Lake Union Publishing Sea of Memories

A beautiful story of love, loss, friendship and courage set in the darkest years of 20th Century Europe and the decades that followed.We meet young Ella before the outburst of World War II, see her fall in love and discover a deep sense of freedom and friendship on the magical setting of the Ile de Rè, and then read about the brave choices she makes while her life is turned upside down by the war that comes to shatter the life she had dreamt of. We then follow her struggles until 2014 when - old and close to the end of her life - she asks her granddaughter two write down her story so that it won’t be forgotten, and hoping her estranged daughter will eventually understand her choices, and forgive her.Valpy brings up important and difficult themes such as World War II and the Holocaust, autism, rehabilitation after Polio and also parenting issues, adding all of this and more to a catchy plot revolving around love and loss, art and beauty, and second chances. Written in an evocative language which makes you picture the characters and places such as the Île de Rè and Arisaig so clearly, this book makes it easy to feel empathy for its credible main characters. While narrating their struggles, Valpy succeeds in intertwining meaningful fictional stories with history, without ever being corny or superficial. I would highly recommend this excellent book!

One of the most beautiful, touching & heartbreaking stories I have read. Exquisitely written, beautiful story line & so emotional. This book is an absolute gem.

Okay

Sea of Memories is the first book I have read by this author. The topic is interesting. I feel that the author put a lot of her personal experiences into this book both with the French and Scottish locations. I was rather annoyed at all the French italics throughout the book. This was unnecessary and detracted from the story. I know it was in France but there was no need to put French words into the text. It had a good ending.

📚📚Book review 📚📚💫💫📚📚Sea of Memories📚📚💫💫 Fiona Valpy 💫💫A beautiful, calming and tender read. 📚📚My second book by this author and again I absolutely adored the story, calming and smooth and her writing is beautiful and expressive.The story is about the life of Ella as we see her move from a teenager to the last days of her life. As a young girl she visits a small island off the coast of the France to stay and there becomes best friends with Caroline and her brother Christophe who becomes her first love.World War Two brings changes to all their lives and Ella returns to Scotland and meets Angus who she goes on to marry and has children with him.Again in this novel the war brings a halt to a way of life and forever changes Europe and the people in it.Ella’s story is told by her granddaughter Kendra as she is given the task of writing the story of her grandmother’s life.It’s a novel about love, loss, family and the ties to places which hold such perfect memories. It even mentions my most favourite place in the whole world 🤗💕 The book was bliss💫 , a magical tale of life and the importance of family, friendship and love 💕I would give this book 🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟 💫 a 5 star (and a bit)read of 2020 and I’m already sure it will be one of this years favourites. 🤗🤗 I have another one of the authors books in my TBR but I am going to leave it to savour It later in the year. 😊