Ember Island

Paperback (edit)review I hoped Ember Island would be as enjoyable as Lighthouse Bay, my first book by Kimberly Freeman. It was! The dual narratives presented two female heroines who sought resolution within themselves while attempting to find love. Ember Island's format was almost identical to Lighthouse Bay, which I really appreciated since I enjoyed that book. Basically, both novels followed a woman trapped in a loveless marriage who fled from her spouse under suspicious circumstances and then assumed a new identity on the shores of Australia. That sounds a little corny, but Freeman's strong heroines with interesting pasts make it is easy to get lost in her novels.Tilly's life in 1890 was ruled by marrying a good mate, i.e. a rich husband who would provide a sizable estate for her to wander around all day. Tilly was a naive girl who rushed into a marriage of convenience hoping love would follow. Not only did that not occur, Tilly discovered her husband had many deadly secrets. When she decided to take control of her life, she landed on Ember Island where she was hired as a governess to the warden's daughter, Nell. Tilly was a great character because she was complex. She was impetuous and rash in her decisions, but also caring and concerned about those around her. Her story was engrossing and I wished it filled the entire book. The story of author Nina in the present was what I would expect from a cheesy romance novel. The dialog was dull and the story of her lost loves just didn't evoke a response from me. The only good thing about Nina's narrative was that it shed light on Nell's life beyond what was revealed in Tilly's narrative.Freeman is such a gifted writer. The interactions between characters perfectly capture the awkward and reveal their inner feelings with little effort. My favorite aspect of her novels are the descriptions of the natural beauty of her settings. I loved this one!Please read more of my reviews on my blog: http://fastpageturner.wordpress.comor follow me on twitter at @dana_heyde (less)

Needing a great story to slip into and escape for a while, I was delighted to see that Kimberley Freeman's latest, Ember Island had downloaded on my Kindle. Loving Freeman's previous books, I couldn't wait to snuggle down with this one. Cup of tea: check; cushions to rest against: check; silence and no interruptions: check. Big sigh of contentment... open book... And....Immediately, I was transported to Ember Island, a fictional place in Brisbane's Moreton Bay, and the struggles of internationally renown but reluctant writer, Nina, who, discovering her property on the island (once owned by her grandmother) has been damaged in a storm, arrives to oversee repairs. Only, the house isn't the only thing needing fixing. Nina is nursing a wounded heart and suffering from terrible writers' block and, as the story unfolds, readers learn she is burdened from carrying a guilty secret as well.The story shifts gear back to the late 1800s and the life of orphaned Matilda Kirkland who, after her beloved grandfather dies, follows her new husband, Jasper, to Guernsey in the Channel Islands to take up life as a wife and all that entails. Only, when Tilly (as she is known) arrives, nothing is as it seems and her dream future with the dashing Jasper soon becomes a nightmare from which she must wake or perish.Segueing between the two stories of two very different women, the connecting thread being Nina's grandmother, Eleanor or Nell, and the diaries she has left of her childhood on Ember Island, the reader is immersed in their separate travails and quest to find both love and peace, a place to settle their restless souls, but without sacrificing their sense of self.While Freeman segues between the narratives and times, she doesn't compromise pace or plot and the reader is allowed the time to not only get to know the characters, but to enjoy the unfolding tale as well. At first, I confess, I found Nina a bit whiny, though I did appreciate the descriptions of the crippling doubt even a famous author experiences and her inability to shake these demons. Still, I also wanted to slap her and tell her to appreciate the success she clearly has had, the supportive people in her life and to just get on with it and stop complaining! It's testimony to Freeman's prose that I responded to Nina that way; she is a realised character and certainly, the further you get into the story the more you come to appreciate why Nina feels the way she does.Tilly is both a product of her era and someone who struggles against the shackles of imposed gender roles and male authority but without sacrificing veracity. Sometimes, however, she is too easily seduced by those who don't have her best intentions at heart; the lessons she learns from them and their actions are hard indeed. The younger characters in the book, especially precocious Nell, are endearing and wise beyond their years.This is a romance, and while it features good men and bad, it also explores female friendship and the ties that bind and those that are severed and why. I really enjoyed the female relationships and the love and trust and betrayal that are explored within these.Overall, this is a marvellous page-turner over which I lost sleep trying to get to the end because I simply HAD to know what happened. Though I saw a couple of the twists, there were one or two I did not, and they quite took my breath away!Anyone looking for a great read, pick up Ember Island, slip into its pages and escape - though here's a warning: you might not want to come back!

I enjoyed this story of daughter, great grandmother and the governess. Told in past and present chapters. Present day daughter is a writer with a secret, her great grandmother is a child in this telling but hopes to be a writer. She lives on an island in Australia where her father is the superintendent of the prison. The governess is Tilly on the run from a bad marriage. It's Tilly's story that I enjoyed the most.

Ember Island is a story that really captures the imagination. The writing is so crisp and clear that you actually see Tilly with her red curls and Nina sitting there at her computer struggling to get her next novel into words that she feels comfortable with. The interlocking stories were fabulously intertwined. I read where another reader claimed to have been bored with Nina's story. I did not feel that way at all, I actually wished to have more of Nina's story throughout. But Tilly's story of a preordained, loveless marraige and her struggle to find love was beautifully written and heartwarming. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait for Ms. Freeman's next endeavor.

A historical romance that spans the years between the past and present to tell the story of three young women as they end up in Australia and then to Ember Island. Each woman is fleeing a past and a man who has treated them badly and you cheer for the courage they each express in their own way.I don't want to give the plot away so I'll just say that I would read anything written by this author as she weaves a wonderful story.

This is the fourth straight novel of Ms Freeman's that I have read. The first portion of the novel started out ok, but it dragged on so long that I skipped ahead. The remainder of the novel was a bit depressing. The end of the novel was redeeming. I have loved her previous novels and I recommend this novel with qualifications.

I loved Kimberley Freeman's first book Wildflower Hill and enjoyed her second, though not as much, but she is certainly back on form with this one. Written in a dual time frame, in the present day the story is about author Nina who is struggling with writer's block, in the past a delightful character called Tilly. I enjoyed both threads but particularly Tilly's. She has been brought up by her grandfather who is now unwell so her marriage comes as a relief to him, he believes she will be safe and cared for. But all is not as it seems and Tilly's new life is not what she expected at all, and before long she finds herself fleeing to the other side of the world to escape the horror that unfurled. She takes a job on Ember Island which is used to house a prison, as governess to a young girl named Nell, daughter of the prison warder, and before long is involved in more dramatic events.Nina is the great grand daughter of Nell, Tilly's young pupil and finds her childhood diaries in the old house on Ember Island, these are what link the two storylines.This is a lovely read, I really enjoyed it.

This is one of the most enjoyable and absorbing novels I have read for some time and was so sorry to come to the end. I wholeheartedly agree with Karen B's review where she made preparation before settling down to absorb herself in this wonderful book. It flows from Dorset to Guernsey to Australia and finally to the island known as Ember Island in the book. It is beautifully written and is completely intriguing covering events which brought Nina in 2012 to the island as an escape from her writer's block and discovering writings by her great-grandmother in 1891. Beautifully constructed, a really exciting and lovely story which I can whole-heartedly recommend.

Great story , I love Kimberley Freeman she is my favourite author, did not disappoint!

Not her best,but still good.Think this was one of her first books,all after are fab,waiting for her latest one to come on sale.

This book is gripping cannot put it down very true to life in Russia