Lead Review (The Lost Lover)
- Book: The Lost Lover
- Location: Paris, St Kilda
- Author: Karen Swan
This is no. 3 in The Wild Isle Series, firmly set on St Kilda. So perhaps it’s just a tad misleading to have a cover image of Paris, given the heroine only spends a proportionately short time in the city.
St Kilda in all its rugged glory comes through and it makes for a great setting for the story, set at the turn of the 1930s. Flora is a young woman living on the island, keeping body and soul together. By chance she meets a young man, James Callaghan, whose boat is moored up. He is part of an exploration team, heading further North to places like Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. After a reserved start, this talented and beautiful young woman, with a voice to match, falls for the handsome man. Mindful of her virtue, they spar and dance around each other until they can no longer deny their feelings.
He then leaves on his adventures and as the Winter sets in on the island, the inhabitants struggle to cope. The upshot is that given her changed personal circumstances, Flora heads for Paris for a brief stint as an entertainer but is soon drawn back to where she belongs.
The author’s passion for the island setting is clear and the main thrust of the story is there.
As the story comes to an end, the opening is made for Book 4 in the series – The Midnight Secret (preceded by The Last Summer 1; The Stolen Hours 2).
This author is very popular and readable. She has a tendency, in the books I have read to have her heroines “murmur’ a lot as they are being coyly assertive and that might be an issue for copy edits because it can be slightly irksome. Otherwise the stories are a credit to the author who creates passionate women dropped into challenging situations.
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