A Wild and Heavenly Place

Title:  A Wild and Heavenly Place

Author:  Robin Oliveira

Publication Information:  G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2024. 416 pages.

ISBN:  0593543858 / 978-0593543856

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Sometimes at night, Samuel Fiddes resurrected his fading memories of being wanted."

Favorite Quote:  "He was beginning to understand that America was nothing like Scotland. It was a place that believed in itself, a country that harbored wild optimism. Anyone with determination in his soul and grit in his heart could prosper. That feeling - true or false - was infectious."

I have read other Robin Oliveira books and loved them. Winter Sisters is a story of a family, a city, the devastation of a storm, and the lumber industry. It is about dreams, parents and children, disappearances, abuse, corruption, justice, and love. What draws the entire book together is the women - young and old - and their ability or inability to survive and thrive in a male-dominated world.

I Always Loved You is the story of the relationship between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt - a relationship that lasted over 40 years and ended with his death in 1917. It is a beautifully written story of what the history of this time was and what the relationship between the two might have been.

As such, I approach this book with some high expectations. This story begins in Glasgow, Scotland and travels to the San Juan Island, Washington in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The title of book features both literally in the places in the book and figuratively as when "home" may symbolize a person:

• "Let's go, let's build a shipyard. A place for us. All of us. A wild and heavenly place."
• "You are my wild and heavenly place, Hailey. You. You always have been."

This dichotomy covers the dueling focal points of the book as well. As with Robin Oliveira's other books, the time and the place of the Pacific Northwest and the shipping industry feature in the book. However, more than the time and place, it is the romance that is the heart of this book. 

Unfortunately, for me, that makes this book less successful. The focus ends up primarily on the romance between Samuel Fiddes and Hailey MacIntyre. Without spoilers, I will say that some of the actions of the primary characters leading to the eventual conclusion of the book are not likable. 

That aside, the romance pushes to the side the history and the actual "wild and heavenly place" where this book is set. The place does not come to life in the same way as it does in Robin Oliveira's other books. In fact, at times, it seems that this romance could have been set in any time period and in any location and still have told the same romantic tale. The book description cites the chase for the "American Dream". However, the telling of the story, this dream because more about the chase for the romance with the "American Dream" being a conduit to earn the romance.

The book is still an enjoyable tale but, for me, not in keeping with prior works.

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