Book Review: Maggie Bright

"Maggie Bright" by Tracy Groot is a book that is difficult to describe, and to put into words the emotional punch that this one volume contains. I started out picking it because I have a great fondness for the WWII era, and stories of the war of my grandparents generation. It's unusual to see novels written in this era anymore so it went straight on to my list. I was hoping to find a nice little adventure romance contained in it's pages but what I found was so much more!

The book's first character is Claire Childs, an orphaned young woman who has recently mysteriously inherited the small pleasure boat the Maggie Bright. Now making it her home, and hoping to make it her bread and butter by turning it into a floating B&B Claire is full of dreams for her future despite the war whose front lines inch ever closer to England's shores. Into Claire's life come marching a vivid cast of characters all with designs on or connections to her little boat- as she begins to piece together the mystery of why she is a target her whole world is rocked by secrets of what is happening behind enemy lines and she is faced with decisions on just how she can make a stand for what is right.

The secondary story that runs parallel to and eventually intersects with Claire's is one of a bedraggled group of soldiers ordered to evacuate to the seaside town of Dunkirk, France as Hitler's forces push hard at their fleeing heels. Traveling with a mysterious injured captain who spouts nothing but Milton's Paradise Lost these soldiers know not what awaits them there- possible rescue or possible slaughter- but they know that if they delay in any way they will be surrounded, cut of entirely from the British forces and left with no possible hope of rescue.

From its opening pages Maggie Bright will grab hold of your lapels and whisk you away on an adventure. Though readers will find the storytelling style a bit different from the usual paperback romance I found it in no way takes away from the book itself. In fact, from the very beginning I felt like I was reading a war movie straight out of the 1940's! This book quite simply swings. The pacing is fast, the dialogue staccato, and the characters punchy. It's really like Bogart, Bacall, and Bette Davis have come walking off the pages! Groot has done an incredible amount of research into the history and time period into which she sets her story and it shows- it shows in the most striking ways as the reader progresses through the story and I was in turn tickled by it and devastated by it! By the final chapters I was on the edge as I anticipated the conclusion and although I had done some googling and found out historically how what became to be know as The Miracle of Dunkirk concluded I was entirely surprised by where the author takes this patchwork cast of characters and how she sews everything up!

The one caution that I give content wise is to remember this is a war drama. There are sometimes graphic, but not gory, descriptions of the things that are seen in war- in WWII to be specific- and it can sometimes take your breath away. There are also 2-3 usages of British curse words.

I would highly recommend giving "Maggie Bright" a read, I was not one bit disappointed by it and was in fact, looking for when I could expect the sequel so I could catch up with this cast of characters again and find out more about what happens next! The thing I realized though is that it really is meant to end the way it ends. Dunkirk, although an important milestone in the war, does not mark any victorious finale, the war for these men and women will continue on after we have left them and they will continue to do as they have already done- act dutifully, and courageously in the face of great evil, and with the cost of great personal sacrifice. It's like the walkaway in the final scene of "Casablanca"- evil is not vanquished but hope lives on- and that is the beginning of something for the cast of the Maggie Bright that is beautiful.

Final Rating: 5

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.