Where the Sky Begins: A Novel by Rhys Bowen
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Where the Sky Begins: A Novel

by

Rhys Bowen

(Author)

4.5

-

33,017 ratings


A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Tuscan Child.

London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’s world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go.

Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Awed as she is by the magnificent landscape, Josie sees opportunity. Josie convinces Miss Harcourt to let her open a humble tea shop, seeing it as a chance for everyone to begin again. When Josie meets Mike Johnson, a handsome Canadian pilot stationed at a neighboring bomber base, a growing intimacy brings her an inner peace she’s never felt before. Then Stan returns from the war.

Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again. Her newfound courage will be put to the test if she is to emerge, like a survivor, triumphant.

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ISBN-10

1542028841

ISBN-13

978-1542028844

Print length

399 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Lake Union Publishing

Publication date

August 01, 2022

Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Item weight

2.31 pounds


Product details

ASIN :

B09GF6MW2B

File size :

5750 KB

Text-to-speech :

Enabled

Screen reader :

Supported

Enhanced typesetting :

Enabled

X-Ray :

Enabled

Word wise :

Enabled


Editorial Reviews

“Bowen is a master at winning reader empathy…” ―Historical Novels Review

About the Author

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including The Venice Sketchbook, Above the Bay of Angels, The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and her World War II novel In Farleigh Field, the winner of the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award for Best Historical Mystery Novel and the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel. Bowen’s work has won twenty honors to date, including multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she has fans around the world, including an online following of over two hundred thousand fans worldwide. A transplanted Brit, Bowen divides her time between California and Arizona. To learn more about the author, visit www.rhysbowen.com.


About the authors

Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as several internationally bestselling historical novels, two of which were nominated for Edgar Award

Rhys was born in Bath, England and educated at London University but now divides her time between California and Arizona. Her books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won twenty of them to date, including five Agathas.

She currently writes two historical mystery series, each very different in tone. The Molly Murphy mysteries feature an Irish immigrant woman in turn-of-the-century New York City. These books are multi-layered, complex stories with a strong sense of time and place and have won many awards including Agatha and Anthony. There are 19 books so far in this series plus three Kindle stories, Rhys’s daughter, Clare Broyles, now cowrites the series with her

Then there is Lady Georgie, She's 35th in line to the throne of England, but she's flat broke and struggling to survive in the Great Depression. These books are lighter and funnier than Molly's adventures. They poke gentle fun at the British class system--about which Rhys knows a lot, having married into an upper class family rather like Georgie's.

As a child Rhys spent time with relatives in Wales. Those childhood experiences colored her first mystery series, about Constable Evans in the mountains of Snowdonia.

Her books have been translated into over 30 languages

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Reviews

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

33,017 global ratings

CathyAnn

CathyAnn

5

Another Rhys Bowen classic

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

As a follower of Me Bowens Her Royal Spyness series, I have come to admire her stand alone novels as well. This is a very well written and a page turner. Thanks again for a very good read

glorybeew

glorybeew

5

WWII

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

Rys. Bowen does such wonderful historical fiction. Wish I could get more on kindle unlimited. Poor woman from a poor part of London with a terribly macho husband,surviving the bombings in London with a husband off to war. Her struggles to make a life with many obstacles in her way. Story was very intense.

Sine Wave

Sine Wave

5

Be transported…

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024

Verified Purchase

Try, if you dare, to appreciate the difficulty of the lives of British civilians and airmen during WWII — in London, and in the English countryside, and flying in the air across the Channel to protect one’s country. It is now nearly 80 years after the war ended — is it even possible?

Rhys Bowen’s historical fiction educates, elucidates, and entertains. Read this novel and become immersed in that period, in those places. Discover unexpected joy in handmade holiday gifts, a real boiled egg rather than powdered, a singalong during teatime. Feel the fear of the sound of bombs in the Blitz, of the arrival of the telegram, of the unknown future.

Bowen successfully transports readers — all her fans become time travelers. Bravo!

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2 people found this helpful

Barb Hegreberg

Barb Hegreberg

5

War Changes People

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2024

Verified Purchase

When our lives are interrupted by war or other trauma, only one thing is certain. We will be forever changed by what happens in our personal lives and in the world around us.

Kindle Customer claudia

Kindle Customer claudia

5

Where the Sky Begins

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2024

Verified Purchase

This is the best novel I've read in a long time. It's World War II in England. This is about relationships and friendship, fighter planes and bombers, bombed out houses and streets and pristine snow that goes on forever, sandy beaches and vegetable gardens, air raid sirens and quiet country life; it's about hope and faith and hopelessness and despair, it's about betrayal and loss and love and new beginnings. It's an amazing story. It deserves 10 stars. I am going to read this one again. Thank you, Rhys Bowen.

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