in a bit of a historical phase at the moment, and having been to Pearl Harbour, I thoroughly enjoyed the Hawaiian setting - even though things are a lot different in the book than when I wa there. However, having been there it did help me understand the setting and the feeling of the book a little better.

Ms Madden paints a vivid picture of pre-war Hawaii that I could feel myself being drawn in to.

Having so many plotlines set in so many time periods, The Lost Pearl could have found itself in a bit of a confusing mess, however Ms Madden has written this story so well that this was not the case at all.

I did feel that that character of Kit was a little less rounded out than that of Kitty and her family and friends in 1941. It was hard at to figure out her justifications for delving so hard into finding her grandmothers secrets, however as we did learn more of Kit it did become more clear. Also, this could just be me.

I did feel for Kit as the story progressed and we learned more of her past.

I enjoyed being taken along both Catherine and Kit's journeys, their loves, their losses.

The Lost Pearl is an epic love story that will sweep you away with the characters. I did shed a few tears as I was reading, and I am sure you will too.

Beautifully written, wonderful characters, this story would make a great movie.

I can't wait to see what Ms Madden brings us next.

A sweeping saga of lost love that sees Catherine meet Charlie, a friend of her brother's, at her 16th birthday party in Hawaii, 1941. Catherine is the privileged daughter of a Rear Admiral in the US Navy, while Charlie is an enlisted sailor from the wrong side of the tracks. They fall in love, but times are perilous, the world is at war and it seems to be only a matter of time until the USA enters the war. Then the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour…

Fast forward to present day Sydney, Australia. Catherine's granddaughter Kit is at her side in the hospital after Catherine has suffered a fall. Her mind addled with painkillers, she lets something slip, something she has been keeping a secret for a long time. So begins the stories of two women, united as family, but in separate timelines, and we discover the loves and losses they endure along the way. From the idyllic beaches of Hawaii to the glittering city of Sydney we laugh and cry along with them. From the crazy aftermath of Pearl Harbour, to more peaceful times, we follow their lives until it all comes together in a moving finale.

Emily Madden weaves a poignant tale of old loves, new loves, family and moving on, but never forgetting. Her descriptions of the Pearl Harbour battle come across as authentic, we can feel the panic of Catherine and the people around her, desperate to know if their loved ones are safe. She moves us through the tale, slowly revealing the secrets that follow both Catherine and Kit, and keeps her readers poised, wanting more., until the very end.

I was rivetted to this book, couldn't put it down until I finished it, which I did in one day. I will definitely be looking out for more of this author's work in the future.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Pearl takes us back to a time in history where the world was just on the cusp of war invading the Pacific region. We begin in Hawaii, in the months preceding the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and then travel to Australia, another island with its northern coast under attack. More than a war story, The Lost Pearl is an examination of the far reaching personal effects of war and the lingering consequences of regretful decisions made in a bygone era.

While by no means a unique story, with its dual timeline that has a granddaughter uncovering her grandmother's past via investigating the curious dying words she was privy to, the way it all unfolded was very fresh and engaging. This is a story that clips along at a great pace, keeping you up late at night and eager to devour as much as you can in one sitting. Both timelines, with Kit in the present and Catherine in the past, equally held their own, tricky, as we all know, with dual timelines. Emily infused a great deal of symmetry between grandmother and granddaughter which went a long way towards ensuring her novel was a complete story rather than two loosely linked separate ones. I really loved the serendipitous link that Emily gives to Catherine and Kit. It was such a beautiful full circle to end up on, I appreciated it immensely but won't elaborate further to avoid spoilers.

The history infused throughout The Lost Pearl was thoroughly authentic and stirred my emotions. From Hawaii to Australia, no stone was left unturned by Emily, she has achieved an historical fiction novel of a high calibre indeed. I appreciated the offering of multiple perspectives, particularly as we neared the end. It offered a more complete story and gave me an opportunity to quell my judgement on some of the characters. Although, even by the end, Catherine's mother still didn't sit well with me and I found William to be a disappointment that I wasn't anticipating. This of course adds to the authenticity of the story overall – you can't like everyone and every family probably has its more questionable members.

The Lost Pearl has much to offer lovers of historical fiction. The bombing of Pearl Harbour is not something I've read about in fiction all that much, although I learnt about it when studying WWII history and have of course watched the Hollywood rendition. Still, it's not a piece of history that has been overwritten and I particularly appreciated Emily's detailing of how the bombing is commemorated each year in a fashion similar to our ANZAC day. I was quite affected by the scenes where Kit was attending the 75th commemorations. I highly recommend The Lost Pearl, it's a terrific read, well researched and impeccably written. There's a natural flow to it that will make it hard for any reader to put down once they've picked it up.

Thanks is extended to Harper Collins Publishers Australia via Netgalley for providing me with a copy of The Lost Pearl for review.
Review will be published to my blog www.theresasmithwrites.com and to Goodreads at publication date 20th August 2018.