Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Wonderful. Perfect mix of historical fiction, romance and adventure. Absolutely loved it.
I cannot wait to read the next book by this talented author.

Why did I pick it?
Having previously read and loved Jenny’s first book, Beneath a Burning Sky I couldn’t wait to see what her second novel had in store.

What I loved about it
I really enjoyed the switch between the two time periods and felt the story progressed well across both. It was really clever how something happening in 1897, could then force a revelation in 1941 and vice versa. It really kept you guessing the whole way through and caused pretty much every chapter to end in a “cliffhanger”. Very cruel you might say but it kept me reading as I couldn’t put it down!

I loved the locations in this book. One of my criticisms of Beneath a Burning Sky was the lack of descriptions but this book had more than enough. It might have helped that I have visited Singapore before and so could picture some of the locations a little easier I guess, but it was still very detailed. The addition of the changing landscape and culture of Singapore over the two time periods was also intriguing.

I really love a book that keeps you guessing. Especially one where you really think you’ve got the outcome nailed right until the very end… when you realise how completely wrong you were! It made a refreshing change from some of the more predictable storylines I’ve read lately. Jenny certainly knows how to keep you guessing!

What I loathed about it
Nothing, give me more!

Thoughts
Another fast-paced adventure that I couldn’t put down, I can’t wait for the next one.

If you're a fan of historical fiction filled with dark secrets, romance, betrayal and intrigue, you'll find much to admire and enjoy about Island In The East. This is a compelling, well-written and heartbreaking story that I've found it hard to stop thinking about it since I turned the last page. The book reviewer's cliche "I couldn't put it down" certainly applies here!

The story takes place over two time periods - one in the early 1940s where Ivy, after a traumatic experience working in wartime London, is reassigned to duties in Singapore. However, she has no idea that her grandmother Mae once lived in Singapore, until she encounters some figures from Mae's past, and so another story unravels in parallel with Ivy's, that of Mae and her twin sister Harriet, in the late 1890s.

A sense of doom, which is ironically very compelling (!), hangs over both stories - you know something terrible is going to go down, and it's a testament to Jenny Ashcroft's storytelling skills that you're left guessing the final twist until the very end. If you're familiar with WW2 history, there's that added sense of tension when you are aware Singapore is mere months, weeks and then days away from invasion by the Japanese.

Ashcroft knows how to write characters that you fall in love with, and also ones that make your skin crawl. She also skillfully captures family loyalty, sibling rivalry, 'frenemies' and the bitterness that clouds people's judgment when they can't get what they want. The horrors of war are not shied away from, and the chapters that go into detail about the deprivation in the prison camps were not easy to read.

The romances in the storylines are genuinely wonderful, and Alex and Kit are both heroes that make one swoon! But it never descends into sentimentality - the characters and their passion for each other feel very real, and it's quite heartbreaking when things don't go as planned (to put it mildly! No spoilers!).

This is a novel that has a bit of everything - love, war, betrayal, heartbreak, tragedy, redemption and hope - resulting in a sumptuous, evocative read with characters that will linger in your mind long after you've finished reading. Beautifully written and highly recommended.