A Letter from Pearl Harbor by Anna Stuart
Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, Contemporary fiction, WW2, Dual timeline
Read: 6th November 2021
Audible
Published: 5th November 2021
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Ninety-eight-year-old Ginny McAllister’s last wish is for her granddaughter to complete a treasure hunt containing clues to her past. Clues that reveal her life as one of the first female pilots at Pearl Harbor, and a devastating World War Two secret.
1941, Pearl Harbor: On the morning of December 7th, Ginny is flying her little yellow plane above the sparkling seas when she spots an unknown aircraft closing in on her. She recognises the red symbol of the Japanese fighter planes almost too late. Somehow, she manages to land unscathed but the choices she is forced to make in the terrible hours that follow have tragic consequences…
2019, Pearl Harbor: Heartbroken Robyn Harris is reeling from the death of the strong, determined grandmother who raised her. Her only comfort is a letter written in Ginny’s distinctive hand which details a treasure hunt, just like the ones she used to set for her as a little girl. Except this time, the clues are scattered across the beautiful island of Hawaii. Despite her grief, Robyn finds herself intrigued as she follows the trail of letters, revealing the truth about Ginny’s service during the Second World War.
But Robyn’s whole world is turned upside down when she’s faced with a shocking secret which has the power to change the course of her own life…
Inspired by true events, this is a heartbreaking and unforgettable WW2 novel about love, loss and bravery. Perfect for fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and Kathryn Hughes.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Anna Stuart's dual timeline tale A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR.
After having totally loved Anna Stuart's previous dual timeline story "The Secret Diary" I jumped at the chance to read this one. A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR tells the tale of 98 year old Virginia "Ginny" Harris and her last wish - for her two granddaughters, Robyn and Ashleigh, to complete a treasure hunt containing clues to her past. I thought this a novel concept for a story and it certainly made it interesting, despite the constant bickering between the two sisters, as each clue revealed a little more about their grandmother's past. Set between England and Hawaii, A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is mix of historical and contemporary fiction that is both an emotional and heartwarming story.
England 2019: Robyn Harris stands at the bottom of the driveway of her grandmother's sprawling Oxfordshire house - the house in which she and her sister had spent much of their childhood in while their humanitarian parents were off saving the rest of the world. Her sister Ashleigh beckons her to hurry up in her usual spiky way, an attitude that has become synonomous with her sister since her tragic accident some years previous which left her left paralysed and in a wheelchair for life. Something Ashleigh has had some difficulty in accepting. Despite their bickering, the sisters now sit at their beloved grandmother's bedside as they reminisce about the treasure hunts she used to send them on.
Which brings Ginny to one final request.
As they sit at her bedside she gives them her last wish - one final treasure hunt that she has created for them in which the two of them must return to Hawaii together and solve the clues that she has set out for them which will then in turn tell the story of her life and reveal the secrets that she has kept for eight decades.
Intrigued by what their grandmother's story might reveal, the sisters set out together to solve the mystery. But the journey doesn't come without its perils. Ashleigh, confined to a wheelchair, isn't excited by the prospect of such a long haul and then having to squeeze into Robyn's tiny one bedroom apartment for the duration of her stay. Fraught with misunderstandings, the sisters constantly squabble over just about every little thing but as they follow the clues Ginny set out for them, not only do they learn more about their grandmother but also about themselves and each other.
Pearl Harbor 1941: Young and vibrant Ginny Martin is pilot and flying instructor on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Oahu. Her brother Jack, also a pilot, is with the armed forces and recently engaged to nurse Penny. Despite the presence of the Navy and the Army on the island, no one is expecting there to be an attack there as Hawaii is too far from the enemy. Life on the island and is good and Ginny couldn't be happier. She has even made a friend out of the airfield where she works in Lili who she is determined to teach to fly in exchange for the spare room in the house she shares with her father. And as Lili takes to the skies it becomes clear that she is a competant pilot who was born to fly.
Then in the early morning dawn of 7th December as Lili takes to the skies solo, Ginny is instructing one of her brother's colleagues in preparation for his upcoming test...when she spots an unknown plane in her periphery. The horror she feels as she recognises the red symbol of Japan's rising sun adorning the aircraft realising that the attack no one was expecting was about to take place. Taking over the controls from her student, she manages to land unscathed despite the bullets fired at her plane and the sky is darkened as the Japanese swarm the skies above reigning bullets and, to her her horror, releasing bombs over the Naval ships currently in port in the Harbor. The sheer deluge of the Japanese reign of terror was both unexpected and catastrophic. And while only a relatively small number of locals were killed, most of the lives claimed were military on the battleships nesting in the Harbor - some two thousand or more.
But what about Jack? He was a fighter pilot and surely he would be up there fighting off the Japanese and sending them scurrying back the way they came. Ginny couldn't bare to entertain the thought of losing him. Life would not be worth living if she did. And what about Lili? She last saw her in the skies above the island just moments before the attack. Had she gotten back to land safely? Or had she become another victim of this brazen attack?
Life has come full circle as Ginny breathed her last in her Oxfordshire home in England with her last wish for her granddaughters to follow the clues she had painstakingly put together to slowly reveal the story of her life and a secret she has kept for so long. Now Robyn, now an aeronautical engineer, and Ashleigh must unravel the clues to uncover their grandmother's past.
A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is a wonderful story about family, friendships, love and forgiveness set upon the beautiful islands of Hawaii. It is at times heart-wrenching but also unforgettable as the two timelines are seamlessly woven together to create a beautiful tapestry of a life well loved and well lived. I did feel as if it dragged a little in the middle but aside from that it was wholly enjoyable.
The story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is a well known and well documented event but one I find that pales in significance to what the British endured for over two years prior to this. The Americans refused to have any part of the war up until this point but as soon as they were attacked in one fell swoop they jumped in guns blazing. And while they thought the attack on Pearl Harbor was horrific, they had not spared a thought for Britain who endured daily and nightly bombings in the Blitz for eight months...and they never complained. Even when Ginny arrived in England to ferry planes with the ATA (Air Transport Auxilliary), she was shocked at the devastation in each of the cities and the rationing that the country was living with. Even after they entered the war, America was still never under the threat of invasion or attack that Britain was for its duration of six long years.
The characters in this story are all well developed even if a little unlikeable in part. Ginny was delightful, Robyn was reserved and Ashleigh was complicated and spiky. The supporting characters in Lili, Jack, Maile and Zak were each of them remarkable in their respective ways. I enjoyed getting to know each of them and a few others along the way.
Overall, A LETTER FROM PEARL HARBOR is a wonderful read that brings an almost forgotten time to life through the detailed description and dialogue written by Anna Stuart's competent hand. There is so much more to be said for this book but to do so would be to spoil it.
Recommended for fans of historical fiction, wartime fiction and dual timelines.
Note...as someone who has been taught UK English, I found myself having to constantly correct my spelling of "harbor" to the American form for this review. In UK English, it is spelt "harbour" and somehow it just didn't seem right spelling it otherwise...lol
And who writes these book descriptions? Ginny's name wasn't McAllister, but Martin before she married when she became Harris. Where does McAllister come from?
I would like to thank #AnnaStuart, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ALetterFromPearlHarbor in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels.
Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers.
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