Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - These Days

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These Days by Lucy Caldwell

2 reviews

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

These Days is a historical fiction novel about the Belfast Blitz over Easter in 1941 told predominantly from the perspective of sisters Audrey and Emma, and occasionally from other characters, such as their mom, Florence. Having multiple points of view meant that there was a holistic view of women experiencing the Blitz which was a refreshing perspective. Furthermore, this was a period of history that I didn't know much about, of which I felt much more informed having read this.

There is no doubt that Caldwell has done her research. The intricacies of everyday life were told with such detail, and the descriptions of bombings in Belfast also felt real, as though you had been transported there yourself. The descriptions of casualties and reactions to the bombings were unequivocal, candidly brutal and emanated the shock and disbelief of the Belfast people with accuracy and care. In these sensitive moments, the imagery used was next to none.

However, I did have issues with pacing in this book, coupled with some writing and stylistic choices. The first half of this book was quite slow, and I did have issues finding my way with the characters, their points of view, and their recollection of memories and events. At around the half way mark though, things did really pick up and I would say it was more medium paced. However, this shift in pacing was quite jarring and didn't create a smooth reading experience. Furthermore, the lack of speech marks did not work for this novel. I had got into the swing of it by the end, but it just felt misplaced in this book. For some novels, this works really well. For this one, in my opinion, not so much. And finally, the use of the Belfast dialect was only casually used. This then felt messy and it would have worked better had this been implemented more consistently, or not at all.

Overall though, this was a good read and I would even re-read and recommend this to others. A really great perspective and narrative of the Belfast Blitz as a whole that has been well researched and was insightful.

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james1star's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I initially picked up this book because of a certain character being ‘in a secret relationship with another woman’ and whilst this storyline clearly does take the back burner quite early on, I was still very invested. Little (and non) fiction literature has been written about WW2’s impact in Northern Ireland with much focus primarily being on Germany’s bombings in England and the London Blitz but Belfast was hit just as hard with the Easter Raid of 1941 having the highest casualties outside of London. In These Days, Caldwell uses three attacks (Dockside, Easter and Fireside) to separate the book and generates a narrative through the perspective of the Bells, an ordinary middle class family. The patriarch, a doctor, Philip and their young son Paul have no real chapters of their own. Florence has lived a seemingly happy marriage, creating a family but from living through WW1, the current events are bringing back the memories of a lost lover Renard and the life she could’ve lived. The oldest daughter 21-year old Audrey I’d say plays the biggest role, she’s an office worker who’s recently proposed to by respectable Richard, a doctor to whom marriage seems the obvious next step in life. Her English friend Doreen makes her reconsider her actual love for him and whether there are other things in life she might want instead. Finally, 18-year old Emma is my favourite character as she’s sure in herself and what she wants, she volunteers as a first aider and starts a relationship with her supervisor, the older Sylvia but clearly given everything she’s up against this is a hard thing to keep a hold onto. As the bombs come down how will the Bells and other ordinary citizens of Belfast cope?

I think the book holds the most power in its portrayal of the ordinary person. From the start, it’s clear Belfast is suffering from ongoing problems but the Bells are doing quite well, they even have a maid! Similarly, rationing is a thing, highlighted in the chapter on the train with Maisie and her mum coming back from Dublin being inspected but it’s not massively bad such that Doreen is surprised by the supply of food in comparison to England. Again, Philip, Richard, Emma and others are seemingly professionally ready for the casualties but when it actually happens it’s another story. It’s shows how difficult it actually is when faced with the disgusting reality of civilian casualties and in such huge numbers. The actual bombings are one thing but additionally the mindless searching for family and friends, lovers, pets, seeing your street demolished, having to identify someone by their boot alone, a volunteer first aider treating a major incident because the hospital has been set alight and the rest are full and so much more… it’s harrowing and Caldwell truly brings these horrors to life. Another point I really enjoyed was how the book is used to give a voice to those that often didn’t have one with women clearly being the focus. Their ‘role’ in the family and society is presented well but also their desires, past, aspirations and innermost thoughts too which I couldn’t fault one bit. Furthermore, the inclusion of two queer female perspectives in 1940s Belfast, a then (and still) very religious city was great.

Following on from this last point comes my main criticism of These Days, in that I personally didn’t like how the narrative developed after a certain event around the halfway point. Already from the start I gathered my presumptions of how the plot and format would pan out were proven wrong with Emma’s lesbian relationship with Sylvia clearly not being a main plot point. To this I was quite dejected but decided to carry on (thankfully so) but then other events which further reduced the queerness of the book I felt were a missed opportunity on Caldwell’s part. An argument can and is made for her reasons which I get but I think a lot could’ve been said and messages withheld more gravitas had more been done. In a similar vein to not liking this particular part of the narrative, I did get quite lost in the third section of the book as we moved towards the end. Things weren’t fully pulled together in my opinion despite the work being done, some outcomes were to my liking but I dunno… there were just a few too many loose ends. A final issue is that is maybe a few too many characters? Sort of? Yes? No? I’m not too sure, but I pressumed from the book’s description it would’ve been more like dual-pov from Audrey and Emma but it’s a mix of them, their mum Florence as well as Wee Betty Binks, Maisie, Doreen (people in the city who only get about two chapters) and sometimes a general overview which I wasn’t too keen on, I would have much preferred more balance between the three and others within these or having just stuck to the sisters.

Final note: the Northern Irish dialect references I personally loved and it gave me Derry Girlsvibes including things like: ‘wain,’ ‘so it is,’ ‘so I did,’ ‘so it was’ and the like. The inclusion of curse words I did find a little random and maybe rather crass at times though.

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