A review by chunky_punks_kindle
The Story Collector by Iris Costello

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don't even know where to start with this review. I finished this book with goosebumps and tears silently falling down my face. It is such a beautiful, tragic story with the most uplifting of happy endings. 
The book is a first person story telling, giving us 3 different POV's, from Kitty in the early days of WW1 battling her identity amidst the riots of London, to Miriam, a few years ahead working in a Prisoner of War camp, finding herself falling in love with the enemy, and finally, Edie, Present Day, unravelling the stories of these German women from her inherited cottage in Cornwall. 

The first half of the book sets us up with a bit of backstory about the 3 women, but, the way the 3 lives begin to intertwine and connect to each other after the first half of the book is so well done. There are twists and turns at the end of every chapter. 

I spent most of the book understanding how Kitty & Edie may have been connected, but Miriam's place in the story remained a puzzle for me until near the end when all the pieces fall in to place. I absolutely loved the way the stories of these 3 women were pulled together, in such a beautiful, uplifting ending. 

This book is so full of emotions, from raw pain and loss to hope and happiness. It has love, loss, found family and community. 
I particularly enjoyed the way tarot is incorporated throughout the story, and how it brings Kitty & Edie together hundreds of years apart. 
This will forever remain as one of those books I wish I could read for the first time. 

Thank you to NetGalley & the Publisher Penguin General (UK) for this e-ARC.