Book Review ~ ‘Where Dragonflies Hover’ by AnneMarie Brear.
Where Dragonflies Hover by AnneMarie Brear.
Genres: Historical, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: April 8th 2016.
Publisher: Choc Lit
SYNOPSIS
Sometimes a glimpse into the past can help make sense of the future …
Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House – a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire – and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there’s something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it.
Whilst exploring the grounds she stumbles across an old diary and, within its pages, she meets Allie – an Australian nurse working in France during the First World War.
Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters. In the lonely nights that follow, Allie’s diary becomes Lexi’s companion, comforting her in moments of darkness and pain. And as Lexi reads, the nurse’s scandalous connection to the house is revealed …
Book Review ~ ‘Where Dragonflies Hover’ by AnneMarie Brear ~ 5+ Stars!
Wow! Wow! Wow! I was intrigued when I picked up ‘Where Dragonflies Hover’, (WWI Nursing, crumbling old manors and romance are the perfect combination to me) but as I delved into the story that AnneMarie Brear created, I was captivated, enchanted and completely in love with the characters, story, setting…just everything! This really is a truly special novel.
The modern day scenes were beautifully wistful of a time gone by, and I loved following Lexi’s journey as she struggled to make her marriage work, but also to embrace the life she wanted to live. Brear did a fantastic job in creating a believable and heartfelt crack in Lexi and Dylan’s marriage, and not once did I hate Dylan, only felt sad that he wouldn’t fight for Lexi more, and vice-versa. All too often, authors make tension by creating unlikable, overly evil charachatures of the men who break their partners hearts, but with Dylan, Brear created a heartbreaking, realistic depiction of a relationship that was falling apart, no matter how much Lexi and he loved each other.
Alternating between Lexi’s struggle in the modern day, we enter the horrors of the First World War Front Line. Allie was a fantastic character, and brilliantly portrayed the no-nonsense, over-worked but feeling and caring nurse of the military hospitals of WWI. Researched to perfection, and as real to me as any contemporary setting, I believed every second of Allie’s hospital work. For anyone who, like me, is still in mourning that the BBC axed ‘The Crimson Field’ after only one series, then this will fantastic story will give you what we all wanted in a second series.
I could blabber away about the perfection of this book for pages, but it wouldn’t be coherent. All I can say is; please, please read this amazing book. It has stayed with me for days, and has inspired me as a reader and writer!
5+ Stars!
*Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
AnneMarie Brear
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