Review: Cold Blows the Wind by Catherine Meyrick

 

Thank you to the author, Catherine Meyrick, for providing me with a copy of her book in exchange for a review. I have read two of Meyrick's books, both set in England, and was excited to read this story based on her Australian ancestors. 

The story begins in Hobart Town, Island of Tasmania, Australia in 1878. Ellen Thompson is part of a scrappy working-class family who manage, most of the time, to keep one step ahead of the poor house and the police. Her pregnancy and unwed status put a dent in her reputation but not her pride and determination to live a decent life. When her path crosses that of Harry Woods, a hardworking man who's returned to Hobart Town to care for his elderly father and step-mother, she thinks she's found her man. They begin a life together, and a family but Harry's past returns to haunt them. Ellen, despite the setback is determine to live life on her terms and do the best she can for her children. 

Meyrick pieces together Ellen's rough and tumble life in brilliant fashion. Period details of 19th-century Hobart Town and Mount Wellington are fleshed out in great detail. You can feel Ellen's pain and sense her financial and emotional struggles to provide for her growing family. Ellen isn't perfect and her flaws are on display alongside her strength of character and commitment to her family.  Her highs and lows are laid bare for us to see. 

Beautifully written with an honest tenderness, the author draws you into her ancestor's lives, bringing their world with all its joy, pain, ugliness and love to life. 

I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, women's fiction and those that just love a great story.

You can find Cold Blows the Wind at Amazon. Click the link below.