The daily Astorian., March 28, 2019, Page 19, Image 18

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 // 19
BOOKMONGER
Complex WWI tale combines
spies, faith and romance
‘Far Side of the
Sea’ ambitious but
challenging
Seattle author Kate Bres-
lin returns to an era she’s
written about before for her
new historical romance,
“Far Side of the Sea.” In
fact, the featured couple in
“Not by Sight,” Breslin’s
earlier book about World
War I, both make an appear-
ance in this new offering.
But this story centers on
another member of the fam-
ily. While fi ghting in France,
Lt. Colin Mabry had sus-
tained a series of devastat-
ing injuries and had to have
his hand amputated. He’s
come back to England and
still serves in the military at
a desk job, decoding mes-
sages sent from the front by
carrier pigeon.
But one day, the message
he decodes is a personal
plea addressed directly to
him: “Urgent you remember
your promise of love. Meet
me Café de la Paix, Paris…
You’re my last hope. – J.R.”
Colin surmises that this
message is from Jewel
Reyer, a young French-
woman who a year earlier
had saved his life by tend-
ing to his wounds and hid-
ing him from the Ger-
mans. They had a chaste
romance, but Colin returned
to his regiment once he had
healed.
Later, when he’d heard
that her village had been
annihilated during a brutal
battle, he tried unsuccess-
fully to locate her.
Colin had assumed that
Jewel had perished, but this
cryptic message gives him
hope that she is alive. He
is determined to go to her,
THIS WEEK’S BOOK
Far Side of the Sea
By Kate Breslin
Bethany House
384 pp
$15.99
even though his colleagues
warn him that Jewel’s father,
Jacob Reyer, is on an enemy
watch list. Another J.R. —
this might be some sort of
trap.
Colin promises to be cau-
tious. He is given leave to
fi nd out what is really going
on.
But in Paris, yet another
J.R. — Johanna Reyer —
meets him at the appointed
time and place, claiming to
be Jewel’s half-sister.
Johanna has Jewel’s diary
in her possession, which is
how she came across Colin’s
name. But later passages in
that diary seem to suggest
that Jewel was being duped
by a German agent.
Johanna believes that
Jewel is alive, and may now
be in jeopardy. She asks
for Colin’s help to locate
her because — here’s the
catch — Johanna has never
met her half-sister. In fact,
Johanna isn’t even French.
She was born in Ireland.
Colin has many reasons
to be skeptical of Johan-
na’s story. But she does have
Jewel’s diary, and she does
bear a close resemblance to
Jewel.
If there’s even a small
chance of being able to
repay the tremendous
risks that Jewel undertook
for him, he feels he must
accompany Johanna, at least
until he can ascertain more.
Their search has them
careening across France
and Spain. They soon fi nd
that their quest ties in with
a treacherous international
scheme that involves under-
cover agents, double agents
and agents gone rogue.
Readers may fi nd it chal-
lenging to track the cloak-
and-dagger details.
The author further
endows this tale with faith-
based encouragement and
romantic sparks.
“Far Side of the Sea”
is an ambitious effort, but
readers, not unlike Colin,
will be required to suspend
their disbelief.
The Bookmonger is Bar-
bara Lloyd McMichael,
who writes this weekly col-
umn focusing on the books,
authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Con-
tact her at bkmonger@
nwlink.com.
Bethany House
The cover of Kate
Breslin’s novel ‘Far
Side of the Sea.’
S AT U R D AY A P R I L 6 , 2 0 1 9
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