Milk & Honey – A review of the novel ‘Where Shadows Linger’

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness; a tender look which becomes a habit.” - Peter Ustinov

Author Mary D. Brooks’s novel ‘Where Shadows Linger’ is the second book in the Intertwined Souls series of books. It’s a continuation of Eva & Zoe’s adventures in Australia leaving the turmoil of the Second World War behind. Although this new land offers them many opportunities to follow their dreams, they face numerous challenges while setting up a new life and identity together. And when unwanted elements from their past shows up at their doorstep, they will have to rely on old and new friends to overcome them.

Often when you pick up a book from a long fictional series, you expect to see a ‘recap’ or ‘the story so far’ in each sequel. These are not without any merit because they are helpful to a first-time reader catch up with the story. But for a ‘follower’ of the series, such flashbacks often offer a quick nostalgic trip and soon turns into annoyance over re-reading the same parts. But thankfully this is quite tolerable in the case of ‘Where Shadows Linger’ and it’s something new and even returning readers will appreciate.

If it was the serene and yet troubled countryside of Larissa, Greece that we got to explore last time, this time it’s Sydney, Australia where all the action takes place. An interesting aspect of the narrative is the continuing racist and homophobic prejudices our characters undergo in spite of a change in scenery. The author seems to suggest that prejudices are prevalent in both seemingly illiterate and backward countryside as well as in a modern and metropolitan city. It just goes to show that bad seeds can sprout and bloom in every culture and it isn’t area or race specific.

If the first book was about two characters getting to know each other and slowly falling in love. This time around considerable time has been spent in establishing the couple’s lifestyle and exploring their day to day life moments to establish the characters as ones rooted in reality. You can easily identify with their dreams and struggles and life in the post war era. But sometimes you will feel if all this could have been established in a slightly more condensed manner.

Eva and Zoe continue to shine and rarely breaks character even when they are dealing with emotions as diverse as facing death threats to making love to each other. A few interesting and new characters join the cast and we also see the return of a couple of favorites from the first book. Mary’s precise and unique voice for each character ensures that you identify with each of them and yet see them as part of this big diverse family.

Wonderful writing and great characters make this a great follow-up novel to ‘In The Blood Of The Greeks’. ( )

Truly Original Historical Lesbian Romance

Where Shadows Linger is an amazingly original love story set in Australia. Think Brokeback Mountain with women set in the Australian Outback.

Moving, loving, and touching; the author has done an amazing job with her storyline and the development of her characters. Eva and Zoe are beautifully described and are real characters readers will connect with.

Truly enjoyable loving read.

Highly Recommended!!! ( )