Book Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean
Book: A Bridge Across the Ocean
Author: Susan Meissner
Genre: Fiction/Historical/Romance/Supernatural
Summary: February 1946. World War II is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Devereux, the wronged daughter of a French Resistance spy. Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark. . . Present day. Facing a crossroads in her own life, Brette Caslake visits the famously haunted Queen Mary at the request of an old friend. What she finds will set her on a course to solve a seventy-year-old tragedy that will draw her into the heartaches and triumphs of the courageous war brides - and will ultimately lead her to reconsider what she has to sacrifice to achieve her own deepest longings. -Berkley, 2017.
After the disappointment of my last read, I was more than eager to get started on my next book. Meissner's story of second chances and taking risks swept me away and I enjoyed the stories of the three women whose lives were affected by circumstances out of their control.
During WWII, Simone Devereux, a Frenchwoman whose life is shattered by the Nazi occupation, and Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina taken advantage of by a high ranking Nazi official, are escaping their own respective horrors brought on by the war. The two end up on the RMS Queen Mary as war brides, but they each must reconcile who they are after meeting each other.
In the present, Brette Caslake is a woman with a sixth-sense - an ability to see beyond the veil of the physical plane and experience the souls of those who stayed behind. Unsure and afraid, Brette must reconcile her ability with the person she is before it leaves a permanent scar on her and those she loves.
These three women are all connected by the RMS Queen Mary - Brette's attempt to help an old friend leads to a revelation of a secret decades old. The unraveling of this secret leads to healing and coming to peace with all of the parts of yourself - even the parts you don't like.
Reading this novel was very soothing. Yes, there were some distressing parts, but overall, it's a story that makes you appreciate the experiences and gifts you have while coming to terms with the parts of yourself that you don't like as much. Brette can be frustrating at times with the way she treats her ability, but deep down, you know it comes from a place of fear and misunderstanding.
Simone and Annaliese are both sympathetic because of their own trials. Their meeting on the ship brings everything they've been through to a crisis and it's interesting to see the results.
The writing is good and I don't foresee any particular problems with reading the story. The changes between past and present chapters are clearly marked so there's no confusion. I found Meissner's take on Brette's sixth sense refreshing and I had a pleasant surprise when Brette encounters a key character in her search.
Overall, it's a great premise with wonderful execution. It was a good story to dive in after my last bad experience in my reading list.
I give A Bridge Across the Ocean an A.
~*~
Please support the author by buying the book or by borrowing it from a friend or your local library.
Thanks for reading!
5
