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Testing the Limits
"Heartfelt and bittersweet. A delightful read, this beautifully written book comes highly recommended."
1930s England: will the sunny days of ships, flying and love ever end?
Eliza McKee sails away to a new life in London, where her glamorous aunt Izabel is a star with a secret to hide. Her brother Pete yearns to fly, but has no idea how much he needs to learn from fierce pilot Billie Quinn. Eliza's friend Harry loves golden Charlotte, but Charlotte just loves gambling with flyboy Pete's heart.
And when a great white barque encounters the coast one foggy night, more than an era of sail finds itself tested to the limits.
Testing the Limits is the first novel in the Tempo series, by the winner of the Mountbatten Maritime Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction.
1930s England: will the sunny days of ships, flying and love ever end?
Eliza McKee sails away to a new life in London, where her glamorous aunt Izabel is a star with a secret to hide. Her brother Pete yearns to fly, but has no idea how much he needs to learn from fierce pilot Billie Quinn. Eliza's friend Harry loves golden Charlotte, but Charlotte just loves gambling with flyboy Pete's heart.
And when a great white barque encounters the coast one foggy night, more than an era of sail finds itself tested to the limits.
Testing the Limits is the first novel in the Tempo series, by the winner of the Mountbatten Maritime Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction.
349 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2020
2 people want to read
About the author
Kate Lance
12 books3 followersI grew up near Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia. My history of the charmed life of an old pearling lugger, Redbill: From Pearls to Peace, won the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction 2004, and in 2009 Alan Villiers: Voyager of the Winds won the Mountbatten Maritime Award. The WWII novel, The Turning Tide, was published in 2014 under the name CM Lance, as was the thriller Atomic Sea in 2016. Recent books include Silver Highways, Testing the Limits (Tempo 1), and Embers at Midnight (Tempo 2). I live in green South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
This author is the same as C. M. Lance
This author is the same as C. M. Lance
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 20, 2022
Heartfelt and bittersweet
This heartfelt novel truly captures the exciting and carefree era of the late 30s as its young cast leave their old lives behind in various ways, setting out on new adventures and losing themselves at sea, in the air and in love. The romances that define this story are not just constrained to the relationships between the large and diverse cast of colourful characters, but also found in their individual callings that inspire and motivate them all. Kate Lance shows that pursuit of purpose is arguably more important than the pursuit of love, and elegantly weaves a whimsical tale of family, friends and passions set within the calm before the storm of WWII.
A delightful read, this beautifully written book comes highly recommended.
This heartfelt novel truly captures the exciting and carefree era of the late 30s as its young cast leave their old lives behind in various ways, setting out on new adventures and losing themselves at sea, in the air and in love. The romances that define this story are not just constrained to the relationships between the large and diverse cast of colourful characters, but also found in their individual callings that inspire and motivate them all. Kate Lance shows that pursuit of purpose is arguably more important than the pursuit of love, and elegantly weaves a whimsical tale of family, friends and passions set within the calm before the storm of WWII.
A delightful read, this beautifully written book comes highly recommended.
March 12, 2022
It's 1929, WWII is over, so is the flu epidemic. Three young women in Australia find a new world. It challenges them and each one finds their new niche: Eliza sails to London and falls in love with sailing as she helps out on the ship; her brother Pete wants to fly and meets his instructor, Billie, a female pilot. Then there are Min-Lu, Eliza's grandmother in London, as well as her glamorous aunt Izabel, an actress, characters I particularly enjoyed.
I loved the atmosphere of this story, the likeable characters and their fight as women in this new world, trying to make their mark, doing the things they love. It's a riveting read that I had a hard time putting down.
I did read the second in this trilogy first, but really enjoyed meeting the characters when they were younger and of course now I can't wait to read number three, especially because the characters feel like old friends.
I can't recommend this series highly enough, the writing is brilliant, the stories wonderful (and obviously well researched) and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. Great stuff!
I loved the atmosphere of this story, the likeable characters and their fight as women in this new world, trying to make their mark, doing the things they love. It's a riveting read that I had a hard time putting down.
I did read the second in this trilogy first, but really enjoyed meeting the characters when they were younger and of course now I can't wait to read number three, especially because the characters feel like old friends.
I can't recommend this series highly enough, the writing is brilliant, the stories wonderful (and obviously well researched) and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. Great stuff!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews