In a Far Place

by Liz Harris

How much would you give up to follow your dreams?

Birmingham, 1967

When trainee doctor Peter meets beautiful student nurse Claire, an instant connection hits them both like a physical force. But beneath his obvious love for Claire and his vocation for medicine, Peter has a fierce longing for adventure, born out of his lonely childhood in Ladakh. It's a longing he can barely admit to himself.

In a devious attempt to come between the pair, Peter’s friend Alex lends him an article about the Flying Doctors of Australia.

From this simple action come stark, thrilling and heart-breaking consequences for all three of them.

In a Far Place, an unforgettably powerful story of love, is perfect for readers of Santa Montefiore, Ann Bennet, Dinah Jefferies, Kristin Hannah, Fiona Valpy and Rosie Thomas.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

378 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2022

About the author

Born in London, Liz Harris graduated from university with a Law degree, and then moved to California, where she led a varied life, from waitressing on Sunset Strip to working as secretary to the CEO of a large Japanese trading company.

Six years later, she returned to London and completed a degree in English, after which she taught secondary school pupils, first in Berkshire, then Cheshire, and then in Oxfordshire.

In addition to the eighteen novels she’s had published, she’s had several short stories in anthologies and magazines.

Liz now lives in Windsor, Berkshire. An active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Historical Novel Society, her interests are travel, the theatre, reading and cryptic crosswords.

To find out more about Liz, visit her website at: www.lizharrisauthor.com. You can sign up to her monthly newsletter from her website, and as a thank-you gift, you’ll receive a free book, Word Perfect, a romance set in California.

Reviews

[Desiree Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy-to-pass-the-time beach read.
Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, obstacles are thrown in their way.
Will it be a happily-ever-after for Peter and Claire?

[Lyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say? I did not finish (DNF). I read 27% of the book.

Peter is training to become a doctor, he meets and falls in love with Claire who is training to be a nurse. The story takes place in 1967. However, for me, it felt more like it was set in the 1930’s. The story wasn’t exciting, nor fast paced and did not hold my attention. I decided to put it down and DNF.

I received this novel for free in order to critique it. I would like to thank NetGalley and Haywood Press for giving me the opportunity to read this novel. Not all novels appeal to all people. This was one of those, for me.

[RiriRomantiques · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy from Netgalley for an honest review. This is my first book from this author. I liked it very much. It’s a kind of old school romance that reminds me of some books I read 30 years ago, written in the sixties. It could be low motion for some readers but I found it refreshing that a large part of the book is more about the building of the relationship and about the inner thoughts of the characters and less about physical attraction and tension, not that I dislike that but I appreciate to even the balance from time to time.

[Isabelle D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm not the ideal reader for a book full of doctors and nurses (every mention of a needle, blood and other illness- or injury-related horrors makes me wince), I always like the author's style so I wanted to read it anyway, especially knowing that Peter Henderson, one of the main characters, was the one who appeared (as a child then a teen) in The Road Back. Now I'm not sure if that's the reason but I found the part of story when he was away in Australia more interesting than the rest. It's not that I didn't like Claire, but they didn't have a very eventful life together, so... Actually, I even thought they weren't very well suited and should have realised much sooner that their dreams were entirely incompatible, which was bound to cause trouble at some point.
Anyway, even if I wasn't entirely convinced by the couple, I liked both of them as characters, and enjoyed the virtual journey to Australia, Claire's friendship with Mary and even Alex's deviousness (he's like... what people think I should be when I say I'm a Scorpio 😃). So it was still a nice read.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Distant Places series, by a new Author to me. The story starts in Birmingham, 1967 to the 1970's. The story follows trainee doctor Peter, student nurse Claire and Peter’s friend Alex. There will be ups and downs, malice and different roads to take. The story is well written and held my interest. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mrs. Kath Mudie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So enjoyed this remarkable love story. As a £10 Pom the Australian connection gave me much pleasure! In fact being brought back to England in my teens and becoming a nurse it took me down memory lane. I readily recommend reading this beautifully written story.

[Hazel Batey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappoinring

A disappointment after Ladakh. Too much
emphasis on a rather mundane set of relationship and a predictable ending. A shame as I really enjoyed the first book.

[booksadoodle (Tammy)]

This is an epic tale of love and heartbreak. Peter is training to be a doctor when he meets student nurse Claire. A beautiful love story ensues, until Peter's jealous friend, Alex, leads him into the Flying Doctors of Australia to take him out of the picture of the two lovers. What ensues is a remarkable story of ups & downs, love and loss. As someone in the medical profession, I particularly was drawn to all the medical references, and the writing style kept me engaged. I was unaware that this was the second book in a series, but I think it reads fine as a standalone as well. Thanks so much to Liz Harris, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

[BazzaReviewer]

Liz Harris' latest novel, set in England and Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, brings to life the characters as well as the atmosphere of the period and the scenery in visceral detail. It takes place before my time, but close enough to have been living memory for my parents' and grandparents' generation, and the novel feels very accessible on a personal level.

I found some of the characters' traits at times annoyingly naïve - perhaps influenced by a generational gap - yet at the same time innately likeable, relatable to, believable, number, and most of all interesting.

The author has a talent for describing a setting in such colourful detail that you're immediately there in the flesh, drawn in with all your senses - the textures of the landscape, the hues of the sunset, the sounds, and even the smells and tastes.

The one annoying aspect of reading the novel was the typographical style of skipping out the speech quote marks at the start of continuation paragraphs, and at times I needed to double-check whether the next paragraph belonged to the character or the author. Although a minor distraction that I'm sure most people wouldn't even notice, I nevertheless found myself wishing the publisher had adopted the more usual convention.

The overarching theme of the novel - deep love between two people - iterates in nuanced ways throughout. The bonds that can break, and those that remain steadfast despite even intercontinental-sized gaps. Though this underlying thread inevitably locked in a closure of sorts, the author left enough possibilities open to keep the reader intrigued right until the very end.

I'm looking forward to searching out Ms Harris' other novels for more reading pleasure!

[Shirley McAllister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow Your Dreams

A story of Peter and Claire in the 1960's. Peter is training to be a doctor and Claire is training to be a nurse. They meet and fall in love but each makes choices which they later regret.

The story is a good romance story, the characters are well done and I really liked them all. They all added their part to the story.

I liked the description of the trip to Australia and learning more about the Royal Flying Doctor service in Australia. I had never heard of this before and it was most interesting to learn something new and different. The scenery and the setting was vividly described as was the service and how it worked.

Claire's story was heartbreaking as to how her mother treated her when she told her she wanted to be a nurse. It was interesting to know that even in the 1970's marriage and a family was still the preferred vocation for a young woman.

I loved reading about Claire and Peter and even Alex who was the villain in the story, he made a very good one.

It was an engaging and interesting story, I enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Liz Harris for writing a great story, to Heywood Press for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t feel this novel lived up to Liz Harris’ normal standard, having previously read a few of her books. It was a slow burner and just didn’t catch my attention or enthusiasm to continue reading, so to be honest I skipped through some of the detail which in reality sacrificed none of the plot. It starts with a couple of student nurses and trainee doctors, their developing relationships and their life’s’ ambitions. Although well written, the characters were in keeping with the time, the book just lacked sparkle.

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

[Soozee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather predictable romance - boy meets girl, they fall in love, mutual friend desires the girl and pushes the friend to go to the other side of the world to follow his dream; girl is too narrow minded and set in her ways to follow him. Will they find happiness? Do I care? Not that much, really - they are fairly one dimensional characters and I just found them a bit wet and pathetic. Although it is set in the 70s, when things were a bit different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Heywood Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a DNF read for me unfortunately. I wanted to really enjoy this but the time period did not match up the feel of the novel. It is set in the late 1960s however it felt as if it should have been set during WWI or WWII. This novel did not really pull me in. The characters are Peter and Claire. Peter is training to be a doctor and Claire is training to be a nurse. I was hopeful for this however it was not one I could get into. I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and Haywood press.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a Far Place by Liz Harris is an excellent read. Set in 1960s it tells the story of Peter, a medical student and Claire, a student nurse. They fall in love but the course of true love doesn’t run smoothly for them due to Peter’s friend, Alex plotting to set them on different paths. The storyline was good and moved at a good pace, the characters were real and the book was very easy reading. Over all, an excellent story and a sequel would be most welcome.

[Kelsey Anglen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if i just really liked the writers style or i actually liked the book , I think she developed the characters very well. I think there were times where the story lacked a little but over all it wasnt bad


My thanks to NetGalley and the Haywood Press for the opportunity to read this novel.

[Abi Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely love a good historical romance and this was no exception .
Loved how we saw the characters grow with themselves and others .
The pacing was perfect and although time was passing it didn’t feel dragged out it was very easy to read .
Was fully invested and read in one day ! .

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a super easy and a perfect read for me to read about today. I was drawn to this book from the very beginning and undoubtedly I really loved it!!