You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
First sentence: The boy was everything to her.
I swore no more World War II books for a long while. This book just kept crossing my path here and there so I finally requested it from the library. It's a bit different than many of the other stories focusing on the war. In this story the war is over and the husband, wife and small son are together again after being apart for six years. Their experiences during the war are horrible yet it's told in such a manner that I understood each of their behaviors. This is a good book and I am glad a relaxed by no more World War II book rule.
I swore no more World War II books for a long while. This book just kept crossing my path here and there so I finally requested it from the library. It's a bit different than many of the other stories focusing on the war. In this story the war is over and the husband, wife and small son are together again after being apart for six years. Their experiences during the war are horrible yet it's told in such a manner that I understood each of their behaviors. This is a good book and I am glad a relaxed by no more World War II book rule.
At first, I didn't like this story. I found the primary female character to be somewhat annoying. As the book progressed, I understood her better and liked her more. My heart hurt reading this story. Not only is it about the ravages of war, it is also about love. I thought a lot about how difficult marriage can be sometimes and how much harder it must be when dealing with horrible experiences, and time. I cried at the end and wanted to hug my husband and tell him how much I love him.
I found this book really hard to get into, but I really enjoyed the last 75ish pages.
I worried that I would not like the ending of this book -- maybe that's a sign of a good writer. Wonderfully intertwined stories of people searching for the meaning of commitment, love and fidelity in the midst of war
This was quite moving with some nice insights on fitting together as a family after a long war.
I found this book well written, absorbing, and more than a little grim.
It very effectively portrayed a world turned upside down, and proceeded to turn it inside out as well.
On the surface, it seems time for the happily-ever-after. The war is over, and Silvana is leaving her destroyed land of Poland to join her husband in England. He has a good job, and their son can go to school, get a good education, and grow up in a stable, happy world.
Life is never that easy, and the past is part of the present and the future. Silvana and Aurek have a more difficult time adjusting than Janusz can understand.
The strength of this book is in the setting, and the contrast of the flashbacks to wartime Poland and France, and the scenes of life in Post-war England. The characters (major and minor) serve to build and reinforce these portraits.
This isn't to say that the characters aren't compelling on their own. Silvana in particular has true depth and interest as she meets challenge after challenge, never knowing if she will be able to handle the next one. She keeps going, as her fierce protection of Aurek leads her to stretch beyond what she can imagine. The hardest time may be when his need for her is no longer as strong.
It very effectively portrayed a world turned upside down, and proceeded to turn it inside out as well.
On the surface, it seems time for the happily-ever-after. The war is over, and Silvana is leaving her destroyed land of Poland to join her husband in England. He has a good job, and their son can go to school, get a good education, and grow up in a stable, happy world.
Life is never that easy, and the past is part of the present and the future. Silvana and Aurek have a more difficult time adjusting than Janusz can understand.
The strength of this book is in the setting, and the contrast of the flashbacks to wartime Poland and France, and the scenes of life in Post-war England. The characters (major and minor) serve to build and reinforce these portraits.
This isn't to say that the characters aren't compelling on their own. Silvana in particular has true depth and interest as she meets challenge after challenge, never knowing if she will be able to handle the next one. She keeps going, as her fierce protection of Aurek leads her to stretch beyond what she can imagine. The hardest time may be when his need for her is no longer as strong.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story is so well described it really puts you at the scene.
After 6 hard years, Janusz and Silvanna are reunited in their new home, England with their son, Aurek. They are refugees from Poland after WWII and cannot go back to their homeland. Both trying to cope with secrets of the war, they are finally trying to live as a family again. However, the demons that live inside them, and Jan's want to have the perfect English family and the perfect English son, drives them apart and makes it hard for Silvanna to cope with her new surroundings.
***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was one that I would recommend to anyone that really enjoys this time period. I didn't see her secret coming really. The author just kind of zoomed right over it in the flashbacks, but when she went back over it, its kind of obvious and made you think of how a child would have survived an explosion like that.
***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was one that I would recommend to anyone that really enjoys this time period. I didn't see her secret coming really. The author just kind of zoomed right over it in the flashbacks, but when she went back over it, its kind of obvious and made you think of how a child would have survived an explosion like that.
sad
tense
I'd read a chirpy little blurb somewhere that this was a story about an immigrant couple making a life for themselves in postwar England and thought that would be fun to read about. If I'd read a longer review that mentioned that over half the book is flashbacks to the atrocities of war and the rest is about lies and misery I'd not have picked it up...so good job, marketer. The subject matter was not my cup of tea and the characters move through their lives very passively, which is a bit dull. I finished it, but just because it was short!