To the Farthest Shores

To the Farthest Shores is an historical novel that covers a portion of history I've not paid too much attention to.  Starting just after the Spanish-American War and moving up to the early years of the 1900s.  Elizabeth Camden has pulled together several people, places, and events to make an incredible novel surrounding the Presidio military base and soldiers returning from war with all kinds of injuries and needing rehabilitation. Jenny is the nurse all the soldiers love because of her sweet attitude and care for all of their needs.  It's in this capacity that Jenny met Ryan and fell in love.  Then suddenly he was gone.  After four years, she gets a letter telling her to forget him.

Elizabeth has depicted the establishment of the now CIA, and the advent of covert spying by the US.  Through her descriptions, she has formulated a character whose very being is protected by his need to keep secrets. Those secrets spill over into his outside life, and become an obstacle to what he really wants.

To the Farthest Shores is a well-crafted novel full of surprises at every turn.  Elizabeth has not left out a single detail or a single thought within the pages of this book.  The characters are so well developed, they feel like friends to the readers.  The settings are so well described that they are almost tangible. Hospitals, pawn shops, and pearl farms make the world of this novel, but that world is so full and so meaningful, it was incredibly hard to finish the book and walk away.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a productive Pearl Farm.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book.