Heart of the River
Cheryl Adnams
Reviewed by Helen
This is a beautiful moving and emotional story set in 1956 around the Murray River on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the river is rising towards one of the biggest expected floods in history, the rain is non-stop, how will the people from the towns living on the river survive?
Isabel Hayward and her mother Audrey run the Riverside Pub in the small town of Gol Gol, Isabel is the assistant cook but what she wants is to be a chef and is saving madly to attend a course in Melbourne but this constant rain may put a stop to that and the fact that she hasn’t told her mother yet.
Isabel meets a young Italian farmer Matteo Sorrenti at a meeting discussing the threat of floods and the attraction is instant, feelings left over from the war still run high and her friend Ross Burrows is not happy at all about their growing relationship, Ross is from one of the wealthiest families and has had high hopes for him and Isabel.
As the river rises even more, Matteo and Isabel’s relationship is growing much to many locals displeasure and houses and farms are lost, there is a death in the swollen river and all the locals are of tender hooks, Isabel and Audrey are doing everything they can to help and when Matteo’s family need a place to stay they offer shelter at the pub, this opens up past secrets that have been kept for too long, that also somehow link Isabel’s, Matteo’s and Ross’s fathers and the mystery of Isabel’s father Sam may finally be learnt.
As levees are built and broken by the raging river a storm is brewing around the Haywards the Sorrentis and the Burrows will Isabel and Matteo find love and happiness now that the past is reveled or will prejudice win?
This is a beautiful story that I loved so much, Isabel is strong and caring heroine and Matteo is a gentleman and so easy to fall in love with, it is filled with so many emotions, and there were tears from me happy and sad there are so many fabulous characters in this story, MS Adnams has researched this time in Australian history so well and made me feel like I was there in all of that rain and mud.
I do highly recommend this one, it is a page turner and keeper.
My thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review.
Isabel Hayward and her mother Audrey run the Riverside Pub in the small town of Gol Gol, Isabel is the assistant cook but what she wants is to be a chef and is saving madly to attend a course in Melbourne but this constant rain may put a stop to that and the fact that she hasn’t told her mother yet.
Isabel meets a young Italian farmer Matteo Sorrenti at a meeting discussing the threat of floods and the attraction is instant, feelings left over from the war still run high and her friend Ross Burrows is not happy at all about their growing relationship, Ross is from one of the wealthiest families and has had high hopes for him and Isabel.
As the river rises even more, Matteo and Isabel’s relationship is growing much to many locals displeasure and houses and farms are lost, there is a death in the swollen river and all the locals are of tender hooks, Isabel and Audrey are doing everything they can to help and when Matteo’s family need a place to stay they offer shelter at the pub, this opens up past secrets that have been kept for too long, that also somehow link Isabel’s, Matteo’s and Ross’s fathers and the mystery of Isabel’s father Sam may finally be learnt.
As levees are built and broken by the raging river a storm is brewing around the Haywards the Sorrentis and the Burrows will Isabel and Matteo find love and happiness now that the past is reveled or will prejudice win?
This is a beautiful story that I loved so much, Isabel is strong and caring heroine and Matteo is a gentleman and so easy to fall in love with, it is filled with so many emotions, and there were tears from me happy and sad there are so many fabulous characters in this story, MS Adnams has researched this time in Australian history so well and made me feel like I was there in all of that rain and mud.
I do highly recommend this one, it is a page turner and keeper.
My thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review.
5 stars
January 3, 2024 by Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd
