Chelsea Weibley at the Library

I am back to the Caribbean for this week’s book review with The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams. This is a story of many settings (time and place), but the most memorable for me was Nassau in the early 1940s. Lulu Randolph is a journalist who moves to Nassau in 1941 to write a society column for a United State publication. Lulu is determined to enter the Bahamian governor and his wife’s circle and succeeds. She attends parties thrown by the Duke and Duchess and covers all aspects of gossip in the Bahamas. However, it’s not just sun, beaches and parties…racism, spies and WWII are impacting Nassau, as Lulu quickly learns.

Other settings in the story include Lulu in Europe during WWII (I won’t tell you what takes her there) and the early 1900s in a Swiss clinic in a beautiful Alps setting (I won’t tell you why we are there, but it’s another beautiful place!). All the characters and times connect in the end. It’s a journey filled with history, place and colorful characters as we venture toward the conclusion.

This is not a book that grabbed me from the start. It slowly and gently pulled me in until I got to a point where I couldn’t let it go. I suggest a little patience in the beginning if it doesn’t pull you in quickly too. It will be worth the time investment at the beginning to read through until the end. I learned so much about Nassau during WWII and had fun along the way!

Check out this read and others by Beatriz Williams in our eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/ or using your Libby app.