Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Book Review: Daughter of the Winds by Jo Bunt

Daughter of the Winds
By Jo Bunt
Publisher: Jo Bunt
Published: Jan. 23, 2014
ASIN: B00GK4GRFW

Amazon Synopsis:

When the Turkish invade Cyprus in 1974 Pru, a young British Army wife, has her life turned upside down. Two weeks later she flees the country with a baby who isn't hers. 

Over thirty years later that baby, now a grown woman called Leni, returns to the island of 
her birth to find out about the chain of events that led her to be brought up as Pru's child. She discovers the true cost of war, how the hurt still continues through the generations and what being a family really means. 

In this story of love and loss Leni will lay ghosts to rest in more ways than one.


Book Links
Amazon  *  B&N  *  Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Imagine finding out just after you lost a child because of a nonviable pregnancy in your mid-thirties that the woman you’d always called your mother wasn’t your real mother, but your adopted mother. You’re grieving the loss of a child and then grieving the loss of your parent. That’s why Leni runs off to Cypress. She’s told her boss it’s to write an article about the Greek cuisine in Cypress, but in reality it’s to seek out her history and find out about her birth parents. To find out who she really is…

Daughter of the Winds was a wonderfully touching novel, rich in history, vivid in description and detail. Jo Bunt writes in such as way that you are drawn into the novel asking more questions about what is going on, and of course the only way to find out is to keep reading.

The novel moves back and forth between the 1970’s and the present day but each change to the past complements the information given in the present. Leni can see her past through the fence in the no-entry zone of what used to be the town of Varosha. As the reader, we get to experience it through the eyes of her mother Pru in the 1970’s.

I found this book to be educational as well as entertaining. I had no idea there was even a war there in the ‘60s and ‘70s. As a woman nearing childbirth, it must have been frightening indeed.

For those of you who love to indulge in culinary tastes of other countries, you will delight in the wonderful meals that Leni is presented with. She is a food columnist for a magazine doing an article, so the descriptions of the food and their preparation in the book are mouth-watering. Where’s the nearest authentic Greek restaurant?

The pacing of the book was excellent. It totally drew me in and held my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed it and gave Daughter of the Winds 5 stars out of 5.


Thank you to the author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

Jo Bunt was born in Cyprus to British parents. It made sense to her that her first novel should be based there.
Following the family's return to England Jo went to school in Nottingham, university in Hull and then worked in London as a Recruitment Consultant for PwC for many years. Following a family illness Jo moved to Derbyshire where she now lives with her husband and her twin sons. This has enabled her to focus on her two great loves in life; her family and her writing.

She remembers writing her first 'novel' when she was seven but spent her angst-ridden teenage years writing miserable and dark poetry. She mostly writes mainstream fiction but is also working on a series of children's adventure books, largely guided by her own children. When she is not writing or looking after the children Jo is an avid reader and self-confessed food snob. If she can combine the two she is a very happy lady indeed.

Author Links
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