Showing 1-4 out of 5 reviews. Previous | Next

• Wow. Reading the first few chapters I started to worry I bought myself a romance book, well if this is a romance I am going to buy many more!!!Last night, this book has nearly 500 pages I went to bed and still had more than 200 pages to read. Well I could just not stop reading so I read all of it and now I am sad cause it is finished lol.Great book, it captivated me.

  5.00 out of 5

  Marlene-NL

• An interesting tale about one of the most unusual voyages aboard a military vessel. It is part love story, part tragedy, and very readable.

  5.00 out of 5

  Mortira

• A slow start that picked up after a few chapters. It dipped again towards the end but overall a good book that was easy to read. Many characters to become involved with. I wasn't quite as interested in the sailors as I was the brides but they were just as big a part of the story so necessary. The prologue felt wasted but is needed in some respects to link in with the epilogue. The author acknowledges her sources at the start but I wouldn't know what was historically accurate and what wasn't. An interesting mix of female characters with some unlikely heroines. And as the blurb says "sometimes the journey is more important than the destination".

  4.00 out of 5

  SmithSJ01

• Once WWII was over Britain, Australia and the USA arranged for the war brides to be transported to their new countries to join their husbands. This book relates the story of such a ship of Brides. In 1946, over 600 brides set sail from Sydney for England, the youngest was only 15. They sailed on an aircraft carrier, HMS Victorious that was due to be scrapped, which was skippered by a man who was about to retire. Along with the aircraft, arms and brides - there was also over one thousand servicemen.Jojo Moyes uses this piece of social history and weaves her story, which follows four women as they leave their homes in Australia in order to follow their husbands to the other side of the world. The enigmatic Frances, down-to-earth Margaret, flirty Jean and the snobby Avice all share a cabin on a ship called the HMS Victoria.As the ship sails to Britain, the women adjust to their new life on board. The gossip, the rivalry, the mail and the shenanigans are all told in this wonderfully crafted story. With extracts from the newspapers of the times scattered through the book, I was left feeling that I had actually been on board as well.Jojo Moynes did great research for this book, and records many of her sources, including her own grandmother who was one of the many Australian brides who arrived in England to start a new life.I enjoyed this story - and will be looking for some of her other work.

  4.00 out of 5

  sally906

Reviews provided by Librarything.

No reviews here.