Where the heart is (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve enjoyed Sue Moorcroft’s novels since I read ‘Uphill all the way’ some years ago. So whenever I see something she’s written available on the Kindle, free or inexpensively, I tend to download it. ‘Where the heart is’ was a recent acquisition, a novella rather than a novel, and one which I read during a fairly busy period.

The story opens in 1968. It’s about Sylvana, a Maltese girl who has fallen in love with Rob, an English military man. Her family are typically Mediterranean and family-orientated, so they expect her to marry a nice Maltese boy and settle down in their neighbourhood. Thus, although they like Rob, they’re not very happy when he and Sylvana decide that they want to be married.

Most of the rest of the book follows their relationship as Sylvana has to deal with the demands (sometimes rather unreasonable) of the army, and also to cope with the bitterly cold weather she finds when she moves to England for a while. Her bewilderment and culture shock are very believable, as is the contrast between Sylvana’s close Mediterranean family and Rob's more restrained British relatives.

Despite being quite a short book, the characterisation is excellent - as I’ve come to expect with Sue Moorcroft - and the settings so realistic I could almost see them.

This book is not easily available but I would recommend it, nonetheless, as a good light read for those who enjoy women's fiction.

Review copyright 2014 Sue's Book Reviews