REVIEW & GIVEAWAY of Mary Rosie's War by Catherine M. Bryne

Mary Rosie’s War

WW2 has been declared. A strange find on the beach gives Mary Rosie the chance to fulfil her dreams and contribute to her country, but all is not what she imagined.

After witnessing the first bomb to be dropped on mainland Britain, Mary watches her friends leave to join the forces and longs to be with them, but is held back by loyalty to her widowed mother.

France has capitulated. Johnny Allan’s regiment has been annihilated by German troops north of Paris. Johnny has to find a way to get home and to the girl who no longer waits for him.

Leisel is a German Jew who lost her family to the Nazis and has to make her way in Britain, a strange new country while harbouring a desire for revenge.

Their lives become entangled in a way that no one could have envisaged.

A story about war, family ties, love, loyalty, and loss.

My Thoughts...

I have to admit that I am entirely hooked on any book set in the WWII era.   Mary Rosie’s War is a great addition to my growing collection of WWII books.   It is a little different than others due to it being told by primarily a woman’s viewpoint.     Mary Rose tells of her life growing up with a father that served during WWI and her mother living through it.   Her friends and brother sign up to join WWII and her girlfriends sign up to do their part.  Yet, she is asked by her mother to stay back.   When she can stand it no longer she chooses to join and do her part.     It is amazing to me how much they allowed women to do and how life while in the military was so strict, even though they were not on the front line.  

The other viewpoint is that of Liesel.   A young German girl who escapes while pregnant and is taken in by Rosie’s family is the character I looked forward to knowing more about.    I love how protective they are of her even though they owe her nothing.     They knew that if they turned her in they risked getting themselves and her in trouble with the authorities.     I found it interesting how Liesel’s story continued throughout the entire book and how it twisted back into Rosie’s family story.     Catherine Byrne did a great job intertwining the storylines. 

If you are a fan of WWII books I would recommend picking up your own copy.   

Purchase from Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Rosies-War-Catherine-Byrne-ebook/dp/B07D9W7QTC

Author Bio

Catherine Byrne always wanted to be a writer. She began at the age of eight by drawing comic strips with added dialogue and later, as a teenager, graduated to poetry.  Her professional life however, took a very different path.  She first studied glass engraving with Caithness Glass where she worked for fourteen years. During that time she also worked as a foster parent.  After the birth of her youngest child she changed direction, studying and becoming a chiropodist with her own private practice.  At the same time she did all the administration work for her husband's two businesses, and this continued until the death of her husband in 2005. 

However she still maintained her love of writing, and has had several short stories published in women's magazines.  Her main ambition was to write novels and she has now retired in order to write full time.

Born and brought up until the age of nine on the Island of Stroma, she heard many stories from her grandparents about the island life of a different generation. Her family moved to the mainland at a time when the island was being depopulated, although it took another ten years before the last family left.

 An interest in geology, history and her strong ties to island life have influenced her choice of genre for her novels.

Since first attending the AGM of the Scottish Association of Writers in 1999, Catherine has won several  prizes, commendations and has been short-listed both for short stories and chapters of her novels. In 2009, she won second prize in the general novel category for ‘Follow The Dove’

In 2016 The Road to Nowhere  won second prize in the Barbara Hammond competition for Best Self Published novel. The follow up, Isa’s Daughter won 1^st prize in the same competition the following year.

Although the books follow the fortunes of the same family, they are all stand-alone.

The fifth book in the Raumsey series is  Mary Rosie’s War.

Catherine Byrne lives in Wick, Caithness.

Social Media Links –   

https://www.facebook.com/FollowTheDove/

www.catherinebyrne-author.com

https://twitter.com/Katrine66

http://isabellacatherinebyrne.blogspot.co.uk/

Giveaway – 1^st Prize – all 4 of Catherine Byrne’s previous books in paperback . 
6 x Runners Up Prizes – PB copy of Broken Horizon  (UK Only)

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