REVIEW: THE WAR BRIDE BY PAMELA HART

January, 1920. Young Englishwoman Margaret Dalton is full of excitement as she arrives to begin a new life in the warm, golden land of Australia. She leaves behind the horrors of WWI and can’t wait to see her husband, Frank, after two years’ separation. But when Margaret’s ship docks, Frank isn’t there to greet her and Margaret is informed that he already has a wife . . . Devastated, Margaret must swap her hopes and dreams for the reality of living and working in a strange new city. And just as a growing friendship with army sergeant Tom McBride gives her a steady person to rely on, news arrives that Frank may not have abandoned her. Where should Margaret’s loyalties lie: with the old life or with the new?

She’s done it again. Pamela Hart has delivered a top-notch read filled with romance, drama, challenge and conflict, taking readers on a journey from uncertainty to possibility. Her historical setting is vivid, her characters well-rounded and lively, and her overall story heartfelt and inspiring. I’ve not read anything about the war wives who arrived in Australia, so this was as much informative as pleasurable. I particularly liked Margaret’s constant sense of surprise in a society that must have seemed very progressive, as well as her strength of character.

A lovely book that is hard to put down and harder to forget.