This was my first acquaintance with Leah Fleming's work. The premise of the story is a postcard that is the axis around which the story revolves that intrigued me into it. True enough, it harks back to the days when writing letters was the mainstay of communication and it is a postcard that leads into an inter-generational search for one's roots that in return helps the reader traverse the various time scales via the social mores, dresses, beliefs, thoughts via multiple points of view. The story has the lives detailing the aftermath of pot WWI era and the fresh tidings of another war looming on the horizons.
It is a fine storyline except the reader sometimes gets a little confused about the timelines and some wartime details that one is unaware of owing to not knowing that particular history. Despite that, the story can be followed well but then again it spans a vast expanse of spatial detail like across Australia, Scotland, Egypt, Belgium, UK etc so the mental follow up needs to keep pace with the change of setting to get a deeper feel of the people and places. This also shines on the fact that the author is well traveled (or very well informed) about these aforementioned places with a good sack of nuggets or trivia stitched into the story.
The protagonists are three ladies Phoebe, Caroline and Melissa. Out of them I felt the first two led very lonely, unhappy lives with lessons for the third one to have a go at love and second chances.
All in all it makes for an interesting read.
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