A Dangerous Crossing was my First Book of the Year 2017, a book that I was especially looking forward to due to the fact I’d won a charity auction run on behalf of CLIC Sargent to win my name in a book, and this was the one! Rachel Rhys has penned her first historical fiction novel, although you may have met her penmanship under the name Tammy Cohen where she’s written a mixture of contemporary and psychological fiction.
The book opens with a scene from the end of the journey from Tilbury docks to Australia with a dockside arrest, a scene that stuck in my head as the trip took us on a magnificent journey across high seas with the occasional stop in some far flung land. For Lilian Shepard has left her family following a disappointment in love to be a domestic servant in Australia, she is going to see the world and has grabbed the chance of an assisted passage to do so. Despite the confined nature, albeit on a fairly large liner, the Orontes, Lily learns more about life during the journey than she could ever have expected.
The year is 1939, the month is August and the rumours that the Germans are going to precipitate a war are getting harder to ignore. Lily’s father, who has been mute since the First World War is worried and now her adored brother may be in danger. Lily has decided to write a diary of her passage across the world, so that she doesn’t forget anything, but given the characters she is about to spend five weeks of her life with, that seems unlikely.
Rachel Rhys paints a brilliant picture of life on this ocean liner so that I felt that I was completely transported. Ask me; I can describe the hot laundry where the guests wash and dry their clothes, the small cabin that Lily shares with Ida and Audrey, two fellow assisted travel passengers, the deck where they walk to work of the huge amount of food they are served to break up the boredom and the first class cocktail bar where Lily joins Max and Eliza Campbell for games of cards and gossip. Life on the ocean liner is nothing like anything Lily has experienced before. Max and Eliza are huge characters but despite muttered warnings Lily is drawn to them like a moth to a flame, the question is, will she get burnt? At the other end of the scale there are the Jews fleeing the life they have known, wearing the only clothes they own on board and unsurprisingly, given the point in history; a minority of passengers who have sympathy with the Nazi’s views on them. On a closed environment, a somewhat combustible mix of characters, all bought brilliantly to life by the clothes they wear, their chatter over dinner along with how they chose to spend all their time while their new home, and life, inches closer.
I loved every minute of the journey especially the observations Lily makes as she chats with her dining companions, the snippets of information that are revealed along the way of the main cast of characters means that it is apparent that no-one is quite what they first appeared to be. Everyone has secrets that they would prefer had been firmly left behind with their family and friends when they stepped up the gangplank to begin their journey for a new life.
This is truly one of those books to get immersed in, the glamour of the first class passengers, the uncertainty of the time, the snapshots of the countries they visit from Gibraltar to Egypt along the way provide a backdrop to the pitch-perfect atmospheric story, so expertly told.
This review may seem biased, I make no apology, it is, but I am sure that even if you haven’t been lucky enough to have a cameo role (look out for Cleopatra Bannister who appears in the last section) there is so very much to enjoy, as this story rolls along with the waves it rides on.
I am very grateful to have received a signed copy of A Dangerous Crossing from the author, ahead of publication on 23 March 2017 by Doubleday, a story not to be missed.
First Published UK: 23 March 2017
Publisher: Doubleday
No of Pages: 368
Genre: Historical Fiction
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Wow! You’ve sold it to me! It’s been added to the TBR pile. Thank you.
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Excellent – make sure you look out for e Dianne 🙂
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Great review! Just finished it last night – excellent! But it did cross the credibility line quite seriously at one point… the bit where she refuses the doughnut… 😉 I think I shall call you Waif from now on…
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Thank you for the morning chuckles – no doughnuts for this waif 😂
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Oh wow,this sounds like a great read.I like the setting and the fact that there’s some travelling hence glimpses of other countries.Its so cool that your name is in the book.
Great review!
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Thank you Diana – I loved it, a real journey…
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A cameo? How awesome 😀 So glad you enjoyed thi so much!
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Thank you – I was so thrilled to see my name in the book but even without me, it was a great read!
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I have a copy of this on my shelf and looking forward to diving in. Great review, thank you. How exciting to have a cameo too 😊
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Sounds like a great journey 🙂 I love that the setting was so vivid you were actually transported there.
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It is a brilliant book – loved the setting and the wonderful descriptions of clothes and countries – I didn’t want to disembark!
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Sounds wonderful! And of course I want to read it for your cameo appearance 🙂
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Great review. This book sounds fantastic, will have to check it out and how brilliant that you are a character in it!
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I’m so glad, Cleo, that you enjoyed the book so well. And even more so since you make an appearance in it! The story does sound great, and with Tammy Cohen’s skilled writing, I’m not surprised you were drawn in.
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Congratulations! How thrilling to have a cameo role in what sounds like an awesome book. I’ll be looking for this one for sure.
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It’s always refreshing to read a review that isn’t just a sentence or two with the words “great read” or “such a fun romp.” The way you described Dangerous Crossing will make peopel want to read it.
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I am so excited about this book and will preorder it now. I love books set on ocean liners, which is really odd because I get so very seasick and will never take a cruise. Can’t wait to read this and look for the fictional Cleo!
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Awesome! I love books with vivid descriptions…and I especially like the idea of how the characters are almost “forced” to learn about each other. I would also love to see “Cleopatra Bannister” in a story! Thanks for sharing!
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You have it spot on Laurel, there wasn’t any option apart from to mix – thank you 🙂
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This sounds like a fantastic read! I love the ocean liner setting and I could picture the details of the ship based just on your great review! How fun to have a fictional appearance in a book…congrats:)
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Aw thank you Renee, I’m glad you like the sound of this one – this book has a very special place in my heart!
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Another for the wish list me thinks, glad you made your appearance in a book you loved.
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I’m glad you liked the look of this one Jill and I can’t explain quite how happy being a small part of it made me 🙂
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This will always be a very special book to me too – as my lovely friend Cleo is in it! Whoohoooo! xxx
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Aw bless you xx
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I have a copy of this book, given me to me by a friend. I’m looking forward to reading it, as my friend loved it. I didn’t know that you were lucky enough to have a cameo role in it. When I read it, I will look out for your name. How lovely.
Amanda.
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