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Book Reviews
Had We Never Loved So Blindly
By: Liz MacRae Shaw - Top Hat Books, $18.95

Description: In 1937, fisherman�s son, John Norman�s first encounter of Felicity MacDougall, the daughter of a retired tea planter, is prickly at best.

But, a chance meeting during a London air raid leads to a tentative romance, which becomes long distance when John joins the Navy and Felicity takes a job at the infamous, secretive Bletchley Park.

Their relationship falls prey to the timeless obstacles of insecurities, doubts and misunderstandings. Can they overcome the distance between them, and also the war?

This love story, forged amid the emotional intensity of WW2, is the beating heart of Liz MacRae Shaw�s new novel. John and Felicity�s relationship has fateful consequences, not only for them, but beyond, into the next generation.

Verdict: In what is a mighty fine read, from start to finish, Liz MacRae Shaw�s historical novel Had We Never Loved So Blindly: In Peril On Land And Sea combines the roles of women during the Second World War and the lesser written about Merchant Navy to literary perfection.

And yet, much more than that, and even more than just a run-of-the-mill love story, it carefully, yet expertly depicts the social mobility of changing attitudes in society and the way this has thusly shaped post war Britain.

Furthermore, it touches on quite a lot of, well, sensitive subjects, if not the ow infamous Bletchley Park being the secretive one, more so about the role of women in society in the 1940s, in general.

In what is a very involving, at times evolving, and thoroughly well-paced novel, and one that really captures the atmospheric setting that it is sewn within, the book is also chock full of engaging characters.

This combined with Macrae Shaw�s attention to historical detail, make the book highly emotive and realistic with every reveal and, as you progress through its 323 pages, this incredibly intriguing book not only answers a fair few questions along the way, but will also, if you are suited to allow yourself the emotive connection, sometimes break your heart; and yet mysteriously seems to also leave you wanting more.

About the Author - Liz Macrae Shaw studied History at Oxford University; her passion is the turbulent nineteenth century. Liz lives with her husband and two standard poodles on the Isle of Skye. She finds inspiration for her historical fiction from Highland culture, family history and the stark but beautiful landscape of the island.

Official Book Purchase Link

www.JohnHuntPublishing.com





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