Sarah Jio

In the summer of 1942, twenty-one-year-old Anne Calloway, newly engaged, sets off to serve in the Army Nurse Corps on the Pacific island of Bora Bora. More exhilarated by the adventure of a lifetime than she ever was by her predictable fiancé, she is drawn to a mysterious soldier named Westry, and their friendship soon blossoms into hues as deep as the hibiscus flowers native to the island. Under the thatched roof of an abandoned beach bungalow, the two share a private world--until they witness a gruesome crime, Westry is suddenly redeployed, and their idyll vanishes into the winds of war. In a timeless tale of enduring passion, The Bungalow chronicles Anne's determination to discover the truth about the twin losses -- of life, and of love -- that have haunted her for seventy years. Sarah Jio has written a sweeping story of thwarted love, murder, and a long-lost painting.

The Bungalow

Shawna Gavas

Oh my....Sarah Jio does it again!! I love the way she can weave a story so tightly, that it becomes entrenched in your soul. 

The basic plot is this: Wartime 1942. Two best friends Anne and Kitty decide on the night of Anne's engagement party to both sign up as nurses to help in the war. Both for different reasons: Kitty to find a life, Anne to live a life. They are sent to the island of Bora-Bora where Anne meets and falls in love with a soldier named Westry, the two sharing the Bungalow as their hideaway. This island is full of secrets we come to find out, but in the Bungalow there is nothing but safety and love. Then the war ends. Anne goes home to her fiance, Gerard. Kitty is continuing her nursing in Europe and Westry is critically injured and in a hospital in France. Anne must make a choice. She decides before she can go through with her marriage, she needs to see Westry one more time and goes to him. There she is shocked to find Kitty, who tells Anne that Westry does not want to see her....for her own selfish reasons. Anne leaves and marries Gerard. End of story??? No way.....

Years go by and Anne is contacted by a woman in Bora-Bora who is researching a story and wants to meet with Anne. Anne, accompanied by her grandaughter, returns to Bora-Bora and finds not everything was how it seemed all those years ago. Finally, the wartime truths begin to emerge....

This book was an emotional rollercoaster. One minute I was seething with anger, the next I was searching for a kleenex. This is romance in its truest form, without the need for raunchy sex scenes and coarse language. Love endures, regardless of fate or circumstance. I would be lying if I said I wasn't reminded of "The Notebook" or "Titanic" when reading this story. There were many similarities within the plot, but this did not distract from the book at all.

The final sentance says it all:

"I nestled closer to him, wrapping my arm around his just as two wine-colored leaves fell from a nearby tree branch, dancing in the autumn breeze on separate paths before falling softly to the ground, where they settled on the damp earth, side by side."

What more is there to say??

The Bungalow

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