This is the first book by Barbara Hannay I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last. Attracted by the gorgeous Queenslander (house) on the cover, the book immediately appealed to me. Flipping over to the back cover, I then saw that the story contained a dual narrative across current day and Townsville, Queensland during the Second World War. That was it. I was hooked – history and current day entwining is my fiction weakness!

The book introduces us to Sally, a young widow and journalist living in Townsville. Her husband died in an accident over two years ago and her friends are encouraging her to socialise a little more. However, it takes an older lady, Kitty, at the nursing home where Sally visits her grandmother, to get Sally to attend a 1940s themed ball in Charters Towers. There, Sally meets Luke and sparks fly. He tells her how he is renovating the family homestead at Moonlight Plains and the journalist in Sally sniffs a story. But after an enjoyable night, Sally gets cold feet and tells Luke she’s not looking for a relationship. The story then switches between the growing friendship between Sally and Luke as Moonlight Plains is rebuilt and Kitty’s life in Townsville and Moonlight Plains during the war, starting with an aeroplane crash near the homestead. It’s here that Kitty meets Ed, a handsome American pilot from a wealthy family in Boston. Nothing can come of this relationship across class, can it?

I enjoyed both Kitty and Sally’s stories in Moonlight Plains. Hannay knows just when to switch between narratives so that the reader can get their next fix of Kitty or Sally’s story. I loved how the older Kitty was trying to act as matchmaker for Sally and Luke, not knowing they’d already ‘enjoyed’ each other’s company! Seeing Kitty as a young woman also brought to mind just how short life is and that elderly people were young and mischievous once! I liked how both stories eventually came together – I didn’t see it coming (although I see in other reviews that people did). Perhaps I’m too trusting and gullible, but the sentinel moment at the grand party for Moonlight Plains had my jaw dropping along with the guests who realised what had happened!

Both Sally and Luke were likeable characters. I was worried initially that Sally was going to be too wishy-washy about whether it was right to enter into another relationship, but she’s a strong and practical woman who was able to separate her love for Josh (her husband) and what he would have wanted for her. Luke was definitely handsome and a true gentleman, however, I wish he had talked to Sally a bit more about his feelings towards her (I know, he’s a man, difficult). The part near the end where Luke decided the relationship was over because of what had happened with Kitty was a bit out of character to me, but perhaps he’d been thinking it over too much. All was right in the end, which is what was important.

I loved the descriptions of Moonlight Plains – the house and surrounds sounded beautiful and the reason the fish pond was built was touching. I also enjoyed reading about Townsville during the war – it’s something I’ve not read much about, but Hannay made it all seem perfectly real, as if the scene was laid out in front of me. The sandbags on the Strand, the planes and the soldiers amongst the hive of activity and uncertainty of invasion – the writing was strong and the plot well-paced.

One thing I didn’t know until the end is that this is the third book Barbara Hannay has written about the Fairburn family (Luke’s family). Zoe’s Muster is the story of his half-sister and Home Before Sundown is about Bella Fairburn. I’ll definitely be checking these books out. I do hope Hannay continues the historical fiction elements of her books because they work brilliantly, capturing the essence of a long-ago time in Australian history.

Thank you to Penguin Australia and The Reading Room for the copy of this book.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

Continuing her loosely linked series featuring the Fairburn family, Barbara Hannay presents Moonlight Plains, an engaging romance which blends a contemporary and historical narrative.

In 1942, as the Japanese threaten the coast of North Queensland, nineteen year old Kitty Martin is sent to Moonlight Plains, the home of her widowed great uncle, far west of Townsville. Kitty, frustrated to be thwarted in her desire to assist in the war effort, is only in residence for a few weeks when two US airmen, blown off course, are forced to ditch their planes at the isolated property, and she finds herself facing tragedy… and heartbreak.
Nearly seventy years later, Kitty is glad her grandson is restoring the faded grandeur of the homestead at Moonlight Plains and quietly pleased that her young friend Sally Piper, a journalist, has taken an interest both in the project, and Luke Fairburn. Kitty only hopes that with the restoration of the past, she can keep hidden her own long held secret that could ruin everything.

Kitty’s wartime narrative reveals a bittersweet love story, of risks taken and hearts broken. Kitty’s 70 year old secret is easily guessed but I really liked her storyline which is sweet and poignant and I felt for Kitty confronted with a difficult choice in a difficult time.

The development of Sally and Luke’s contemporary relationship follows a familiar path, their physical attraction eventually leads to deeper feelings though neither are willing to admit it. I could understand Sally’s hesitance, though I thought the specific reason for her feelings of guilt was an odd aside.

I didn’t think Luke’s reaction to his grandmother’s secret was entirely in keeping with his character. A moment of pique I could understand but his hurt feelings, even in light of his relationship with Sally, seemed excessive. Laura’s reaction to the cache of secret letters written by her father to Kitty was more believable given she lacked the context of the relationship and was still grieving both her father’s passing and bitter over her recent marital breakdown.

I often forget that WW2 was also fought on our shores (I’ve complained before about the failure of the Australian curriculum to focus on the conflicts that occurred on our own soil when I was at school) and so I appreciated the brief glimpse from Hannay of its effects on Townsville and its residents. I also found it easy to visualise the restored grandeur of the old Queenslander at Moonlight Plains, nestled within its bush setting.

A winsome novel, Moonlight Plains seamlessly weaves together a lovely story of love lost and gained. This is another delightful rural romance from Barbara Hannay, following on from Zoe’s Muster and Home Before Sundown. ( )