Paula Greenlees - Journey to Paradise

Paula Greenlees - Journey to Paradise 

4.5 ⭐

Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Fiction, Romance 

Pages: 432

Format:  Paperback 

Publisher:  Penguin Books

Date Published: 30th December 2021

        Huge Thank You to the author, Paula Greenlees for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

Singapore, 1949. When Miranda steps onto the pier with her husband Gerry she hopes that their move will bring the fresh start she needs and a chance to heal the scars from her past.

Gerry's role at the British foreign office affords them a beautiful house and invites the best parties in town. But their life feels worlds apart from England and true friends are hard to find.

When doctor Nick Wythenshaw encourages Miranda to work within the local community, she finds a new purpose that opens her eyes to a new way of life.

But as riots erupt across the region and danger draws close to home, Miranda must make an impossible choice. Will she sacrifice everything she holds dear to find happiness?

My Review: 

Such a beautifully written story! Reading this book, I could picture every scene so vividly, including the beautiful nature of Singapore and all the characters. This book was also so easy to read, as words just flew. It took me two sittings to devour and honestly, I didn’t want this story to end.

The book follows Miranda Lewis, who is joining her husband Gerry for a new life in Singapore in the late 1940s. She needs and wants a fresh start and strongly believes that Singapore will be just it, for herself and her marriage with Gerry. Whilst Gerry settles in perfectly in his job and rich social life, Miranda struggles to find friends. She especially struggles to find someone who would understand her and she feels that her relationship with Gerry is getting worse rather than better. She continues to feel like an outsider until she meets Dr Nick and with his encouragement starts to volunteer at a local hospital. Nick becomes fond of Miranda and helps her to find a purpose in Singapore. However, they both start developing feelings for each other and Miranda has to make a hard choice…to leave her husband and be with Nick or stay with Gerry and try to salvage what is left of her broken marriage…

I loved how this story explored so many different themes, such as grief, loss, conflicts, marriage, post-war life, motherhood, politics, and most importantly women’s role in marriage in the late 1940s. The story also perfectly blended historical context and events in Singapore into Miranda’s whirlwind of a story.

I like the subtle but important aspect of this story, the hierarchy of marriage back in the 1940s, where the wife is completely dependent on the husband and can’t do much without his approval or knowledge. Also, the fact that divorce in those days was almost impossible, especially if the wife wants to instigate it.

The romance in this story was so beautifully and realistically written. It was not over-the-top romance as you might find in most historical fiction books/romances, but was just enough to make it work perfectly in the midst of other topics explored and in the exotic setting of Singapore. However, at one point in the book, it did feel that Nick and Miranda fell in love very quickly over a few chapters, which was the only negative thing I can say about the book.

Overall: Brilliantly written book with such a captivating storyline, relatable characters and such important topics of grief, loss, marriage, motherhood, and politics, to name a few, explored. Greenlees perfectly blended so many different topics with the beautiful scenery of Singapore and Miranda’s story. Excellent debut! I hope there will be a second book, as I would love to find out how Miranda’s life evolved after she left Singapore. Can’t wait for what Paula Greenlees writes next! 

About the Author: 

Paula Greenlees has lived in various places, including Singapore, where she was based for three years. It was while living in Singapore that the first seeds of her debut novel, Journey to Paradise developed. The crumbling buildings and the modern high-rises popping up almost overnight seemed to be a metaphor for the social diversity and change in Singapore at that time. However, as a young mother living there, she wondered what it must have been like as a post-war colonial wife living miles away from the familiarity of home. Despite the gloss and glamour of colonial living, women were frequently stuck in unhappy marriages, often unable to follow careers or have the independence to divorce if things went wrong – which they inevitably did.

Her writing, although set against exotic backgrounds, is set on the cusp of change – the shift from colonial dominance to independence. She likes to dig into a variety of issues, and her main protagonist is, in many ways, a metaphor for the events surrounding her at that time. It isn’t always an easy journey, but in the end, success comes her way.

https://www.paulagreenlees.com/