My husband gave me this book for our 14th anniversary, September 24, 2008. I had been wanting to read it since I read a review in the Globe and Mail. I told him about the book and he remembered the title when he went to McNally Robinson. The reason I told him about it was because we spent one night in Coventry on our honeymoon trip to Europe. We toured the old cathedral the ruins of which have been left standing, adjoined to the new one. We found it very moving to wander around inside the walls which are open to the elements.

I absolutely loved this book. Humphreys conveys so much emotion that it is hard to believe the book is only 175 pages. Harriet is a woman who lost her husband in World War I and has never been close to anyone since. Maeve had an illegitimate child, Jeremy, in World War I whom she kept despite the opprobrium of family and friends. Harriet and Maeve met briefly in 1914 on the day Harriet saw her husband off to the war. Maeve and Jeremy have moved around England with Maeve finding employment in many different jobs. Harriet stayed put in Coventry, working for a coal merchant and writing descriptions of things that take her fancy. They had never seen or heard of each other since the afternoon they rode the first double decker bus in Coventry. Is it fate that brings Harriet and Jeremy together? They both are volunteer fire watchers at the cathedral on the night the German bombers target Coventry. As they stumble through the ravaged city trying to get home they form a close bond. Harriet's house has been destroyed by a bomb but Jeremy and Maeve's house is still standing. Maeve however is not there having decided to go out into the country with neighbours. After seeing so much death and devastation it is not surprising that Harriet and Jeremy cling to each other and make love. Then they separate and Jeremy goes back into the centre of town to help the wounded and Harriet walks out into the country.

I'll leave the synopsis there as I don't want to ruin the ending. I will mention one more item that gave me a frisson of recognition. Long after the war Maeve is living on Innismor, one of the Aran Islands. That was also one of the places we visited on our honeymoon. This description of the island in 1962 still describes the countryside:

Maeve begins to walk up the road again. Slowly the houses fall away and she is walking with green fields on either side of her. Each field is bordered by a wall made of the stones that had been cleared from the field. The walls have no gates. If a farmer wants to shift his cows and sheep to another field, he simply removes some of the stones from a section of wall, replacing them when the animals are safely away in the next field.

Humphreys foreshadows frequently but it wasn't until I started writing this review that I realized it so it is done deftly. For instance, in World War I after leaving the station Harriet realizes she doesn't know how to get home because they have only been in Coventry a short time. When she meets Maeve, although Maeve is only visiting the city, Maeve shows her the way home. In the next war, it is Harriet guiding Jeremy home because Jeremy has only been living in Coventry a short time. The book is like a magnificent weaving with threads from the beginning reappearing throughout the tapestry.

I will be recommending this book to others but I won't be letting this copy go. It has a red maple leaf pressed in the pages because we spent our anniversary on the northern shore of Lake Superior where the leaves were starting to turn colour. I received an ARC from Harper Collins of this book so it can be one that I release.

I met a friend from highschool for lunch shortly after I read this book. As I know she loves to read and that she would take good care of the book I lent it to her. She has now returned the book to me with good reports about it. She tried to write a journal entry but it disappeared into cyberspace when she pressed enter so she gave up. She says she will be looking for other books by Helen Humphreys now that she has read this.

I have decided I'm going to give copies of this book as Christmas presents.