A review by kimreadsnwrites
The Ash, the Well and the Bluebell by Sandra Arnold

5.0

I was a bit hesitant to start this book. I read the blurb and then put the book on my bedside table. I opened the first page and closed it again. Looking back on that, I think I was a little triggered as I knew it was going to be about the Christchurch earthquake. I was in town that day, the 22nd of February 2011, and I didn’t want to travel back to that afternoon of grinding earth and dust, if only in my mind.

But I needn’t have worried. The rich prose is always tastefully done. It’s not about the shock value.

The main character, Lily, remembers her childhood in England. The story draws you in by its innocent questioning of often terrible things; we see the world of Eshwell Bridge in the 1950’s through the eyes of Lily as a child.

We follow the wonderfully-developed cast of characters as we try to discover what really happened when her friends disappeared, many years ago. The story is a tightly-woven mat of threads of stories through time, exposing prejudice and secrets and the gritty realities of the Child Migration Scheme to Australia and New Zealand.

“Israel didn’t cry when he said goodbye to his brothers and sisters.” But I sure did.

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