What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

Amy  

fantasy, historical fiction

After the death of her grandfather, Anne goes to Ireland to spread his ashes in the loch, per his wishes, and finds herself in 1921 in the midst of Ireland’s struggle for independence.

I love a good time travel story and What the Wind Knows was a great time travel story!  The characters were enchanting, the history was educational, and the setting was atmospheric. I’d never read anything from this time and place nor was I very familiar with W. B. Yeats’ poetry which opened every chapter and tied perfectly to each one. I normally don’t care for quotes at the beginnings of chapters and usually don’t bother reading them. However, I could not do that here because I was listening to an audiobook thankfully.  I loved Amy Harmon’s writing and the structure of the story. I looked for every opportunity to return to the audiobook to find out what happened next. The story was so romantic, poetic, and heartfelt.  The doctor’s journal entries about love had me swooning and the tragedy near the end was so difficult to bear. The ending was just right. I loved it! Then I went back and replayed the very beginning! 😊 I can’t wait to talk about this novel in my new book club.

The novel alternates between Anne’s and Thomas’ points of view.  The audiobook had two narrators. Saskia Maarleveld narrated another book I’d heard for which I had given her an A+.  However, in this story, she often spoke under her breath and sort of whispery as if she was trying to speak quietly in order to not disturb someone nearby. This was not a characteristic which the story dictated. I found it distracting and annoying.  Her accents were marvelous. Her voice acting was terrific. But that tone forces me to give her A- for this one.  Will Damron’s voice seemed so opposite—too loud, too sharp, too choppy.  His accent was great and he softened appropriately when he was sad or spoke of love. However, the rest of the time, I found his voice to be mostly too forceful for this character.  This is disappointing since I loved his narration of another novel.  For this novel, I give him a B.