THE SHIP OF BRIDES by Jojo Moyes

After falling in love with The Giver of Stars, I read another Jojo Moyes novel titled The Ship of Brides. The book is based on true events. In 1946, the British aircraft carrier the HMS Victorious was given the unique task of transporting over 650 Australian war brides to England to reunite with their husbands. I knew nothing about this part of World War II history, and I was eager to learn the story.

In Moyes’ novel, we follow four women aboard the HMS Victoria (not the real-life Victorious) – Margaret, Jean, Avice, and Frances. These four women could not be more different from each other. Margaret is a farm girl and heavily pregnant; Jean is only sixteen and extremely wild; Avice is a society lady who looks down her nose at the others; and finally, Frances is a nurse with a dark past. Their interactions with each other and with others on board throughout the voyage comprise the majority of the novel. 

There were some things I liked about this book and some things I didn’t. I’ll start with the positives:

1. Writing style – Moyes is a gifted storyteller and a wonderful writer. She has a way with words that transports you straight into the world she creates in her books. Her dialogue flows naturally and makes sense for each character. Descriptions of the characters, the setting, and the circumstances are excellent. She exquisitely describes the blending of 650 brides with their colorful styles, their youth, their hopes, and their fears with a thousand servicemen who are at the end of a war on a worn-out warship. The way she compares and contrasts that throughout the book is phenomenal. To top it off, she infuses the narrative with a wonderful sense of humor. 
2. Characters – Moyes does a wonderful job of creating each character. They’re unique, not cookie-cutter. Each woman comes from a different background, and Moyes handles those necessary differences with ease – from body language to dialogue and everything in between.
3. Historical context – As I said above, I was thrilled to find a WWII topic I hadn’t read about before. This topic is just the perfect one for a good novel. We’ve got 650 brides who barely know their husbands on an aircraft carrier with over a thousand servicemen on board a voyage that lasts over a month. We get to see how the captain and crew of the Victoria adapt, how they transform the ship to fit the women, issues with having them on board, rules they have to put in place for both passengers and crew, and so much more. It’s great content! (You can read about the actual historical event here.)
4. Emotion – Moyes has a way with capturing humanity. Her novels resonate with readers because of her ability to convey the range of human emotions so well: hope, fear, desire, excitement. This story needed that depth of emotion for each character to be believable. These women left everything they knew to embark on a long voyage, not knowing anyone else on board, and hoping their husbands would actually be there to greet them when they arrived in England. Moyes takes each character through an individualized, beautifully expressed arc of emotion through her rich storytelling.

What I didn’t like (Note: #4 contains a spoiler about the ending of the story):

1. Unnecessary framework – The actual story of the brides is bookended by another story: one of the brides in her 80s traveling with her granddaughter. To me, it felt completely unnecessary, and I was not interested in it at all. It could have been removed and not affected the story in any way. It just didn’t add value in my opinion. 
2. Too many POVs – We get perspective from Margaret, Francis, and Avice, as well as Captain Highfield and The Marine (Nicols). It wasn’t always clear when the POV was changing, and it felt like too much going on. 
3. Slow to get going – Most of the complaints about this book that I’ve heard are about how slow it is. We really spend 90% of the novel during the ship’s passage, but not a lot actually happens. Most of the “action” is character interaction and development. The book simply moves slowly. There were a few parts where I got hooked and was really invested, but then it would slow down again and drag on for several chapters at a time. 
4. SPOILER WARNING – The ending – It was dissatisfying. I had really hoped we would see some of what happened after the brides disembarked in England. We really don’t get much more than a quick reunion between bride and husband. I would have preferred some background on the husband or seeing how the brides adjusted to life in Britain. I don’t want to give any further spoilers, but I will say I found the ending disappointing. 

As an aside, there is some foul language (one F-word, several S-words, and minor swear words) as well as crass dialogue throughout. It fits the narrative because it is a ship full of servicemen, but just be forewarned if that isn’t your thing.

All in all, I liked the book. It was more of a sad book than a happy one, but it also had some good humor and witty dialogue. I give it three (maybe three and a half!) out of five stars. 

Jessica

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Copyright Jojo Moyes and Penguin Random House LLC. Image from Amazon.com.