(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When Lucy Hunter stumbles upon her grandfather Harry's World War II memorabilia, she finds a faded photograph of a stunning young woman known simply as 'George' and a series of heartfelt letters. They are clues about the secret years, a period of Lucy's family history that has been kept a mystery . . . until now.
How did a cattleman from north Queensland find forbidden love with the Honourable Georgina Lenton of London and persuade her to move to his isolated outback property? And why are the effects of this encounter still reverberating in the lives of Lucy and her mother, Rose, now?
As the passions of the past trickle down the years, three generations of one family pull together. Each must learn in their own way how true love can conquer the greatest challenges of all.

Historical fiction, mystery, romance, heroism and secrets are all blended together in this brilliant book. Barbara Hannay is no stranger to me, having read a number of her books previously, but this one is by far the best one I have read.

The story is told in two time periods - first we have the story of Lucy, travelling to Cornwell to try and unravel the mystery of the woman in the photograph, and how that is affecting her family in the present. Secondly, we get the historical story of Lucy's grandfather, Harry, and his time - war, passion and romance all mix together for an intriguing tale.

The other thing that bears mentioning is the stunning writing style - and knowledge - of the author. At no point was I left wanting "something to happen." The story plugged along beautifully and the more I read, the more captivated I was by the story of Harry and Georgina. Also, the author's knowledge and understanding of wartime throughout England, Australia, Papua New Guinea is a pleasure to read. The authenticity rang true for me.

The only thing that let it down for me was the ending. Without saying anything about it, I was hoping for more but ended up getting what I would consider "the safe option." And that was a pity because the previous 350+ pages had been excellent!

I would still happily recommend this book to fans of historical romance novels. And to fans of story-telling in general. This is a fine story!


Paul
ARH