28 April 2015

Review #200: The Winter Sea by Di Morrissey



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned."


----James Joyce



Di Morrissey, one of Australia's most popular female novelists and a best-selling author, pens her new novel, The Winter Sea that follows an Italian family's journey surrounding their fishing business through three generations in Australia and admist of all the family drama and secrets, there lies a beautiful love story.





Synopsis:

Escaping an unhappy marriage and an unsatisfactory job, Cassie Holloway moves to the little Australian coastal town of Whitby Point. There she meets the Aquino family, whose fishing business was founded by their ancestor, Giuseppe, an Italian immigrant, some ninety years before. Life for Cassie on the south west coast is sweet as she sets up a successful restaurant and falls in love with Giuseppe's great grandson Michael. But when the family patriarch dies, a devastating family secret is revealed which threatens to destroy her dreams. Cassie's future happiness now rests with her quest for the truth.


After the war and after losing his first love, Giuseppe d’Aquino decides to leave his home in the Aeolian Islands off the Italian coast. He takes a ship to America to make money and support his family but somehow his fate lands him up on Australia, where with the help of a popular fisherman, Frank Sullivan, he starts his own fishing business. 50 years down the line, we meet, Cassie, a recently divorced lawyer from Sydney who comes to Whitby Point to get away from all the battle with her cheating husband, and this is where she meets the famous Aquino family. But when the head of the Aquino family leaves a quarter of millions to Cassie in his will, the whole family turns against her. Buried deep under decades old of family secrets and scandals there lies the truth behind such an act, and Cassie will make sure to swim deeper into the ocean of lies and secrets. And apart from that drama, Cassie sets up her own restaurant in the Whitby Point and falls in love with another member of the Aquino family.

This is a heart-touching and engrossing story set in the Australian picturesque backdrop of lakes and mountains that will allure you to your fullest desire. And while I was reading the book, I was easily transported to this enchanting Australian island through Morrissey's eloquent words. Well, all I can say is that, Di Morrissey have captured both the island on the Italian coast and the Whitby Point quite strikingly and vividly.

The characters are pretty fantastic and are strikingly developed that draw enough realism from our everyday lives. The most striking and impressionable characters are Cassie and Giuseppe- one Australian and the other, Italian, but both of them are projected as someone who is very determined, strong and loving.

The author's writing style is really articulate and she have layered her plot with enough emotions to make us contemplate with the past and the present of the characters and their demeanor. I loved how the author have blended two different cultures and their overview so smoothly without much animosity. There is a mystery surrounding Cassie's sudden inheritance which kept me glued to the core of the story.

There is not much romance between Cassie and Michael admist of all that family drama, and whenever their chemistry is portrayed on the plot, there was lot of either drama or mystery about which we cared about more, rather than the romance.

Overall, it's a poignant yet enlightening family story that kept me engaged till the very last page.

Verdict: A must read for all contemporary and historical fiction lovers!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Di Morrissey's publicist from Pan Macmillan, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her book. 
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Author Info:
Di Morrissey (born 18 March 1948 in Wingham, New South Wales) is one of Australia's most popular female novelists. She grew up in the remote surrounds of Pittwater, north of Sydney, Australia.

Growing up she counted famous Australian actor Chips Rafferty as a close mentor and friend who helped provide for her and her mother after the death of her father as a child, sending them overseas to California to live with family.

In her later years, Di went on to become a journalist on London's Fleet Street, and worked for CBS in Honolulu, where she lived with her husband who was in the foreign service, and even had a small role in the series Hawaii Five-0, a guest role in season three, episode seven, 1970 starring as 'Alicia Anderson'.

After moving back to Australia, Di published her first book 'Heart of the Dreaming' which instantly became a bestseller. Since then Di has published another 17 bestsellers, her latest being 'The Silent Country'.

Visit her here 


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2 comments:

  1. I was actually denied this one on Netgalley which was sad because I would've loved to try it! But I am glad you could enjoy it nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh! So sorry to hear that! Thanks for stopping by:-) Yeah it is a nice and touching story:-)

    ReplyDelete

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