When the World Fell Silent

In December, 1917, a massive explosion rocked the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was caused after two ships collided in the harbour and one of them loaded with munitions caught fire and exploded. Much of Halifax was flattened and around 2,000 people died with 9,000 injured - an event comparable to other far more famous disasters of recent history.
 
That this happened at the height of World War I and when many Canadians were overseas fighting made it even more tragic, with men in the trenches losing family members whom they would have expected to be safe and sound back at home.
 
This incident is the backdrop to the story of two women: Nora, a career nurse in a local military hospital, and Charlotte, a young war widow living with her late husband’s family. Both suffer shocking losses and have to rebuild their lives. Nora is fiercely independent but makes a wrong decision in a moment of weakness that will force change upon her.  In the chaos after the explosion, the mental health of the somewhat downtrodden Charlotte suffers and she also takes a misstep that will have consequences.
 
Although this is an easy read with more than a few sentimental moments that will have you reaching for the tissues, the dual first-person narratives have a similar tone with rather too much repetitive internalising dialogue from both women, predominantly from Nora who dithers over the nature of love and career vs. motherhood. The ending is tidy and unsurprising.
 
It is interesting to spot a few editing errors that indicate the original manuscript might have been written in the third person. This may have worked better and improved the characterisation by including other viewpoints, such as that of the intriguing Captain McLeod who helps Nora with her issues.

Three stars.

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Dymocks

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