"How could she be a girl of nineteen in love one day and an exhausted woman of almost thirty-nine the next?"
"Jessie is a saint and Etta is a sinner. Where does that leave her? The pathetic dutiful wretch who gets nowhere because she believes that hard work will be rewarded?"
In the Shadow of War by Adrienne Chinn is an excellent family saga/historical novel, set in the 1930s. The third book in the series gives us a textured, authentic rendering of the social and policial events in London, Egypt, Canada, Italy and Spain. It has a solid plot, with a complex setting.
This book could be read as a standalone, but do start with the first book in the series. The storylines of the three sisters Fry and their mother, their secrets and tragedies, will be much clearer, if you know what has happened before, and it's a fascinating story.
Blurb:
One war may be over, but their fight for survival continues...
For sisters Etta, Jessie and Celie Fry, the Great War and the hardship of the years that followed have taken a heavy toll.
Determined to leave her painful past behind her, Etta heads to the bright lights of Hollywood whilst Jessie, determined to train as a doctor and use her skills to help others, is hampered by the men who dominate her profession. On the vast, empty plains of the Canadian prairies, Celie and her small family stand on the brink of losing eveything.
As whispers of a new war make their way to each other, each must face the possibility of the unthinkable happening again.
March 1932.
Etta Fry Marinetti is back at her mother's house, after being released from the psychiatric hospital. Despite their assurances that Etta is ready to come home, she appears confused about where she is. Etta also believes her late husband is still alive.
Etta's mother Christina opens her home to both her daughter and granddaughter Adriana. Adriana is a wayward adolescent, who can easily compete with Etta in their tendency to prioritise their own desires and needs above anyone else's.
Etta feels suffocated in her mother's house. "She has to rescue herself from this life of tedious normality. She is bored and irritated with the unrelenting monotony of it all". Believing she could give any Hollywood film star a run for their money, she decides to leave the boring life and head for stardom in California. It doesn't matter that she has no acting talent, or that her daughter loathes her and calls her weak, conceited and sefish, Etta is determined to have fun in Hollywood.
Her twin sister Jessie s running the Altumanina health clinic in Cairo. Her husband, Dr Aziz Khalid, is a caring, understanding and loving man. Jessie is training as a medical doctor, despite many difficulties. Their daughter Shani spends more time with the Khalids' cook and housekeeper than with her own parents.
The Egyptian society is changing, with the political unrest too close to home. When the tragedy strikes, Jessie has to reconsider her position and re-establish herself.
Their older sister, Celie, is building a life of a farmer's wife in Canada. Having suppressed her intellectual abilities and talents to accommodate the moods of her husband Frank who comes damaged from the war, she feels like "a rudderless boat in a sea of sun-beaten Alberta wheat. She is so far away from her mother and her sisters, out here on the Canadian prairie. So far away from everything and everyone who had once been so important to her, who are still important to her".
Celie and Frank's daughter Lulu is the apple of her parents' eye. Their dream of a new life of prosperity in Canada is constantly under threat.
Etta is the least likeable of the sisters. "Singularly self-absorbed", manipulative and totally deluded about her own skills as an actor, she is a walking disaster.
Despite all the tragedies that befall her, it's difficult to sympathise with her.
At first Jessie might appear as the total opposite of her twin sister, working in the medical profession and helping the others, but there is a certain selfishness about her as well. Jessie completely neglects her only daughter, depending on the others to bring her up, while she herself concentrates all her efforts on being a doctor. She fails her child as a mother.
For me the most fascinating storyline is that of Celie, struggling to eke a living in the harsh conditions of the Canadian prairie.
The book ends on a cliffhanger which was a bit of a surprise, as I expected this book to be the final instalment of the trilogy.
In the Shadow of War is an accomplished, compelling historical saga, a moving story of love and tragedy, family secrets and lies, betrayal and loyalty.
Well researched and written.
If you missed my previous reviews of the books I and II in the series, here are the links
and
This post is part of the blog tour for In the Shadow of War.
Many thanks to Adrienne Chinn, One More Chapter and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-War-sweeping-emotional-historical-ebook/dp/B0CNVLQ831/
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-War-sweeping-emotional-historical-ebook/dp/B0CNVLQ831/
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/in-the-shadow-of-war-the-three-fry-sisters-book-3
https://books.apple.com/ca/book/in-the-shadow-of-war/id6476353957
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-shadow-of-war-adrienne-chinn/1144610234
Author Bio –
Adrienne
Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually
made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she
worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior
designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer
writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in
the Marrakech souk. Her second novel, The English Wife -- a timeslip
story set in World War II England and contemporary Newfoundland -- was
published in June 2020 and has become an international bestseller. Her debut
novel, The Lost Letter, was published by Avon Books UK in 2019. Love
in a Time of War, the first in a series of four books in The Three Fry
Sisters series, was published in February 2022. The second in the series, The
Paris Sister, was published in February 2023, and the third book in
the series, In the Shadow of War, was published in March 2024.
Social Media Links –
https://www.adrienne-chinn.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/adriennechinnauthor/
https://www.instagram.com/adriennechinn/
https://twitter.com/adriennechinn
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