PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
A spellbinding tale of love, strength and sacrifice from the Sunday Times bestselling author. Based on the gorgeous island of Malta in WWII, this is a story about the power of fate, and how sometimes, in order to find yourself – and to find love – you must first lose everything else. . .
Fate has brought them together. Will time tear them apart?
2025
Named after a star, war correspondent Maia knows how to find the brightest stories – the tales of survival and strength – hidden amongst the dark realities of combat.
Now, travelling to Malta to visit her estranged father, with one more chance to build a relationship with her last remaining relative, she’s here to find her own story: never having found somewhere – or someone – she can call home, she’s desperate for answers that might show her where she truly belongs.
But when she arrives on the beautiful mediterranean island, she realises her long-lost family is full of more secrets than she could possibly have imagined. . .
1942
Maia wakes up to find herself on an island under siege, a city in ruins – and knows she must have been sent here for a reason.
Who has she been sent to save? Or is it Maia herself that needs saving? And just when she’s finally found what she’s been seeking . . . will time separate them forever?
MY THOUGHTS
Never Tear Us Apart is published by Hodder & Stoughton in ebook, audiobook and paperback formats (3 July 2025). My copy was borrowed from the library.
I’ve read a few Rowan Coleman books and enjoyed them immensely. Never Tear Us Apart is a dual timeline story between 1925 and 1942 but with a time travel theme running through. Present day Maia Borg is a war correspondent, suffering the after effects of a previous assignment and its tragic consequences for which she blames herself.
Her visit to her emotionally distant father in Malta does not go entirely as expected and somehow Maia finds herself caught between two lives, over 80 years apart. The main focus of the story is of her life in 1942 during the siege of Malta, the people she meets and the decisions she makes.
I’m not quite sure why but I didn’t initially warm to Maia although there is no doubt that although stubborn she is also compassionate, brave and resolute. Clearly affected by past events, she is adamant that she wants to make a difference and it is this that drives her. As the story progressed however she definitely won me over and together with the sterling efforts of a few marvellous supporting characters – looking at you Sal, Danny and Christina to name just a few, she was the star of the story.
Each chapter, (which I was delighted to see are fairly short) leads with a distinct timeline date so there is no danger of feeling lost. I’m in awe of the author’s ability to keep the two timelines running whilst ensuring that both characters and events follow seamlessly. Whilst some of the sciency stuff went over my head, I was totally invested in both of Maia’s lives and so keen to know what the outcome of her actions would be.
Superbly descriptive; despite the bombed out ruins, the story took me back to the parts of Malta that I visited some years ago. Maia’s desire to find family connections and a sense of belonging comes through clearly and as a result this was an emotional but hopeful read.
With its themes of time travel, identity and romance this was such an enjoyable book, and so beautifully written. Recommended.
Rowan Coleman is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of fifteen novels including the Richard & Judy bookclub choice, The Memory Book, the Zoë Ball ITV bookclub pick, The Summer of Impossible Things and The Girl at the Window. During her career to date Rowan has been a WHS Fresh Talent pick, RNA award winner, and Love Reading Reader’s choice for Book of the Year 2014. Rowan’s novels have been published internationally for more than twenty years.
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Other reviews:
Dearest Rose
The Memory Book
We Are All Made of Stars
The Girl at the Window
