Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.
The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.
As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence, and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?
Goodreads Rating: 4.41 stars with over 18,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance, Time Travel
Goodreads Challenge: 16/50
2019 Reading Challenge: #8 A Romance Novel (Get the full challenge here)
Book Review:
I've had this on my kindle for ages it seems like. I think it might have been a Kindle First read, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, it fits nicely in number eight on the Reading challenge list. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to like What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. Based on some of the reviews I had read prior, it was basically Irish Outlander. There's a couple of people I've already recommended it to and referred to it as "Irish Outlander." There are some similarities between the two, but I think there are enough differences that separate it quite a bit. Really for me, the similarities are it's a historical fiction romance centered around time travel.
At first, I thought that Anne's connection to 1921 was a little odd. She essentially goes back in time and takes the place of her great grandmother because they look so similar. She even has the same name, so it tends to be a little confusing in regards to which Anne is being discussed. I think this was intentional, though because it creates this mystery surrounding what happened to the original Anne. As a character, I didn't really enjoy the modern Anne. A good chunk of her personality was centered around the money that she had accumulated in 2001. Aside from her grandfather, she seems to have no one in her modern life. She just has her writing career, her money, and her possessions.
I can't say that Anne ever really grew on me as a character. In her life in 1921, she was tolerable, but I didn't have any real connection to her. She was just there, necessary for the story to progress. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I just wasn't particularly wowed by Anne. I found myself more interested in the historical aspects of the story and Thomas's journal entries.
At first, I thought that Anne's connection to 1921 was a little odd. She essentially goes back in time and takes the place of her great grandmother because they look so similar. She even has the same name, so it tends to be a little confusing in regards to which Anne is being discussed. I think this was intentional, though because it creates this mystery surrounding what happened to the original Anne. As a character, I didn't really enjoy the modern Anne. A good chunk of her personality was centered around the money that she had accumulated in 2001. Aside from her grandfather, she seems to have no one in her modern life. She just has her writing career, her money, and her possessions.
I can't say that Anne ever really grew on me as a character. In her life in 1921, she was tolerable, but I didn't have any real connection to her. She was just there, necessary for the story to progress. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I just wasn't particularly wowed by Anne. I found myself more interested in the historical aspects of the story and Thomas's journal entries.
While weird, I did think the connection to 1921 and Ireland was interesting. The time travel seemed to be based on objects and sentiment. I enjoyed the fact that there were breadcrumbs left by modern Anne. These inclusions did not create any time-traveling paradox situations, which was nice and kept it simple. I'm not really sure how to explain it without giving away so much of the story.
A lot of the story references W.B. Yeats' poetry. This was a nice bonus for me. I used to love reading poetry and would frequently write poetry. I'm not sure why, but over the years I've just stopped reading and writing poems. The inclusion of it in What the Wind Knows made me realize that I really need to make more of an effort on this front.
I think that Outlander fans will enjoy this book, but I wouldn't go in thinking it's going to be an Outlander copycat. It has its own stories, own theories on time travel, own historical events. It's just similar because it's European Historical Fiction and Romance with a time travel theme. Also, if you are hoping for gratuitous sex scenes like in Outlander, you'll be somewhat disappointed. This is pretty PG-13. I highly recommend checking out the author notes at the end. It gives some interesting insight into Amy Harmon's family history.
A lot of the story references W.B. Yeats' poetry. This was a nice bonus for me. I used to love reading poetry and would frequently write poetry. I'm not sure why, but over the years I've just stopped reading and writing poems. The inclusion of it in What the Wind Knows made me realize that I really need to make more of an effort on this front.
I think that Outlander fans will enjoy this book, but I wouldn't go in thinking it's going to be an Outlander copycat. It has its own stories, own theories on time travel, own historical events. It's just similar because it's European Historical Fiction and Romance with a time travel theme. Also, if you are hoping for gratuitous sex scenes like in Outlander, you'll be somewhat disappointed. This is pretty PG-13. I highly recommend checking out the author notes at the end. It gives some interesting insight into Amy Harmon's family history.
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