Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada, April 27th, 2021

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Inspired by a little-known chapter of World War II history, a young Protestant girl and her Jewish neighbour are caught up in the terrible wave of hate sweeping the globe on the eve of war in this powerful love story that’s perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

If you’re reading this letter, that means I’m dead. I had obviously hoped to see you again, to explain in person, but fate had other plans.

1933

At eighteen years old, Molly Ryan dreams of becoming a journalist, but instead she spends her days working any job she can to help her family through the Depression crippling her city. The one bright spot in her life is watching baseball with her best friend, Hannah Dreyfus, and sneaking glances at Hannah’s handsome older brother, Max.

But as the summer unfolds, more and more of Hitler’s hateful ideas cross the sea and “Swastika Clubs” and “No Jews Allowed” signs spring up around Toronto, a city already simmering with mass unemployment, protests, and unrest. When tensions between the Irish and Jewish communities erupt in a riot one smouldering day in August, Molly and Max are caught in the middle, with devastating consequences for both their families.

1939

Six years later, the Depression has eased and Molly is a reporter at her local paper. But a new war is on the horizon, putting everyone she cares about most in peril. As letters trickle in from overseas, Molly is forced to confront what happened all those years ago, but is it too late to make things right?

From the desperate streets of Toronto to the embattled shores of Hong Kong, Letters Across the Sea is a poignant novel about the enduring power of love to cross dangerous divides even in the darkest of times—from the #1 bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child.

My Review:

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: WW2 fiction, forbidden love trope.
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The book follows Molly and Max, wh0o are two young adults in Toronto during the Great Depression. They fall in love but cannot be together because of the prejudices against Max and his family for being Jewish. The book shows the tension and anti-Semitism that was occurring in the 1930s, not just in Nazi Germany but in Canada as well.
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I loved Molly and Max. Molly wants to become a journalist and works hard to support her large family during the Depression. Max works hard to become a doctor, despite the prejudices against him. I also love that the book showed Canadian soldiers experiences in the Pacific front during the Second World War.
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I really enjoy the forbidden love trope, so I wanted to keep reading to see if they would eventually end up together.
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CW: anti-Semitism, death of a loved one, substance abuse and addiction, war and violence.