Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers

By: Sara Ackerman

Narrated by: Carly Robins, Devon Hales

Hawaii, 1944. The Pacific battles of World War II continue to threaten American soil, and on the home front, the bonds of friendship and the strength of love are tested.

Violet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together one year after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties surface, Violet believes Ella knows something. But Ella is stubbornly silent. Something - or someone - has scared her. And with the island overrun by troops training for a secret mission, tension and suspicion between neighbors is rising.

Violet bands together with her close friends to get through the difficult days. To support themselves, they open a pie stand near the military base, offering the soldiers a little homemade comfort. Try as she might, Violet can't ignore her attraction to the brash marine who comes to her aid when the women are accused of spying. Desperate to discover the truth behind what happened to her husband while keeping her friends and daughter safe, Violet is torn by guilt, fear, and longing as she faces losing everything. Again.

©2018 Sara Ackerman (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Pacific views

I could feel and see the scenery and smells. I loved falling into this book.

Delightful

Really enjoyed this book. It brought so many memories. I wonder if it was based on stories from family and or friends.

In a time of war

My father survived Pearl but never came home to talk about it. I had found the pictures he took pre and post Dec 7,41 9f Hawaii and the women he also photographed. That was definitely a different time and alot classy then now. This novel is so realistic it is like the author has a ti e machine or a novel of day by day events and the struggles that were really happening. I was completely immersed in the storyline and I seriously hope these characters storyline continues in a sequel. Great narration by both narrators and great writing by the author. I recommend this novel for sure.

Nice story! Great author.

I enjoyed this book. However, it irritates me when Hawaiian words are not pronounced correctly. There weren’t a lot of words to learn. Ask any local. They would have helped.

Thoroughly Enjoyed It!

I thoroughly enjoyed this interesting story. Well read. So glad I did not listen to the people who didn’t like the story. It was a good story of love, loss, sorority among women during war. A big plus is that it was not overtly sexual like so many other books are. I will definitely find more books from this author.

Entertaining

The story gives you a new perspective of war, especially from a young child’s view.

Well written story

I enjoyed some of the historical facts in the story. I was annoyed with the way the reader pronounced many of the Hawaiian and Japanese words.

Slow read

I really enjoyed “Radar girls” and “Codebreakers”. I was thoroughly engrossed in these books.
This book dragged a bit for me. I admit that i skipped ahead a few times to see where it was going. I did go back though. I guess i worried a lot about Roscoe. I know the fate of so many wild animals raised as pets.
I did finish the book and i’m glad i did. I rarely give up on a book.
The narration was fine. No complaints.

An excellent read though really depressing about how humanity treats each other in times of stress & especially war!

Well written from both the mother’s & young daughter’s point of view. Emotional issues are explored & the value of friendships shown. The love story is downplayed but very sweet!

Fun book but readers were a poor choice

Full disclosure: I’m from Honoka’a, Hawai’i, born in the early 50s, lived for a time in the Teacher’s Cottages next to Honoka’a High, and even attended Japanese School like Ella, so this book resonated on multiple fronts.

The story is a work of historical fiction and Ackerman does a very good job, with great accuracy, of capturing our town during this difficult time. Yes, there really was a Roscoe, although I never was fortunate to met him.

The fail on this book has nothing to do with the book itself but the readers. Island of Sweet Pies should never have been read by someone not from Hawaii. The mispronunciations of all the Hawaiian words and local names (Hawaiian, Japanese and Portuguese) along with the horrible attempt at our local accents almost ruined a great tale. In fairness, I’m sure these two readers would do fine with a book set in a different locale.

I’ll be gifting this to several friends but only in print form since listening to it is truly painful for anyone that grew up in Hawai’i.