Emma's Review: Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A family on a faraway island. Seas crawling with Japanese spies. A terrible war creeping ever closer…

1940 When Rosie loses her mother and is sent to Sri Lanka to live with her mother’s friend Silvia and her three sons, her world changes in a heartbeat. As she is absorbed into the bosom of a noisy family, with boys she loves like brothers, she begins to feel at home.

But the war in Europe is heading for Asia. Searching for comfort from the bleak news and the bombings, Rosie meets a heroic soldier on leave, and falls in love for the first time. Yet the war will not stop for passion; he must move on, and she must say goodbye, knowing she might never see him again. She is left with just a memory.

Meanwhile, one by one, the men she considers brothers leave to fight for their island paradise. As she waits in anguish for letters that never come, tortured by stories of torpedoed ships and massacres of innocent families, she realises that she, too, must do her bit. Rosie volunteers to work in military intelligence, keeping secrets that will help those she loves and protect her island home. But then two telegrams arrive with the chilling words ‘missing believed captured’ and ‘missing believed dead’. Who of those that she loves will survive the devastating war, and who will she lose?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Those I Have Lost to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas takes us from Madras in India to the island of Ceylon in the years preceding the war and the war years itself. It’s a story that takes its time to find its feet but once it does, around the time that the war begins, then it really turns into a family saga that will have you hoping for a positive outcome for the characters you have become invested in. I find the authors books set in India or an Asian country to be far better than those set in Europe during the war. It’s like she is more comfortable writing in those settings and they really do come alive off the pages. Everything is so visual and rich in their descriptions.

As a reader you feel as you are transported to Ceylon and have such clear images in your head. It’s a world away from what we live in today when many British lived in Ceylon running rubber plantations. The differences between the British and the Tamil servants is expertly explored. The author has made this period in history come alive and I love reading books set in Asia during World War Two. Really, there isn’t enough books using this setting whereas there are hundreds of books set in Europe that detail the war. I really enjoying reading about the war from another perspective - half way around the world and the journey Rosie goes on is an incredible one. We can really see her mature into a young woman filled with strength, courage, bravery but at the same time love and romance are set to challenge her.

The book opens with a brief few pages detailing an orphanage in India. It’s run by nuns where potential parents can come to select a child of their choice. But two children don’t wish to be separated and do their best to stay together and not be adopted. To be honest, I forgot about this opening scene the further I progressed into the book but when certain things occurred it’s inclusion all made sense. I thought the connections established were excellent and tied in so well with the many strands of the story. Part one then introduces us to Rosie, who lives in Madras with her father. Her mother Lucy has died and Rosie doesn’t know how she will go on. She will have to try and find a new way to live without her especially as her father is so caught up in his own world of academia that he rarely notices what is going on with Rosie. Father Bear runs the school which Rosie attends but when her mothers long term friend Aunt Silvia arrives from Ceylon she knows things are about to change. In the past, she loved visiting the plantation in Ceylon and had great times playing with Silvia’s sons Andrew and Victor but interactions with eldest son Graham were minimal. So when Silvia suggests she come to live with them and return to Madras for the holidays there aren’t any major objections from Rosie.

Definitely for the first half of the book it was slow going. After the initial introduction to Rosie and establishing her background and learning of her present situation and arrival in Ceylon nothing much really happened. The years passed by and Rosie wants to apply to medical school which wouldn’t really have been the norm for a woman. Aunt Silvia would rather she would become engaged to one of her sons and take over the running of the plantation. The only event of significance which will have a strong influence on the remainder of the story was when Rosie meets Usha, the daughter of one of the servants working in the family home, when she arrives in Ceylon. Interaction between servants and their employees wasn’t strongly encouraged but the two girls form a firm friendship which will be tested time and time again especially when war breaks out and their lives are changed forever.

I much preferred the more mature Rosie. I found when she was young and childish that I didn’t really connect to her and I just wanted to know where was the story going and when would things pick up and relate more back to the blurb. Thankfully that did happen and I really felt the book ramped up a gear and had the makings of a real war time saga filled with mystery, secrets, twists and turns and a good dash of romance. I say had the makings because the first half didn’t have these traits. War arrives in the Far East and the inhabitants of Ceylon fear invasion. Rosie does her bit and volunteers and with the voluntary aid detachment. I thought Rosie grew up quickly and became someone who grew from being delicate to a woman who could withstand any storm. She was always there for those in need especially the way Nisha’s storyline developed and I applauded her because although she made rash judgments about certain characters she was always willing to admit when she was wrong and to see the error of her ways. 

She has an extreme sense of loyalty and can see injustices being done as the differences between ethnicity, culture and religion are explored. But at the same time she is a young woman who wants love and when she believes this to appear at her door in the form of a character whose family name featured in some of the author’s books ( I really loved that connection I have to say) she is terrified that the worst will happen in the war and she will never be happy. As she works away doing her bit for the war Rosie longs for letters that never materialise and the reader can see this is holding her back from seeing what is right before her eyes.

I have been quite vague when it comes to specifics regarding the main plot of the story, especially the sections during the war years, because there is not much to say without giving key points and twists away. The author does a very good job of portraying the human side of war and how one family was so deeply affected. I loved how Rosie kept pushing against the grain and going against convention. Aunt Silvia had a particular future in mind for Rosie. Women were meant to stay at home and provide hope, solidity and continuity but Rosie knew she could do those things by breaking outside the mould. She had a particular sensitivity to the needs of others and a sense of loyalty that knew no bounds and which was highlighted time and time again. Life in Ceylon was certainly different for Rosie compared to the time she spent in Madras and over the course of the war she becomes so deeply intertwined in the fate of the Silvia’s three sons. Admittedly, there is one in particular who is just so awful, crass and a bully that you fail to have any sympathy for him. But certainly those left behind not able to fight, just waiting in limbo for news and trying to live in a world day to day in a way they never thought possible was brilliantly portrayed. Their sense of loss, devastation and the lack of not being able to do anything.It all came across so well.

The last quarter of the book was especially good and I loved how all the connections became apparent and things related back to the opening. But I will say that ending, oh why did it have to happen? After everything the characters had been through. I was raging. It was so emotional and I couldn’t believe what was unfolding. I really didn’t want it to happen but then thought, albeit reluctantly so, OK fair play it was a brave move on the author’s part knowing it would upset readers but it did help bring certain characteristics of the story to come full circle. Those I Have Lost is an excellent read. Get past the first section or two and what awaits you is a very good story. It’s Rosie’s coming of age story told against the background of the destruction of war and it’s a story that will stay with you for a long time. More in this vein in the future please Sharon Maas.