Home at Last in Aussie Readers

Mar 12, 2019 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, own-read, aussie-authors, net-galley, 2019-release, read-on-kindle, romance, rural, medical

Anna Kelly loved her job as pilot with the RFDS, and now based in Broken Hill, her old home town, she was finding things much the same as they’d been all those years before. The only issue she had was her fifteen-year-old daughter, Isabelle whom she’d left in Adelaide - and missed desperately – she was living at the boarding school and Anna’s sister Teresa was on hand if Izzy needed anything. Anna settled in easily in Broken Hill, house sharing with Beth.

Nick Harrison was in Broken Hill as a fil ...more

35 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2020 Helen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have had this book sitting on my TBR pile for over a year now and I am sorry I didn’t read it earlier, it is my first Meredith Appleyard book but it won’t be the last, she has taken me on a journey of opening hearts, finding love and letting go of the past and looking to the future as Anna and Nick find the joy that love can give.

Anna Kelly always dreamed of being a pilot and while living in Broken Hill in her last years of high school Anna started having flying lessons, but her trainer also t ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2022 Catsalive rated it liked it

Shelves: aww, 2022

3.5*
An enjoyable tale set in Broken Hill, a major base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service that services remote outback communities & stations. Anna Kelly is a pilot for the RFDS & is enjoying her job there, but she has some unpleasant history in Broken Hill & isn't sure if she'll stay. Her daughter is in boarding school back in Adelaide & Anna miss her fiercely.

Nick Harrison is a Flight Nurse for the RFDS. He has recently returned from Sydney to where he grew up after things went badly with his ...more

Like · see review

Apr 17, 2019 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, rural-lit, arc, australian, aww2019

I am always really interested in books with unusual settings, places I haven’t been that I think would be interesting to visit and Broken Hill is definitely one of those for me. In far western New South Wales, so remote it’s basically closer to Adelaide (and runs on South Australian time, despite being in another state), a mining town of pretty unrelenting heat and isolation, the Flying Doctor service plays a huge role. It can be the only way to get people on remote properties safety to larger t I am always really interested in books with unusual settings, places I haven’t been that I think would be interesting to visit and Broken Hill is definitely one of those for me. In far western New South Wales, so remote it’s basically closer to Adelaide (and runs on South Australian time, despite being in another state), a mining town of pretty unrelenting heat and isolation, the Flying Doctor service plays a huge role. It can be the only way to get people on remote properties safety to larger towns for medical treatment.

Anna Kelly has her dream job – a pilot with the RFDS. She’s based in Broken Hill, servicing the surrounding community, which is a place she is familiar with. She lived there during her high school years when her father was the local high school principal. The place doesn’t hold warm memories for her in many ways and moving there from Adelaide also means that she’s separated from family members that she cares about, working hard to scrape together as much money as possible to improve their position. She rents a room in a house from a local nurse where they tend to work different shifts a lot of the time, their routines suiting each other.

Anna Kelly might not really remember Nick Harrison from high school but he certainly remembers her and he’s quite glad to see Anna back in town. Nick is working as a flight nurse, picking up any shift he can in order to get money together to escape a relationship gone sour. Nick definitely feels an attraction for Anna right away and he definitely wants them to get to know each other better. Anna is more reluctant, putting up barriers but eventually even she cannot deny the chemistry they have, which seems worth exploring. Even though several of Nick’s comments have made Anna keep quiet about something, fearing Nick will disappear if she mentions it.

I enjoyed this a lot – it’s an engaging read which tackles a lot of issues that I’m interested in. There’s exploration of separation of family, dissolution of marriage, poverty for the elderly, poverty in a remote town, medical issues in a remote town, post natal depression in both men and women, suicide and isolation. This is a book that manages to pack a lot into it without it ever feeling cluttered or that the issues are not explored in depth enough. Meredith Appleyard does a very good job weaving these different things together to make a very cohesive story. The local community really comes alive and I think I got a pretty good understanding of what it would be like to live in a place like Broken Hill. The book is at times, often a bit darker than I expected going in, but nothing felt out of place – if anything, these issues are probably more prevalent than I realise.

Anna is a very private person, for some reasons that I think are believable and well explained. She eventually becomes friends with her housemate and Nick, as well as Nick’s mother and one or two others around town, eventually building a little support group for herself where she can also support in return. In particular I quite enjoyed the relationship she strikes up with Nick’s mother – whereas Nick is often exasperated and frustrated with his mother and her issues, Anna does not have any judgement in a situation where I think quite a lot of people might be tempted to. Anna can be reserved but she also has a lot of warmth and compassion and this shines through a lot in her dealings with Nick’s mother.

I enjoyed Anna’s secret and how it played into the narrative. Given Nick’s situation and several of his offhand comments, I can see why Anna may have felt it was best to keep quiet, although this does go on for the longest time and it sort of gets to the point where you can tell everything is going to collide head on and Anna still has no idea what to do!

To be honest I enjoyed pretty much every single thing about this – I did find Nick a bit pushy at first, particularly when Anna is kind of trying to remain aloof but as the story got further on, it mellowed out a bit and I was able to enjoy him more as a character. His background was complicated but nothing that couldn’t be fixed – a bit like Anna’s.

***A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

Like · see review