The war’s over but for Alma and Jack the fight for love and freedom has only just begun
North Wales, 1918
The guns in Europe have fallen silent but for Alma peace brings only hardship in the Welsh seaside town she calls home. After welcome independence as a munitions’ worker, she is trapped by a painful arrangement with Bron, the man who saved her family from destitution. And for Jack, a Canadian soldier who fought for Britain, it means degradation in the overcrowded, feverish repatriation camp where thousands wait for the chance to sail home.
When Alma and Jack meet in the shanty town which serves the camp, they fall passionately in love – and their romance becomes the one chance of escape. But dreams are fragile. Bron wants Alma for himself. Ships across the Atlantic are delayed time and again, Spanish ‘flu spreads and the men – their sacrifice and bravery in the trenches ignored – are rebellious.
Inspired by the true events of the Kinmel Park mutiny, What The Ocean Keeps is a heart wrenching, unforgettable love story that weaves a woman’s search for freedom with a soldier’s struggle to return home as the world reels in the aftermath of World War 1 and pandemic.
There are some books that sweep you so completely into their world that, for a few hours, everything beyond the pages just disappears. What the Ocean Keeps by Laura Wilkinson was one of those books for me. Beautifully written, so very moving and atmospheric, this is wonderful historical fiction.
Set in North Wales in the aftermath of the First World War, we are introduced to Alma and Jack, two people longing for freedom in very different ways. Alma felt independent once; through her wartime work in a factory, but this changed once peace arrives. Jack, a Canadian soldier waiting at Kinmel Park for the seemingly endless journey home, has survived the horrors of war but discovers that peace brings its own indignities.
Oh, how I loved these two.
The author makes their relationship feel so believable. There is tenderness, and also passion, and some uncertainty. I became really invested in them and their hopes, while being painfully aware of just how this may not turn out well.
This is so much more than a love story. The historical backdrop is fascinating and, at times, deeply upsetting. I knew nothing about the events surrounding the Kinmel Park mutiny, and the author brings this neglected piece of history vividly to life but the the research never overwhelms her characters. The overcrowding, frustration, illness and growing anger among men who had already sacrificed so much are almost tangible.
Alma is a particularly wonderful creation: spirited, intelligent and determined to have some say over the direction of her own life. I kind of fell in love with Jack too, and the supporting characters give the novel additional richness and depth.
What the Ocean Keeps is tender, immersive and enormously compelling. A story of love, freedom, sacrifice and hope in the uncertain aftermath of war, it really is so moving. Historical fiction at its most absorbing, and a novel I won’t forget in a hurry.
Laura is a novelist, creative writing tutor, and structural editor with a career spanning
fifteen years.
She is the author of seven contemporary novels for adults (two published under a pseudonym) including That Night in New York, Crossing the Line, The Family Line, Redemption Song, and Skin Deep, published by Headline Accent and Legend Times.
Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies throughout her career.
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