Three and a half star rating.
A beautiful, enigmatic cover which simply makes you want to pick this book up. The story of three strong women from different times who have a connection with this small island off the west coast of Scotland. Ulla, Ellen and Libby who is the main focus of this story. There’s a few nasty characters to stir the pot, glorious scenery and history. Easy to read and the story just flowed along despite breaks for some of the other characters to “speak”. Enjoyable book!

I really enjoyed this book, which is odd as it brings together things I wouldn't usually be drawn to - romance, mystery and historical fiction (I don't usually venture much further back than the 20th century!). It was the setting that hooked me in - the harsh west coast of Scotland is one I know well, and is so tangible in the writing that you can feel the wind whipping your hair. And after capturing me with that, the story then kept me locked in. With three stories running parallel but all linked, there was never a dull moment and I was constantly trying to figure out the next twist and find the connections. I really enjoyed how the story played out, quite a slow burner but never losing pace. I'd have liked to see some of the supporting characters be fleshed out a little more, but I don't think that took away from the story. Great read.

I’m such a huge fan of Sarah Maine’s so was very excited to read The Women Of The Dunes, her latest book. Sarah always writes such amazing historical fiction and within a few pages I realised I was in for another treat.

The story is told from three timelines which may sound like it will be confusing but isn’t as the author cleverly manages to write with a different style and has created very different characters in each. This makes it very easy to differentiate between the them.

All the stories are fascinating in their own way and I enjoyed reading all of them in turn though, unusually for me, I actually preferred the present timeline the most. I think this was due to the potential relationship between the two main characters that I was willing to happen as I thought they’d be very sweet together and Declan’s wonderful house and family that you couldn’t help fall in love with. I would have loved to stay in that interesting house, especially with their cook who seemed to make some lovely sounding food.

The descriptions of Ullaness where very vivid and I felt I could really imagine the Island. The beautiful, ruggedness and history of the Island was beautifully described and I would love to visit there some day. Though my Scottish mother in-law tells me it’s very windy and cold! The community that the author describes was a really close one who seemed to look out for each other. It seemed like a wonderful place to live.

The mystery involving the murders and the truth behind the legend was very interesting and kept my attention throughout. I was disappointed to find that the legend wasn’t a real one, as I love stuff like that but it was still a fascinating one to read about.

This is Sarah’s third book and I really look forward to reading more from her in the future. If you enjoy fascinating, multiple time line mysteries then you’ll enjoy this book.

Huge thanks to Hodder publishers for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

I loved this book. It is three stories of three different women all intertwined across hundreds of years if history. I would recommend this to fans of Barbara Erskine and Kate Morton.

This book is set in the beautiful and wild west of Scotland. There are three threads - a 9th century Viking woman, a 19th century housemaid and a modern day woman. Their stories are told as the threads are woven through the book.

I really enjoyed this book. The author's description is excellent and I got a real sense of the wildness and remote coast of Scotland. The setting is beautifully described and I felt that the author did it justice.

I enjoy good historical novels which are well researched showing real depth to the time periods that are being described. I felt that this author did her research and provided the depth of context and character that a good historical novel requires.

This book was a good read and I struggled to put it down. As I have said, the description and characters are excellent but also there is a good plot for the reader to get their teeth into.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

It's been nearly two weeks now that I finished this and it is interesting what time does to your opinion of the book. I can say that I did enjoy reading it because after all I stayed up until 2 am to finish this, but there was just one storyline too many. A Viking one, one set in Victorian time, one in present day. As much as I adore dual timeline narratives, I don't think triple timeline is really working for me, and it was the present day timeline that I was mainly interested in and that kept me reading. I also was hard pressed to accept the tenuous link between the timelines at times. Still: I liked it. Not as much as House Between Tides, but there is no doubt, that I will keep picking up Sarah Maine's books.

A great book to read with good characters and a good storyline, sometimes going back and forth between time periods can get a bit confusing, but I didn't find that with this book, it was well written and I felt drawn in to the story. This was the first book I have read by Sarah Maine but I'm looking forward to reading more by her.

I read The House Between Tides and when I saw this book I requested it immediately. Maine has such a beautiful way of writing setting – I’d read her books for that alone. Of course she presents her reader with so much more than that – atmosphere, meticulous research, a triune of timelines leading to a very satisfying conclusion and fully realised characters who haven’t just shown up for romance. I loved this book. Highly recommend.