This book sucked me in from the first page and kept me looking for every excuse to open my Kindle app and return to the shores of Phillip Island. And talk about movie worthy! Some books are great to read but wouldn’t necessarily work as well in movie form. But this book? I kept envisioning it as a Hallmark movie–and not one of the cheesy ones, but one of the really good Hallmark Hall of Fame ones.
Finella Mayfield hates two things: liars and thieves. And she’s determined to marry a man who’s neither. Chasing her dead father’s dreams, the twenty-year-old English bride arrives in Australia in 1875 for an arranged marriage. Anticipating her future as village preacher’s wife, she records her thoughts in her Everlasting journal.
But instead of her fiancé, Finella is met by Shadrach Jones, a poor farmer sent to collect her from the busy Melbourne pier.
This is not what her father planned. And it’s only the beginning of the unraveling of Finella Mayfield ~ the bride with no groom.
All Shadrach longs for is rows of mustard and chicory. He’s busy growing a farm near the Phillip Island fishing village of Cowes, and caring for Molly, his simple sister. Far from the brutal life they remember with their ex-convict father, Shadrach’s building something new.
But he’s also made a promise to a dying friend. To collect and marry the English girl destined to never be a preacher’s wife.
Can Shadrach convince Finella she has a future with a farmer? Can he convince himself, knowing his family secrets will haunt their future?
Carry Me Home ~ Book 1 in the Blue Wren Shallows series. An Australian historical romance set in the pioneering era of the 1870s, on Victoria’s majestic Phillip Island.
On the surface, Carry Me Home may seem like a run-of-the-mill, I-already-know-how-it-ends love story, but it is actually anything but. The Australian setting, breathtaking prose, poignant emotions, and unexpected twists separate it from most 1800’s era romances. And the characters are so beautifully fleshed out! By the end of the story, they all felt like dear friends.
From the moment Shadrach Jones walked onto the page, I fell in love. His kind heart, determination to carve a life out of the red Australian clay, and selfless love for his little sister Molly, combined with his realistic human flaws, make him the ideal fictional hero. But of course, the real star of this book is Molly herself. Her pure and gentle soul tugged at my heartstrings in the deepest way.
The story of Shadrach, Molly, and Finella took me so much deeper into my emotions than I expected. Just when I thought I knew how the story would turn out, it took a different path that, while heartbreaking, served to deepen the emotional impact in such a profound way. I have a feeling I will still be absorbing this book for days to come.
5/5 Stars for this achingly beautiful, poetic gem of a novel! Dorothy Adamek will quite possibly end up as my favorite new-to-me author discovery of 2020. I desperately want to get my hands on book two of this series, and am anxiously awaiting any news on what book three will be about!
If you are a fan of Joanne Bischof or Laura Frantz’s writing style, are interested in Australian history, or just enjoy a sweet love story with a deep message, you will LOVE Carry Me Home!
