Review of A Gathering Storm from Goodreads
Reader review from Goodreads
When Lucy delves into her father’s past to find out why he was particularly interested in a certain man whose story he was never able to uncover, she meets a woman who holds the answers and peels back the layers of her life and reveals to Lucy hidden truths and a story rich in WWII details. Beatrice had been a welcome friend of the Wincanton family, a rich family who lived in a Manor named Carlyon Manor in England. The Wincantons were wealthy and Beatrice poor, but she was good company for their eldest daughter, Angelina. Through the years, Beatrice was a staple in the household being tutored by the children’s teachers and growing up along side Angelina and her brothers. Their lives take a turn when Angelina gets sent away to boarding school and then after that there is the war. Hoping to do something for her country, Beatrice takes a job as a FANY. She helps people in the air raid shelters and drives around important people to their errands and meetings. Angelina and Beatrice take different life paths but their trails ultimately meet throughout the story. Then, there is the tale of Rafe. The love of Beatrice’s life-the man Lucy’s father, Tom, had been trying to find.
A Gathering Storm took me about 100 pages or so to really get into, but after that, I read the book very quickly to find out what happened next. The story goes back in time and comes back to present day, but most of the book takes place in the past and is mainly about Beatrice and her life during wartime. This is an engaging read. If you like historical fiction, you will love this book which is part love story, part war story and is an all around good read. It’s a journey back in time told with grace and elegance. The characters become real people and the story is insprired from events that took place in World War Two. I enjoyed this book until I turned the very last page and I felt very satisfied. At times I cried and at times I was emmersed in the war while reading the story. Rachel Hore has done an enchanting job recreating a woman’s life in England during WWII.
