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A review by book_concierge
300 Days of Sun by Deborah Lawrenson
3.0
Journalist Joanna Millard goes to Faro, Portugal to escape a relationship and a career that are both going nowhere. She meets Nathan Emberlin in a language class and is charmed by the younger man and his easy manner. But Nathan confides that he is really interested in a decades old child kidnapping, and Joanna gets caught up in helping him. Soon they are in danger of coming afoul of the criminal element and powerful political influences.
This started out slowly but picked up steam as small revelations led to bigger discoveries. A significant clue is a 1954 novel written by Esta Hartford, that purportedly described true events during World War II, though the names of the main characters were changed. Lawrenson interrupts Joanna and Nathan’s story arc to give the reader Hartford’s novel. I found this technique of parallel story lines interesting but sometimes jarring. Still, this technique kept this reader in some suspense and turning pages, as slowly pieces fell into place. I virtually flew through the last 100 pages.
Others have commented on Lawrenson’s ability to bring the landscape and culture of Portugal alive, and I have to agree with those reviewers. I’ve been to Portugal and found Lawrenson’s descriptions vivid and true to my own memories
This started out slowly but picked up steam as small revelations led to bigger discoveries. A significant clue is a 1954 novel written by Esta Hartford, that purportedly described true events during World War II, though the names of the main characters were changed. Lawrenson interrupts Joanna and Nathan’s story arc to give the reader Hartford’s novel. I found this technique of parallel story lines interesting but sometimes jarring. Still, this technique kept this reader in some suspense and turning pages, as slowly pieces fell into place. I virtually flew through the last 100 pages.
Others have commented on Lawrenson’s ability to bring the landscape and culture of Portugal alive, and I have to agree with those reviewers. I’ve been to Portugal and found Lawrenson’s descriptions vivid and true to my own memories