Review: THE MEMORY OF US by Camille Di Maio

THE MEMORY OF US
by
Camille DiMaio

Genre: Historical Romantic Literary Fiction

Publisher: Lake Union Press

Date of Publication: May 31, 2016

Number of Pages: 400

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Julianne Westcott was living the kind of life that other Protestant girls in prewar Liverpool could only dream about: old money, silk ball gowns, and prominent young men lining up to escort her. But when she learns of a blind-and-deaf brother, institutionalized since birth, the illusion of her perfect life and family shatters around her.

While visiting her brother in secret, Julianne meets and befriends Kyle McCarthy, an Irish Catholic groundskeeper studying to become a priest. Caught between her family’s expectations, Kyle’s devotion to the Church, and the intense new feelings that the forbidden courtship has awakened in her, Julianne must make a choice: uphold the life she’s always known or follow the difficult path toward love.

But as war ripples through the world and the Blitz decimates England, a tragic accident forces Julianne to leave everything behind and forge a new life built on lies she’s told to protect the ones she loves. Now, after twenty years of hiding from her past, the truth finds her—will she be brave enough to face it?

ADVANCED REVIEWER PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
“Powerful, emotional, and amazing read.”
“A smashing debut!”
“Brilliantly told and executed.”

“Will make you cry in the best way possible.”
“This is a beautiful story of redemption, love, and honor.”
“I fell in love with the characters.”
“I’m not sure if I have ever had such a range of emotions with a book.”

“This is one of the best books that I have read!”
“Touching and funny and tragic and beautiful.”
“Packs a powerful, emotional punch.”

PURCHASE FROM
AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION

An emotional journey of love, loss and salvation.

THE MEMORY OF US is a story about forbidden love, and redemption. Julianne Wescott, a privileged daughter of a wealthy family of Liverpool, falls for a gardener’s son, who is also a seminarian, in pre-WWII England. In tragic Shakespearean fashion, the two lovers elope and begin a life together, less the luxury in London. But misfortune reigns, and Julianne believes that she is responsible for steering her husband from his intended path to the Church. Believing her life done, she sets out to atone for her actions, and it leads her back to the realization that love is her true path.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, tragic romance and stories of redemption. It was a very emotional read, but to me, that is a true measure of the quality of the storytelling. Di Maio creates an authentic setting and characters for the story. The reader is easily wrapped into the world and the lives of its inhabitants. One of the best love stories of this era I have read.

Camille is an award-winning real estate agent in San Antonio who, along with her husband of 18 years, home schools their four children. She has a bucket list that is never-ending, and uses her adventures to inspire her writing. She’s lived in Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California, and spends enough time in Hawai’i to feel like a local. She’s traveled to four continents (so far), and met Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. She just about fainted when she had a chance to meet her musical idol, Paul McCartney, too. Camille studied political science in college, but found working on actual campaigns much more fun. She belts out Broadway tunes whenever the moment strikes, and forever stays up late reading “just one more chapter”. There’s almost nothing she wouldn’t try, so long as it doesn’t involve heights, roller skates, or anything illegal. “The Memory of Us” is Camille’s debut novel. Her second, “Before the Rain Falls” will be released in the spring of 2017.