Heart of the River in Aussie Readers

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Jan 02, 2024 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-on-kindle, aussie-authors, net-galley, arc, own-read, historical-fiction, australian-history, 2024-release, 3000-2024

Isabel Hayward and her mother ran the local pub after her father had disappeared, with a local - Bruce - helping out in the kitchen. Isabel had long held a dream of being a fully qualified chef, so helping Bruce in the kitchen was a joy. The locals populated their pub in Mildura, Victoria, including Ross and his father, who was a mean drunk. But Ross had expected Isabel to be his girl as they'd been friends since childhood and Isabel thought of him as a cousin - nothing more...

Matteo Sorrenti li Isabel Hayward and her mother ran the local pub after her father had disappeared, with a local - Bruce - helping out in the kitchen. Isabel had long held a dream of being a fully qualified chef, so helping Bruce in the kitchen was a joy. The locals populated their pub in Mildura, Victoria, including Ross and his father, who was a mean drunk. But Ross had expected Isabel to be his girl as they'd been friends since childhood and Isabel thought of him as a cousin - nothing more...

Matteo Sorrenti lived on the edge of the Murray River with his father Carlo, mother Gia and brother Antonio. Plus Antonio's wife and their little daughter. They were subject to much criticism and racism, especially as Carlo had been interned for five years during the war.

With the inundation of constant rain causing the Murray to rise, and continue to do so, many livelihoods were being threatened. The community pulled together, building levees and sandbagging to prevent losses, but nothing would stop Mother Nature in her tracks. When a child went missing, all who could joined in the search, hoping to find him before it was too late. As the cold, bitter winds and rain continued in those terrible winter months, would the Sorrentis' farm, along with Isabel's pub, be lost?

Heart of the River is an exceptional historical novel based on fact by Aussie author Cheryl Adnams, set in 1956 when the rising of waters in the Murray flooded many towns in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It was a devastating time for all concerned, and with the author's ability to turn the tragedy into a fictional event, she had me totally engrossed. The fact that the same inundation is going on right now in Queensland and northern NSW, brings it home to us how fragile we all are, and how we can do nothing against Mother Nature's fury. I thoroughly enjoyed Heart of the River and found both Isabel and her mother, Audrey, special characters. Bullying and racism was heavy in the years after the war and it unfortunately hasn't lessened much now. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Dec 16, 2023 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-netgalley

This is a beautiful moving and emotional story set in 1956 around the Murray River on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the river is rising towards one of the biggest expected floods in history, the rain is non-stop, how will the people from the towns living on the river survive?

Isabel Hayward and her mother Audrey run the Riverside Pub in the small town of Gol Gol, Isabel is the assistant cook but what she wants is to be a chef and is saving madly to attend a course in Melbourne but t This is a beautiful moving and emotional story set in 1956 around the Murray River on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the river is rising towards one of the biggest expected floods in history, the rain is non-stop, how will the people from the towns living on the river survive?

Isabel Hayward and her mother Audrey run the Riverside Pub in the small town of Gol Gol, Isabel is the assistant cook but what she wants is to be a chef and is saving madly to attend a course in Melbourne but this constant rain may put a stop to that and the fact that she hasn’t told her mother yet.

Isabel meets a young Italian farmer Matteo Sorrenti at a meeting discussing the threat of floods and the attraction is instant, feelings left over from the war still run high and her friend Ross Burrows is not happy at all about their growing relationship, Ross is from one of the wealthiest families and has had high hopes for him and Isabel.

As the river rises even more, Matteo and Isabel’s relationship is growing much to many locals displeasure and houses and farms are lost, there is a death in the swollen river and all the locals are of tender hooks, Isabel and Audrey are doing everything they can to help and when Matteo’s family need a place to stay they offer shelter at the pub, this opens up past secrets that have been kept for too long, that also somehow link Isabel’s, Matteo’s and Ross’s fathers and the mystery of Isabel’s father Sam may finally be learnt.

As levees are built and broken by the raging river a storm is brewing around the Haywards the Sorrentis and the Burrows will Isabel and Matteo find love and happiness now that the past is reveled or will prejudice win?

This is a beautiful story that I loved so much, Isabel is strong and caring heroine and Matteo is a gentleman and so easy to fall in love with, it is filled with so many emotions, and there were tears from me happy and sad there are so many fabulous characters in this story, MS Adnams has researched this time in Australian history so well and made me feel like I was there in all of that rain and mud.

I do highly recommend this one, it is a page turner and keeper.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Jan 23, 2024 Venessa Johnstone marked it as to-read

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