I’ve read plenty of historical novels, but there was something special about ‘The Azure Window’. Too often, our islands are just footnotes in bigger European stories. Here, they’re front and center.
About the book
Spanning over sixty years, from an island torn apart in the Second World War, to what is now a tourist’s paradise, the story intertwines three separate love stories. The focus is on three generations of women, who like The Azure Window, are beautiful, fragile and enigmatic.
Primarily set in Malta in present times, Jessy McGuill becomes drawn into the past and the life of her mother, Maria, whom she never knew. The truth she learns of her grandmother Ana’s endurance as she struggled to survive severe loss and heartache during the Siege of Malta, forms the backdrop to Jessy’s own story.
Like Ana, Jessy also finds love in Malta, until her grandfather arrives on the island, with a relative in tow. This young man Neil, brings with him his own secrets and the friendship between him and Jessy soon causes a ripple of unease for several reasons. A plot unravels that provides a particular and unbelievable twist which will captivate the reader.
My opinion
When I first heard about Nicola Kearns’s The Azure Window, I was curious but also a little cautious. So many novels set in Malta tend to romanticize the island without really capturing its soul. But this book surprised me.
From the very first pages, I could tell that Kearns had spent real time here. Reading it, I was reminded of afternoons in Gozo, and of the old stories my parents used to tell about life during the war. It stirred something both nostalgic and proud in me.
What I liked most about the novel is how it moves across generations of women and how their lives mirror one another in subtle ways. There’s a strength there and I couldn’t help but see pieces of my own mother and grandmother in them. The Azure Window itself, of course, carries so much symbolism. I still remember the day it collapsed. In this story it becomes the bittersweet passage of time.
The book has its fair share of drama and emotion, but it never tips into melodrama. Instead, it unfolds naturally.
I’ve read plenty of historical novels, but there was something special about this one. Too often, our islands are just footnotes in bigger European stories. Here, they’re front and center.
For me, The Azure Window isn’t just a story about a family; it’s about memory. It’s a book I’d happily recommend, not just to Maltese readers who will recognize so much, but to anyone who wants to feel what it’s like to stand on our rocks.
Book details
- ISBN: 978-1788089159
- Print length: 273 pages
- Other info: see tags below (author, location language & year of publication)
