Book Review: The Unknown Birds
The Unknown Birds by Rose Prendeville, Eridani Press, September 2026, Paperback, 303 pages
Reviewed by Kaleene Robertson.
A life-altering secret, an unspoken love, and a looming world war – after barely surviving another one – make up the heart of Rose Prendeville’s historical romance novel The Unknown Birds.
Charlotte Ashley – better known as Ash – takes her brother’s place as a runner for the British Army on the front lines of World War I. There she meets her band of brothers including a brooding sniper named Alex Rook. Their connection grows strong until they are torn apart.
They re-connect decades later out of happenstance. Ash is giving a lecture on war time poetry that Alex attends, unaware that Ash is the teacher until he shows up.
After revealing a potentially trust-shattering secret, Ash wonders if Rook feels the same and how they can move forward. These thoughts plague every interaction she has with him until she receives her answer.
World War I remains one of the most brutal wars in history. An estimated 15 to 20 million people died, it ended empires and contributed to the spread of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. However, you do not need to be a history buff to enjoy this story. The imagery and feeling of living life during one of the cruelest times in history is described well.
The storyline jumps back and forth between the trenches of World War I and the months leading up to World War II. While the former provides a better understanding of their history, the latter provides the drama and passion a romance reader looks for in a romance novel.
In the first part we meet many people in Ash’s life – some easier to keep track of than others – that shape how she views her time in the trenches: Alex, her fellow B Company soldiers (one of whom knows the life-altering secret she keeps), and a sweet dog named Maxie, who stays by Ash’s side when she battles trench foot. Throughout their time on the front lines, Ash and Alex dodge bullets, navigate cruel leaders, and are eventually separated, leaving them to wonder if either one ever made it out alive.
When Ash and Alex meet again twenty years later, they are each startled to learn that the other is alive. Can the bond they shared in the trenches still hold after Ash comes clean? Will they share a love that endures time? Even another war? The build up to the answer gives a romance reader what they crave: anticipation and an emotional resolution.
The author cleverly uses real-life poems from World War I soldiers that perished during the war. These poems act like ghosts. They are haunting remnants of a brutal time in history. They also add to the air of tension Ash experiences as she hears rumors and murmurs of another war. That war is World War II, the deadliest war in history.
It is one thing to know how to write a romance story that holds a reader’s attention, it is another to know your audience. Before even reading the book, Rose makes sure that her readers know she will take care of them, she writes “Dearest readers, do not fret. The dog doesn’t die.”
