Historically Speaking Book Group Discussion

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon is a love story and a piece of historical fiction. Inspired by Harmon’s own family history, the novel pays homage to Ireland’s rich history and storytelling tradition.

The book follows Annie Gallagher as she journeys to her grandfather’s home country of Ireland shortly after his death. Part romance novel, part historical fiction, What the Wind Knows immerses the reader in Ireland circa 1921, alluding to the country’s rich cultural legacy of poets and activists.

Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.

As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?