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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Alexandria Prescott’s Maelstrom of Innocence, book one of The Maelstrom Trilogy, on the night of 7 December 1941, Harper Miller attends an embassy reception in Tokyo with her father, Ambassador William Henry Miller, expecting only a diplomatic ceremony. By morning, news of Pearl Harbor turns the city into hostile territory, and after her father is killed for his covert intelligence work, Harper is forced to flee. She boards the Hantu Laut under the protection of Christian, a scarred sea captain who offers few answers as he guides her south through wartime waters. As the voyage carries them from Japan through pirate-controlled channels, occupied ports, and river routes leading toward India, Harper is drawn further from the sheltered life she once knew. Each crossing places her closer to the conflict that took her father forever.
Alexandria Prescott’s Maelstrom of Innocence is a historical novel set in the Pacific theater of the Second World War, and its period authenticity is spectacular. It's rare to find ourselves in the Axis-powered American embassy in Japan right as the bombing of Pearl Harbor takes place, and the later wartime mechanics of daily life, particularly moving through the Strait of Malacca with fuel rationing, and the use of coded identities before the British sloop near India. Harper is an exceptional first-person lead, and her transformation feels authentic, given what she experiences. I love Christian and his recollections of Denmark and his heartbreaking loss in Palestine. His humanity, like Harper's, extends far beyond the scarred captain and confused woman originally aboard the Hantu Laut. The settings are gorgeous, from the lantern-lit festival grounds at Angkor Wat to the blackout waters of burning Singapore. With wonderful prose, immersive storytelling, and a satisfying but little cliffhanger of an ending, I'm excited to see where Prescott takes us next.
