Irish History in What the Wind Knows | Book Review

【 WHAT THE WIND KNOWS 】

This moved me to tears, I have no words for how beautiful this book was.

Genre: Historical Fiction (+ time travel)
Author: Amy Harmon
Published: March 2019
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 411 (paperback)

Content warning (click to see)

death – grief – civil war – guns

Quick thoughts
This book is a love letter to Ireland. We follow the main character back in time, in a very Outlander-esque way, to 1921 Ireland. She’s the spitting image of her great grandmother and people believe her to be so, except her great grandmother disappeared – presumed dead – in 1916. This is full of twists and love, and I couldn’t get enough.

An Ireland obsession
This made me homesick for Ireland in a way I’ve never been before. For me, perhaps the reason I fell so utterly in love with this book was because I have family in so many of the places this takes place in, and the way Anne slowly falls head over heels for the country was so relatable to my own experience.

That, and the way the author captures the fiery spirit of the Irish people was so real. I loved diving head-first into the turmoil of this politically fraught era of Ireland, as it fought for its independence.

It was so stressful, as the reader, following Anne into this wholly foreign time compared to 2001, as she not only navigated its alien ways but the constant threat of turmoil civil war brings. If you have an interest in Irish history, reading this was immensely satisfying for getting an easy-to-understand breakdown of the events.

Favourite book of all time
I cried my way through the final chapters of this book and felt so profoundly moved by the beauty of the writing. This is most likely going to be my favourite read this year, and certainly within my all-time top-ten.

There is something soothingly poetic about the whole narrative that makes me feel fierce love for the characters. I really wanted the best for Anne and Thomas, making the story lovable and enthralling. Not to mention how sweet Owen’s character was and how much his childish whimsy clenched my heart with the fear of his looming loss of innocence.

Final thoughts
This book needs more praise than it’s getting, and the audiobook performance was phenomenal. If you like Outlander, you simply must read this. And if you love Ireland, you’d be sorely at a loss if you didn’t pick this up!

Grab a copy!