THE WIND OFF THE SEA

Author: Charlotte Bingham ISBN: 0312326955 8/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Time Period: Post-WWII, 1947

It is 1947, the worst winter in England since records began, and even the sea is frozen. For the women living in the little fishing port of Bexham, the chronic lack of everything from fuel to food has left them reeling. When Waldo Astley, a handsome young American, drives through thick Sussex snow into the village in his large Buick, he finds Bexham filled not only with grumbling residents, but with frustrated wives and mothers, forced back behind their stoves after celebrating the victory for which they fought so hard on the home front. But Waldo is no ordinary character, and while he has come to Bexham on a personal mission, his effect on all the residents is truly electrifying. For Judy, whose marriage to Walter has been badly affected by long years of separation; for Rusty, whose miscarriage has been mind-shattering; for Mathilda, whose single motherhood has put her eligibility in jeopardy; and for Meggie, still not recovered from her ordeal as a secret agent. For all these women, Waldo Astley is not just a breath of fresh air--but the wind off the sea.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The story of four women living in the village of Bexham, England, after the close of WWII, THE WIND OFF THE SEA is filled with riveting characters and an abundance of period history. These four women – Meggie, Judy, Mattie, and Rusty – as they struggle to rebuild their lives and personal relationships, give readers a fascinating look into the post-war hardships faced by many in the aftermath of one of the world’s most horror-filled and devastating wars. With the arrival of a mysterious American, Waldo Astley, these women find through his encouragement, a new direction and the perseverance to move forward with their lives, asserting their places as modern women in a new and evolving world.

Charlotte Bingham is an extremely talented writer, as her creation of the many fleshed-out and fascinating characters in THE WIND OFF THE SEA clearly illustrate; so too, the varied and intricate relationships between these people that Bingham invents. Her use of sentence structure and English terminologies of the period set me squarely into England in the latter 1940's, but I think some American readers who aren't used to British terms and slang may find this book a bit daunting and slower-going than they expect. It won't take away from the story's plot or the depth of the characters, but their usage may have some readers scratching their heads, at times, over unfamiliar terms and what sometimes seems an unusual use of sentence structure.

Be that as it may, THE WIND OFF THE SEA is sure to please those readers curious to know more about the post WWII era and women's evolvement back into the scheme of things as seen through the lives and the eyes of these four English women.

As a footnote, Bingham's THE CHESTNUT TREE, published in 2003, is the precursor to this book, beginning Meggie's, Judy's, Mattie's, and Rusty's journeys right before the war in 1939.

Nancy Davis