Anne and Kitty aren’t sure what to expect when the plane lands. Last month, they were young nurses in Washington, on the edge of the rest of their lives. Today, they are Army nurses flying to the South Pacific to help injured servicemen fighting in World War II. They were told Bora-Bora is far enough away from the fighting they’d be safe…but will they really?
Journalist and best-selling author Sarah Jio delivers a beautiful historical fiction in The Bungalow. Focused on the strategic military base in the Leeward Islands, Jio has said this tale was inspired by her own trip to Bora-Bora. Jio works in military and art history unique to the setting in a way authentic to the story. With liberties taken with the plot points, the author still builds beautiful scenes with detailed imagery. This is a novel about following your heart and the tragedy of love lost.
I give The Bungalow 3 out of 5 stars. I was a bit disappointed in this book. While the scenery was beautifully written, the romance and interpersonal connections were not. The inclusion of the art history felt oddly placed and forced – it’s also slightly inaccurate in that Gauguin never lived on Bora-Bora. The European travel during and after the war is unrealistic – Americans couldn’t enter France the way it was discussed in this novel. The comradery of the nurses felt real and the fraternization between nurses and servicemen did as well. However, so much more of this novel seemed half unrealistic.
This novel would be best directed to historical fiction lovers over 16. With mentions of murder, potential forced sexual encounters, and war, this may not be the best read for all audiences. However, this would be a good choice for a historical fiction book club that would be willing to pick apart not only the choices these characters made, but also the author’s inclusions of historically inaccurate scenes. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoyed Anna Stuart’s A Letter from Pearl Harbor that is set in the same time period with similar plot points.
I chose The Bungalow for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “set in a place on your travel bucket list”. The Leeward Islands have been on my travel bucket list since I was very young. Knowing that the main island is really the remnants of a volcano intrigued me – I loved volcanoes as a kid! It’s also the reason I studied French in both high school and college – I thought people in French Polynesia spoke French. FYI – they speak Tahitian, which is not the same at all! Other places on my bucket list include Alaska, Ireland, Cote d’Azur, the Swiss Alps, and Montana. What places are on your bucket list?
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