BLOG TOUR: Those I Have Lost @sharon_mass @bookouture #blogtour #WW 2 #Ceylon #Srilanka @absltmom

My review

The tragedy of loss is once again written of in the book, Those I Have Lost. The time is the 1940’s where we encounter Rosie, a young girl living in India, who has just lost her beloved mother. As much as her father loves her, he is unable to care for Rosie and when her mother’s wishes are revealed., Rosie is sent to her mother’s best friend, Silvia, to live in Sri Lanka. Th family also has two boys and for a time Rosie lives an idyllic life. However, the time of war is drawing close.

Rosie’s life intertwines with those of the boys, Victor and Andrew, the family who loves her, and the house staff, befriending a young native girl, Usha. It is just past the time of the Raj and the attitudes of the remaining British is one that looks askance towards the natives. All interactions between them are frowned upon and the thought of romance is forbidden. As the war in the Pacific drifts closer to home, the years have gone by and the boys have grown. Eventually, they all go off and join the service, Victor in the air force, while Andrew goes to practice medicine onboard a ship.

Tragedy occurs and Rosie does all she can to cope when a young man brought home on leave by one of the boys, comes across her path, and the lure of romance and love beckons. Rosie is besotted by a chance encounter and as she grows into maturity she once again learns about love and loss.

I truly enjoyed this book as the author gave us such vivid pictures of the country, the attitudes of the British, and the characters. Each place was lovingly described with its lush beautiful scenery. Each character was equally flushed out and their personalities were understood, be they good or bad. The mixture of the times and the war in the Pacific was one I so relished learning about. It made me reflect on the fact that the war was felt in so many other places that I knew little about but the cruelty of war is always apparent no matter where one comes from.

Truly enjoyable and truly one I would recommend to those who enjoy war stories and romance flawlessly told, in a place where war could destroy what seemed like a paradise on earth.

Thank you to Sharon Mass for creating this gorgeous story, Bookouture, and NetGalley for a copy of this book due out July 9, 2021.

and here’s the author:

Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951, and a sense of adventure has followed her around the world. In 1971 she spent a year backpacking around South America, followed by a few months with pioneering friends in the Guyana rainforest, followed by an overland trip to India, followed by a year in a Hindu Ashram.

She settled in Germany where she married, studied, worked, and raised children.

Officially retired, she continues to write from her new home in Ireland.

Her first novel was published by HarperCollins in 1999, followed by two more in 2001 and 2002. At present she has 10 published works with the digital publisher Bookouture.

She has one self-published work, a retelling of the magnificent Indian epic Mahabharata: a project of love which took her over 30 years to “get right”, written under the pen name S. Aruna.