I had mixed feelings about this book. The writing is gorgeous here. I liked the characters and I learned a lot about Greek history that I didn't previously know. I loved the blending of folklore, Greek mythology, and Christianity. But I struggled with the jumps in time. Usually sagas will fill you in on what happened in the middle but we didn't get much of that here so it ended up feeling disjointed. The beautiful writing wasn't enough to make up for the subplots that lacked depth.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I’ll admit, it took me forever to actually get into this book. This book is so full of tragedy that it times it overwhelmed me. By the end of the story, it wraps up with a neat little bow, and all is well. All in all I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

Everything I knew about Corfu, the Greek island in the Ionian Sea, I learned from watching the heartwarming PBS show The Durrells. That bit of knowledge and a stunning cover led me to believe that Where the Wandering Ends by Yvette Manessis Corporon would be a warm and sunny visit to an exotic locale. That's not what I found, but it's not what this novel intends to be.

This is a sweeping saga in time (from 1947 through the end of the 20th century) and place (from Corfu to New York City) that uses a large cast of characters to trace Greek history from World War II to the recent past. The story includes Greek mythology and the Greek royal family, which was interesting, but the overall tone is so pervasively sad. I struggled to track the many characters, especially when large segments of time were skipped. The pacing was quite uneven, plodding along in some sections, especially at the beginning, and then racing in others.

Most interesting was the mentions of Prince Phillip, the late Duke of Edinburgh and reference to Queen Elizabeth's coronation, as the crowning of King Charles took place while I was reading this novel.

I highly recommend the audiobook beautifully narrated by Myrto Stylou whose authentic pronunciations firmly set me in this place and culture.

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this novel.

I appreciate the copy granted to me through NetGalley, but unfortunately I struggled to find this story compelling enough to want to finish.

I’m so sorry, I really wanted to like this book. I thought I would! After all, I asked NetGalley to let me read it and they did, thank you. But I regretted my choice. I struggled to get into it so much that I put my kindle down for almost 6 months because I just couldn’t bring myself to continue it.

I thought the premise and setting of this novel was interesting. Unfortunately, the story just didn't capture my attention, so I didn't finish it.
Thank you Netgalley for the review copy.

I thought this was a wonderful story. I enjoyed the story line and the location. I love the historical aspect, and I found it really interesting!

I was never very knowledgeable about Corfu and I feel that I learned so much from this novel. The writing was atmospheric and excellent.
Many thanks to Harper Muse and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I found it exhausting, although I’ll be the first to admit it was probably self-inflicted. After reading the synopsis of the book, I was worried the telling of this story would be plagued by violence, and I wasn’t sure I had the mental fortitude for it. I found myself dreading picking up the book to read more. I decided to go back and read the summary again to figure out why I’d requested this book in the first place and realized any potential violence would not feature prominently. This is really about motherhood, home, family, promises, and faithfulness.

Every individual character’s background is told from the POV of their relationship to their mothers. Whether it’s a mother who gives up her own life for her child or one who doesn’t know true joy until having a child of her own—there’s even one who’s not technically a mother, but all of her actions are those of a mother—the mothers in this story are tied together with one common thread—the love they feel for their children. While the story was engaging and fascinating in many respects, especially the historical explanations, I found myself reading with a constant sense of impending doom. It was stressful for me to read this book. I was always afraid something bad was going to happen.

I cannot deny the skill of the writing and the descriptions that made me feel as if I were in Greece myself. Nevertheless, I found myself feeling sadness for the poverty and anger for those who were wronged, particularly the fact that those who were evil were never punished (I’m thinking of a particular woman who caused a familial tragedy). I know bad people don’t always get punished in real life, and this was a fictional telling of something very real, but many people were not punished as they should have been.

For some reason, this reminded me of Love in the Time of Cholera. I haven’t read it for many years (more than 30, if I’m not mistaken), and when I did, I loved it (although I can’t remember it very clearly). Perhaps it’s because this book spans generations of trauma, and I have the distinct impression that book did as well. Reading the plot summary, I cannot say there is much in common between the two books, other than the love (this one a mother’s), the span of time covered, and the changes in scenery over time. Once I got through my initial fear, I found I enjoyed the book a great deal. My favorite aspect was the historical references to famous people (in the monarchy). I’m not sure I’d read it again, but I recommend it.

Where the Wandering Ends by Yvette Manessis Corporon -- The appeal of this book is the strong sense of place. I've never been to Corfu so I appreciated the setting here. This is a character-driven historical fiction novel. It is lyrical and richly detailed. You have to be in the mood for some heart-tugging and it's not exactly lighthearted.

This was a very interesting story. The royal family is involved and that was fun to read. The descriptions of the characters were good and the landscape sounded beautiful. Thanks for allowing me to read this. Recommend.

This book just didn't draw me in. I felt that it wasn't really cohesive and the characters weren't fleshed out enough. It felt disjointed and I felt it dragged. It's a historical novel about Corfu and the time period after WWII. There's some mythology elements. Overall it wasn't for me. It didn't engage me like other historical fiction books usually do.

Also the watermark on every page makes it difficult to read.

We’ll-researched and beautifully written, this story of 1940s Greece is captivating. It moves slowly and deliberately, but the characters draw the reader into their world.

This was a beautifully written story of love, loss, and redemption in post-WWII Greece.

The author paints a vivid picture of Corfu and daily life for residents on the brink of civil war. Both Marco’s and Katerina’s families had endured their own hardships, and as a result, they are torn apart by tragedy. But they promise to one day find their way back to their tiny island village and one another.

Decades pass and now Katerina is living in the United States with her husband and daughter, but it isn’t the picture perfect life she imagined for herself. She wonders what has become of her long lost friend, and what she discovers is so utterly heartbreaking.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was an emotionally-driven story with wonderful character development, and I really appreciated the amount of research and detail that went into sharing this harrowing piece of Greek history.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing a copy of this book to review.*

I really wanted to love this book, but it wasn’t for me. I did love the author’s writing style, and there’s a quote I’ll include because it was so lovely, but I couldn’t connect with the characters nor did the storyline hold my attention. I made it about 30% into the book and have decided to DNF it, so I can’t vouch for the rest of the story nor its content.

“I want you to always be brave, brave enough to do your own thinking, find your own reason, even when others around you claim to be so smart and clever. Because there, hidden sometimes among the darkest shadows, so easily overlooked by others, is where truth and beauty hide.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of Where the Wandering Ends. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

It took me a little while to settle into Where The Wandering Ends, I think because the set-up is quite complex and involves a lot of characters. At first I couldn’t follow the reasoning behind the various time settings and locations but by about three chapters in it began to make sense. If you feel the same way, please can I suggest that you persevere because this is a compelling story.
Central to the story is the former Greek royal family’s home on the island of Corfu and it is on this island that most of the story takes place. A promise made by Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice to her maid Vasiliki when Prince Philip was just 18 months old and about to be evacuated from the island is a driving force that moves the story forward, but it is Vasilikis grandson Marco and his childhood friend Katerina who are the central characters in the story. Both are beautifully rounded characters who are easy to identify with, even when they appear to do inexplicable things.
Throughout the story these two face unbelievable hardship as Greece goes through civil war, their fishing village faces drought and famine and family members die horrific deaths. Suffering agony, loss and betrayal, they come full circle in a story that had me bawling my eyes out at times. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I’ll definitely be buying this book so I can read the author notes because this is a truly fascinating story that has me wanting to find out more.

With hauntingly beautiful prose, Ms. Corporon delivers an epic, multi-timeline tale that transports readers to Greece. The story mostly centers around two children and the life-altering consequences of decisions made before and after WWII that followed them throughout their lives. While told from the POV of several characters, most of the story is told through the eyes of Katarina in post WWII Greece. One of the things I love most about historical fiction is that I learn something new. I knew very little of the hardships suffered by the Greeks as the Communist party took control following WWII. While at times I found the story depressing and hard to read, I was inspired by the strength and courage of Katarina and Marco, that represented that of the real unspoken heroes whose stories will never be told. There is a beautiful theme of hope that rises from tragedy. So glad I took a chance on a previously unknown to me author. Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher through Netgalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Where the Wandering Ends is such a an emotional story. It is set on the beautiful Greek Island of Corfu and tells the story of the Greek civil war following WWII. Marco and Katerina are best friends but the war tears them apart and they don’t know if they will ever see each other again despite promises being made to each other.
There is drama, suspense, loss and the horrors of living through a war. The beauty of Corfu shines through in the rich descriptive passages as does Greek mythology.
A wonderful engaging read for historical fiction lovers.

This was a great story. It was packed full of wonderful Greek culture and beautiful descriptions of the area. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a story that spans over 6 decades. It was a fascinating story line that was very cleverly wrote and this ment I had to finish the book in a day. This historical fiction book actually felt like a real life story meaning it flowed so well and definitely kept my interest peaked. It was a heartbreaking, shocking and heartwarming story. I love reading fiction books set in Greece but never anything about the civil War and just loved taking in the Greek history in this book. As this book is a work of fiction I have taken on the history with a pinch of salt as I am sure the author has taken her artistic licence slightly changing events to make for a more interesting story. I loved how it was based in a small village as you always get a sense of community that just makes you smile. It has a great medium pace book full of interesting and well developed characters that you really warm too or those you just love to hate. Like the mayor. The author really brought out a great sense of atmosphere and tension. This really made me feel the characters emotions and really heightened my own. 

I definitely recommend reading this book as it will take you on a emotional roller coaster ride. 

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a wonderful well rounded story that was so well wrote you will definitely become entwined in.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/where-the-wandering-ends-by-yvette-manessis-corporon-harpercollins-4-star either under my name or ladyreading365

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for accepting my request to read and review Where the Wandering Ends.

Author: Yvette Manessis Corporon
Published: 09/06/22
Genre: Historical Fiction

A generational tale beginning in 1946 and ending in the 2000s. Frankly, I was not the intended audience for this book. The story moved so slowly I had to remind myself the premise. The author does deliver various highs and lows; however, for me I couldn't grasp onto a story. I felt like I was in a car and a passenger talked spilling every moment of their life.

When I was able to stay focused, I suspected I should read the synopses closer. While evaluating why I'm 0 to 3 on selecting historical fiction books that are enjoyable, the "haunting childhood vow" was perhaps my clue to move on. Even in war times, children are children. I find it hard to imagine the vow being significant. Now I'm grasping at straws.

Overall, this is a 2 star book from me. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't interesting. The cover is beautiful.