2.26.2014

A Life Apart | Book Review



STATS:
Author, L.Y. Marlow
eBook, 400 pages
Published, April 22, 2014
Publisher, Broadway Books

DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS:
When Morris Sullivan joins the navy in 1940, his hopes are high. Though he leaves behind his new wife and their baby daughter, he is thrilled to be pursuing his lifelong dream-only to be shipped off to Pearl Harbor when the war begins. When he narrowly survives the 1941 attack, thanks to the courage of a black sailor he doesn't know, Morris is determined to seek out the man's family and express his gratitude and respect. On leave, he tracks down the man's sister, and finds an immediate, undeniable connection with the nurturing yet fiercely independent Beatrice, who has left the stifling South of her upbringing for the more liberal, integrated north.
Though both try to deny their growing bond, their connection and understanding is everything missing from Morris's hasty marriage to his high school sweetheart Agnes, and from Beatrice's plodding life as she grieves the brother she has lost. At once a family epic, and a historical drama that takes readers from World War II through the Civil Rights Movement to the present day, A Life Apart is about a love that creates complicated and unbreakable ties between two families that live worlds apart. L.Y. Marlow brings readers along for the emotional journey as Morris and Beatrice's relationship is tested by time, family loyalties, racial tensions, death, unending guilt, and the profound effects of war.

 MY THOUGHTS: I love historical fiction and this was a very interesting story that covers a huge time span from the 1940's to the 1980's.  Morris Sullivan is a main character.  He is young, married, a father, and goes off to fight in WWII.  He is saved by a black soldier during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He goes to met this man's family and that is were the trouble, and the love story, begin.  He falls in love with the other soldier's sister. Parts of the story were hard to read and even harder to understand if you didn't live during the Civil Rights movement.  I found myself getting mad at the characters and the situations.  I had to remind myself that was a different time and things were not easy. Over all, I enjoyed it and was able to understand the decisions made by the characters.   It is important to note that I received this book via NetGalley in return for a honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine.

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