On Distant Shores

On Distant Shores

by Sarah Sundin

ISBN: 978-0800720827

$ 11.48 (paperback)

$ 9.99 (kindle)

About the book:

Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse. But in July 1943, Georgie's cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. 

Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they've made?

 

With her signature attention to detail and her talent for bringing characters together, Sarah Sundin weaves an exciting tale of emotion, action, and romance that will leave you wanting more.

 

My thoughts:

On Distant Shores carries on with another of the members of the World War II Flight Nurse Group. This time it's the story of Georgie and Hutch both of whom are already engaged to other people and trying to stay true to their loved ones. Both of their fiance's are not supportive - Georgie is being guilted into returning home where she can be pampered and babied and told that she cannot make decisions and as a result her self esteem has taken a beating making her believe that she can't do what other stronger women have done for their country. She is an officer in the army - and not supposed to fraternize with the enlisted - namely Hutch.

 

You can see where this story is going. Hutch, being in pharmacy, is not considered officer material unless he goes about it the hard way. Doctor's were allowed to use their degrees to get ahead in the military but even though the pharmacy profession requires a degree Hutch is put down and considered less than a Doctor. He struggles with staying positive and not getting discouraged and that affects his relationship with Georgie especially as they are not allowed to be friends (at least not in a visual way). I found it really interesting to learn how the army treated men (and women) in a demeaning way. Hutch's struggle to be respected and valued is harder as other enlisted men and/or officers receive 3 months of training to do the basics of his job. Even though he has many years and actual experience and can create medications by compounding and providing medications that are hard to obtain he is treated poorly.

One of the things I really enjoy about this series of books is the sheer amount of history and research that is involved in providing accurate scenes and information in each story. I do find the writing itself a little hard to follow but do enjoy the story in the long run. Each of the stories shows a different character in the nurses corp as they grow and learn to lean on God. It shows their relationships and strengths and weaknesses. The scripture in the books are perfect for the story and the situations that each character (male & female) go through as well.

If you have a friend who enjoys history or military type stories they may enjoy this series. The scriptural content is wonderful and would be a great way to witness to a friend as well. If you still aren't sure if the books would be a good match check them out from the library and see what you think. =D

About the author:
Sarah Sundin is the author of "With Every Letter" and the Wings of Glory series. In 2011, A "Memory Between Us" was a finalist in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards, and Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist's mate (medic) in the Navy and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children.

Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.

Disclaimer: I was offered a copy of On Distant Shores in exchange for a book review on GivingNSharing. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands. Thanks for reading GivingNSharing!