Only We Know is the latest Victoria Purman novel, also set in South Australia, and leaving me itching to travel. Much of this latest offering is set on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. I have lived in South Australia for almost half of my life and have never been to KI, never really felt the need.... until now. Yet again Purman has painted a vivid and enchanting picture of a local place that has me itching to go and see it with my own eyes.

The cover image is gorgeous green grass right up to the sea, and it is an actual photo of Kangaroo Island taken by none other than Purman herself. I think there is quite a bit of Purman in this one, she obviously love Kangaroo Island and I sense a deep appreciation of wine and chocolate in her personality traits also because lead character Calla must have inherited them from somewhere.

I was rapidly swept up in the story of Only We Know and quite early on I could see where things were going and had quite a clear idea of how the story would end - and I wasn't disappointed. Having said that I was still enraptured by the unfolding of the story as the characters got to know each other and themselves.

Calla Maloney has embarked on a mission to mend the cracks, well they're actually more like chasms, in her family. She is an art teacher in Adelaide and has made the most of school holidays to take an impromptu trip to Kangaroo Island searching for her long lost brother. He disappeared from the lives of Calla and her sister Rose two years ago and they have heard nothing from him since.

The ferry ride to KI has Calla feeling decidedly green, part of it seasickness and part of it nerves about where this journey will lead her. In the two years since she has seen her brother she has managed to make a mess of her life so this is the first step in a pilgrimage for Calla to simplify her life. The weather is dismal and the crossing is choppy so when Calla finds herself about to lose her lunch she heads off in search of a way out of the cabin and onto the ferry deck, which is when the handsome helpful stranger points her in the right direction.

Sam Hunter is the handsome stranger, one time resident of KI now an Adelaide firefighter. He is heading back to the island to try and convince his dad it's time to leave the family farm and move into a retirement home but it is an uphill battle that has been raging for over a year. Charlie is starting to lose his memory and is becoming a real worry for his family, never sure where they will find him or how lucid he will be.

Calla and Sam run into one another a few times and when she literally runs into him, writing off her car, he takes on the role of tour guide after staying close to keep an eye on her the first night to rule out concussion.

Sam has been gone from the island for a long time and he takes it's beauty very much for granted, these are the views he grew up with and he saw them every day. He begins to see them through new ones when he shows Calla the sights because she sees them with such a fresh perspective having never visited the island before.

These characters have both had it tough, for very different reasons they have both shut down their hearts and sworn off relationships. They seem to have quite a lot in common though in very different ways. There are secrets buried in both of their family pasts and they both find themselves on the island to deal with family drama.

The remainder of the review will be available at Beauty and Lace.

“The place felt like a miracle. The air was so crisp and clean that breathing it in made Calla giddy…..to her left, the spindly branches of a gum tree growing on the side of the track reached towards her like an old lady’s arms, the scrubby leaves gathering in clumps and moving slightly back and forth in the breeze, like a slow dance. In the distance was dense scrub, olive green against the bright damp grass. A sliver of aqua sky was visible between the dramatic rolling clouds of white and pale purple”

Only We Know is the sixth novel by Australian author, Victoria Purman. Calla Maloney hates travelling by sea, so why is she on the boat to Kangaroo Island? Her sister Rose may think it’s a wild goose chase, but finding younger brother Jem, who disappeared from their lives two years ago, is enough incentive for Calla to brave the waves. Although it doesn’t stop her seasickness, or temper her embarrassment at being man-handled onto the deck by a gorgeous, but obviously arrogant male. Another male is definitely what she doesn’t need in her life!

Sam Hunter escaped Kangaroo Island twenty years ago, but is having to visit more regularly than he would like to since his widower dad, Charlie, seems to be coping less and less well. Sam is a firefighter and his first responder instinct kicks in when the pretty green-eyed redhead seems to be in distress. But before he can even get to see Charlie, he has several rather too-close encounters with Calla, and finds himself playing the hero, and, when chance drops a clue to Jem’s whereabouts in their laps, insisting that Calla follow it up.

While this is essentially a romance, Purman also touches on important issues: dementia and loss of independence, the real meaning of family, grief, denial and the importance of really listening to each other. Purman’s plot is convincing and her characters are appealing. Calla’s observations about Sam, in particular: “There was something inherently true about the man, something that he’d shown her every day since they met, which couldn’t be undone with a a few terse words” and “Having Sam Hunter in love with you would be like winning the man lottery” and “You’re a firefighter with some kind of professional-hero complex who goes around butting in to everyone’s business and trying to rescue people” ensure that female readers will be falling in love with this hero.

Purman gives her characters very natural dialogue, and this includes liberal use of a certain expletive that, whilst quite realistic, may offend some readers. The cover shows a beautiful view of Antechamber Bay on the island. Purman’s descriptions of Kangaroo Island are wonderfully evocative and will surely increase tourism to this beautiful destination. This is a very enjoyable read.
With thanks to GoodReads First Reads program for this copy to read and review. 5 stars