Book Review: The Bungalow

I had great hopes for my next foray into Sarah Jio's writing after reading The Violets of March. I really liked my first encounter with Jio with Violets of March. The Bungalow was enjoyable but lacked the excellent writing in Violets of March.

The story follows Anne, who narrates the story, beginning in 1942, to her granddaughter. Anne's an a upper-class girl who decides to postpone her engagement to a boy she's known all her life in order to join the Army Nurse Corps in Bora Bora during WWII. In Bora Bora, she soon falls in love with Westry. Through a series of miscommunications and interferences, they ultimately end up apart. Seventy years later, Anne goes back to Bora Bora to figure out what really happened between her and Westry.

This was a nice in-between read. I felt like parts of the story were missing or not told particularly well, but Jio does an excellent job of drawing rich and memorable characters. I'll read more of her novels.