I have liked Rachel Beanland's first two books a lot. But I LOVE The Half Life. Maybe I picked it up at just the right moment (the book I finished right before this one was average at best), but when you read just a few pages and know you won't be able to put a book down until you've read the entire thing, that is reading magic and the making of a five-star read.
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this novel is set in the 1970s on the island of La Maddalenna where newlyweds Eileen and Paul take up residence. Paul, an ambitious naval officer has been stationed there, not expecting the whirlwind romance with Eileen.
The island is beautiful, but Eileen is lonely as Paul is away often for work. She starts taking Italian lessons, meets other navy wives, and develops her own routines in her new home.
Eileen is also confronted with being a foreigner abroad. Not everyone is happy to have Americans on the island. When Eileen begins to ask questions about the Navy's presence and the residents' anger, Paul is angry that Eileen would even think to question anything.
The Italians begin sounding the alarm that the Navy submarines may be leaking nuclear contamination into the water, something that strains Eileen's and Paul's marriage as Eileen has become friends (or maybe more) with a local reporter who is looking for information about this.
I love learning about events in history that are new to me and I found this entire storyline fascinating and worth researching on my own. I also loved the 1970s setting.
All three of Beanland's novels have been winners and I can't wait to see what she writes next.
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