Rich in history, with well-developed characters and a strong sense of place, this book will fit well in any library’s fiction collection.For fans of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephantsor Catherine Marshall’s Christy.” The writing is fantastic and by the end I felt like I really knew these women and wondered how their lives had turned out, in fact I didn’t want to let them go. It isn't a light, cheerful book, but it isn't also a book which leave you crying. I have finished it with the feeling that life can be difficult and painful but most people are good. They sometimes simply are in hard situations, make wrong decisions and so on. But there is happiness in life too!

There's a mix of these 3 brides povs throughout the book, If I where to tell you who the main character is it would be a toss up between Margaret and Frances, there's more from Margaret in the first half and the second half we have more of Frances pov once we find out her past. If I were to spoil it for you I would say this is more Frances bookJean - A 16 year old bride, chatty, drinks alot of alcohol which leads to her downfall. No pov from her. The romance was a small part of the book, there's a very slow slow build up of romance between Frances and Nicol(Marine) and its more present towards the last quarter of the book. I absolutely loved this!!! you desperately want to know if they end up together. urn:lcp:shipofbrides0000moye:epub:1a65f66f-1581-40ea-9823-3a45547f2ed7 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier shipofbrides0000moye Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t6m13493n Invoice 1652 Isbn 9780340960387 With characters so real they feel like dear friends and a compelling storyline, this is a beautiful, special novel. I loved it and didn’t want it to end!” What a wonderful book that I've just finished. One of those that really mean something. It was a pleasure to read this book, the first of Jo Jo Moyes that I have had the pleasure to read. This is a beautiful story that is based on a factual voyage, each chapter starts with an non fictional extract based on experiences of war brides, or those who served on the 'Victorious'.

It’s 1946, the war is over, and Australian war brides need to get to their British husbands. What better way to get them there than on a British aircraft carrier carrying arms and over 1,000 men? It sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what happened to more than 600 brides. Jojo Moyes gives us a fictional account of this fascinating story in her wonderful book The Ship of Brides. Compelling. . . It’s an epic feminist adventure that candidly paints a community’s soul-searching with great humor, heartache, honesty, and love.”I loved reading about every one of these women, even Avice who I hated, which is the sign of a well-written book. Even though I hated Avice, I understood her and why she behaved the way she did, especially when she gets into a popularity war with another rich bitch on board. But every one of these women came to life for me like starlets on a screen. With vivid detail, I could see them and feel their anxiety and nervousness about leaving home and what laid ahead. I was was fully immersed in their stories and I didn’t want to let them go. Jean reminded me of Lydia from Pride & Prejudice, though not quite as annoying. I actually like Jean. She’s young and acts before thinking, but she would’ve been the one I would’ve wanted to hang out with on the ship. She’s a party girl who wants to flirt, even though she’s married. What’s wrong with flirting? She’s not cheating on Stan, whom she really, genuinely loves. It’s the end of World War II and thousands of Australian women, War Brides, will be traveling to England to reunite with the men they married. Over 600 will not have the luxury of traveling on a ship like the Queen Mary with all of its amenities but will make the six-week journey on The Victoria, an aircraft carrier. The Victoria is ill suited as a vessel for women, outfitted for its crew of men and planes. The book focuses on four of the brides allowing us a window to their hopes, fears and dreams. These four along with the others are leaving all that they know, all who they know behind to start a new life on foreign shores. Even those madly in love wonder at the sanity of their decision. And what of those who mid-voyage receive a Dear Jane Letter. I was also pleasantly surprised that so much happens on board the ship. From women and men sneaking away, to betrayal, to “Not Wanted, Don’t Come” telegrams, to a beauty contest, and more, there was constantly something happening to or around these women and I was thoroughly entertained. Really, it is almost hard to believe that Jojo Moyes chose so perfectly the stories which portrayed us, humans so aptly.

Once again, Moyes delivers a heart-wrenching and relatable book about love and loss that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.” Avice is the one I wanted to punch. Avice feels above everyone and everything. She’s too good to be confined to small quarters on a stinky, dirty ship with a bunch of stinky, dirty men. She should’ve been pampered on a cruise ship. Avice is making her way to Ian, a soldier she married in haste hours before he shipped out.I tell you, Frances, Margaret, Avice, Jean were magnificent persons, each one in her own way. Each one struggle with her own fears and past. What happened to them before, during and after the voyage showed how different life and people are but at the same time how alike. Next to female characters there were Nicol, Highfield, Tims and husbands. They presence made the book greater and more compelling. I can't tell you more about those people without spoiling, I am not able to do it (without spoiling) because their stories described and made them. Jojo’s work never fails to bring a smile to my face with her honesty, humour and empathy about what it is to be human —[Still Me is] a must read!” The Last Tigers of Hong Kong: True Stories of Big Cats that Stalked Britain’s Chinese Colony • John Saeki Premise: The year is 1946. The war has ended. This is a fictionalized account of the transport of 100’s of wartime brides from Australia to England aboard a ship filled with 1,000’s of young men Marines. Many of the women have spent very little time with their husbands and almost all are leaving behind the only life they have ever known. The 6-week journey is filled with many emotions. But it is the journey that the novel plays on. Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11 Ocr_module_version 0.0.14 Old_pallet IA18192 Openlibrary_edition