What the Wind Knows

By: Amy Harmon

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Will Damron

Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

An Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller.

In an unforgettable love story, a woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything....

Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.

As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?

©2019 Amy Harmon. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

The best story I've read in years...

Just this second, I finished reading this book. My face is hot and I produced a pile of dirty tissues because I cried rivers of tears during the last two chapters. What the Wind Knows is the best book I have read in YEARS! I give this story all the stars in the world.

Gratitude to my friend, Julie, for recommending this book. I can't thank you enough.

I listened to the audiobook version. The narrators were lovely and really brought the story and all its history and characters to life.

A Captivating Historical Romance!

This was a great historical romance that had some time travel thrown in. Historical romance definitely isn’t my go to but I have enjoyed Amy Harmon’s books before so I grabbed this one from the Amazon First selection (and WS it for audio) and I was not disappointed. The bulk of the story is from Anne’s point of view, but there are a lot of entries from Thomas’s journal. The story starts with Anne promising her dying grandfather that she will spread his ashes back in Ireland. Once Anne gets to Ireland she starts to realize that her Grandfather kept her entire family history a secret and she wants to finally learn more. When Anne goes to her grandfather’s childhood home, she takes a little boat out into the lough to release his ashes where fog surrounds her and she finds herself thrown back in time to 1921. There is so much going on in the story, between the battles in Ireland at the time and with Anne trying to not let it be known that she is an imposter, it makes for some intense and emotional moments. I was worried with how the story would end, but I absolutely loved the HEA ending!

Saskia Maarleveld and Will Damron did an amazing job bringing the story to life!

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

I went into this audiobook completely blind and was surprised that is is a time travel romance. I loved the setting of 1920's Ireland. I really enjoyed the history in this book and found myself looking things up to see if it was really history or just fiction for the book. I will admit it was pretty slow all the way through but not enough to make me stop listening. I loved the ending, it was exactly how I needed it to end.

The narration was really good but I did notice that only the dialog was spoken with a Irish accent, all the inner monologue was without an accent and that was a little odd for me. I know Anne didn't really have the Irish Accent so for her it made sense but Thomas was Irish so I would think even his thoughts would have the accent.

Irish Outlander

This book was so similar to Outlander I can’t believe it was published. It wasn’t bad just very familiar and predictable

Narration Narration Narration!!!

Ugh! For me, the narration is everything. I usually stay away from
“time travel” books just because they are rarely very good But I took a chance on What the Wind Knows because the reviews were generally positive. The story did have some merit, oh but that narration!
Saskia Maarleveld has a terribly gravely voice, like she has pebbles in her throat. It’s unmistakable. I recognized it immediately, having listened to another of her readings. I thought I could tolerate her voice if the story was good enough. Enter Will Damron. My question has always been, why not match the ethnicity of the reader with the ethnicity of the narrator, ie. John Keating, Stephen Hogan, Liam Carney.
It can’t be that hard! Damron mutilated the
glorious Irish brogue to the point of no redemption. So incredibly overdone! Therefore, I would not recommend this audiobook.

Good but melodramatic

The performance and writing was decent with the male narrator being a bit more compelling than the female for this tale. The female lead was a little annoying. The love story was an attempt at something epic but I felt my gag reflex starting at certain passages. So saccharine and melodramatic that at times I caught myself rolling my eyes. The best parts were the love story involving parenting and the social and political conflicts.

Beautiful

This book is so amazing. I completely fell for the characters, Thomas's journal and Yates. Every chapter began with a journal entry, a beautiful poem by W. B. Yates, then bounded into the fabric of time itself. Amy Harmon reached into this fabulous, timeless, fabric to grasp individual threads. Amy wove and unwound these threads and created a story of bravery, love, resilience and the human condition. Bravo Amy.
Another imaginative book to hoist onto my coveted bookshelf labeled THE BEST. I Have a sneaking
suspicion that everytime I re-read this book in the future, I will take away new information with every reading- that is the truth.
I sooo love a book that can sweep me away into a story so fully that not only does it feed my huge imagination but also thrills the student in me. My logical side got fed with new appreciation for the likes of Yates. The knife point importance of remembering actual sequential events in history for the part they play in the wider scope of the future.m
I recommend this book. I appreciate the author too.

Atrocious terrible Irish accents, great story

Great story ruined by absolutely horrible accents! Really struggled to stick with it. The story is great, really entertaining.

Meh

It took me until half way through the book to begin to enjoy this. It truly dragged out until then. Weaving through history to set up the characters became monotonous at first.

Then, the author seemed to find her secure footing and the characters finally came to life. Rounding the characters out and creating a fair story for the reader.

C.

Not sure about this one.

Why is the female narrator whispering most of the time? It is irritating! The volume goes from normal male voices to the heroine in a husky whisper. The storyline is great.

Donegal not Donigal,

An Irish person walking on the road is not an irish traveller. its Moore Street not Mor street. we dont have lemon in our cuppa tea. We have street names. The female narrator is supposed to be an irish american and can slightly be forgiven, but the male narrator is supposed to be a 1916 doctor in ireland, I cannot forgive these blundering errors. GallagHER not GallaGER. it just keeps going....

Butchered Accents

As an Irish person and gaeilgeoir, I found the accents insulting. The story is good though, so maybe read the book instead if you're Irish!

Excellent

I sometimes find audio books are spoiled by their narration, not so in this case. Saskia Maarleveld, Will Damron do a really good job, they made the story come to life.
I read quite a lot and when story lines get boring I find myself fast forwarding to get to an interesting bit. I didn't do that once with this book. It was so well written you could actually believe the characters are real historical figures. Listening to the history of Ireland and the war and people involved was very interesting.
Without giving any spoilers, I didn't expect the ending, and I am normally very good at guessing how books will end. I will be keeping my eyes open for further books from Amy Harmon.

Beautifully written and utterly compelling!

Wow! I was completely enthralled by this story that I finished the book in just 2 sittings. It is a beautifully written romance filled with intrigue and historically relevant facts. All the mystery and twists are wonderfully weaved together throughout the novel and the ending makes you want to experience it all again! I've recommended it to all my friends.

Absolutely Brilliant

I loved this from start to finish, it was such a moving story and I have never read/listened to one like it. It was so very easy to listen to. I'm very fussy when it comes to my Audio books, but when I listened to a few sentences of the sample I purchased straight away.
The narrator's voices were captivating and were perfect for the characters and story. This will stay with me for a long time to come .

Magic!

I can’t even describe the beauty of this story. Let your mind go and suspend your disbelief. Let yourself tumble headlong into another world. I did it myself 35 years ago when I left the States to come to Ireland, to marry and raise a family in Annie’s world. For me, Ireland has never lost its magic.

Time travel Romance

Beautiful story tied up in history with a pages full of love. It’s more time travel women’s fiction than romance.
The greatest of love is the kind that last the ages.

3.75 Stars

Unbelievably awful

The Irish accents were so bad it made my teeth grind. Anyone who’s even vaguely Irish will want to bang their head off a wall at the plastic paddy characterisation. I tried to carry on and see if there was a plot in there somewhere but after several hours of listening I could only make out something akin to my 9 year old daughters school project. No idea how anyone with all their mental faculties could actually enjoy this.

What the wind knows

One of the best stories I’ve ever read. Interesting facts, Wonderful and moving, Read it twice.

Beautiful book

Wonderful poetic writing, beautifully read. A fascinating and gripping story. Well worth a listen. Thoroughly enjoyable