Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
I’m not really sure what to think of this book. It is totally different from other WW II books. I did not appreciate the language or the rape description. Also, the moral issues didn’t really sit well with me. I wouldn’t really recommend this book to anyone and I won’t be reading any more by this author. Kind of dark themed.
Evelyn Taylor-Clarke, a ninety year old woman who lives in an assisted living facility and keeps some terrible secrets inside her brain. The story is a series of flashbacks and letters of Eva (Evelyn) sharing her experiences during World War II and the post-war chaos. She worked in intelligence and supporting displaced persons, but also vowed to find the person responsible for her husband's death. It was an interesting story and I really liked Evelyn. She was smart and sassy and had an interesting life when she was younger. Her niece is her only relative and I loathed her. She was selfish, rude, and annoying and had zero redeeming qualities. It was an interesting and quick read. Not the best book ever but not bad at all.
This is not the typical WWII story about what happens during the war. It tells Evelyn’s story about after the war. It is told from three main timelines, the present where Evelyn lives in a nursing home pretending she knows less than she does, the 1940’s after the war when Evelyn helped the survivors, and the 1980’s after Evelyn returns home. After the war was over things did not return to normal and Evelyn had to do unthinkable things to survive. Now she must find a way to keep her past a secret.
It was very interesting to read about after WWII as many stories focus on during the war. I thought this was a good book but I struggled to get into the story at times. I almost gave up on the book but I’m glad I didn’t. I had to keep going to find out the secrets. I felt for Evelyn and her story and found myself laughing at her attempts to trick people into thinking she knew less than she did. It was not the book I was expecting but it was well worth a read.
It was very interesting to read about after WWII as many stories focus on during the war. I thought this was a good book but I struggled to get into the story at times. I almost gave up on the book but I’m glad I didn’t. I had to keep going to find out the secrets. I felt for Evelyn and her story and found myself laughing at her attempts to trick people into thinking she knew less than she did. It was not the book I was expecting but it was well worth a read.
I would give this no stars if I could. The characters had the personality of those in a badly written fan fic; extreme caricatures of actual human life nothing they said, did, or reacted to made much sense. There was no sense of realisism from their portrayal and this made me unable to continue past the a third of the book.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Horrible story had to push myself really hard to finish it.... couldn’t sympathize with Eva/Evelyn for a second I found her completely crazy..... but on the other hand can’t call it disappointing it never really promised any potential..... And it delivered.
I disliked this book immediately. The main character is a selfish, bitter woman.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book Club pick for May by Lisa B. Main character is in a nursing home <spoiler she killed 2 men; one German in Germany immediately following the war (he raped her) and a British Intelligence Officer (in the 80's) for revenge of the death of her husband and his treatment of civilians in Germany following the end of the war.
Honestly, I found this book disturbing and the protagonist - a hypocrite. It's told from Evelyn's perspective and there is a lot of her thoughts, which are silent and not voiced, and does not portray her in the best light. I got a feeling that she looks down on others, especially when she thinks of her niece Pat. She talks so much about the love for other humans, but it does not seem she loves any human beings herself except her ghost husband and equally ghost daughter.
The book felt stitched together from different fragments and jumping back and forth in different periods of time was not smooth. I somehow felt that I just got a few glimpses of the old lady's 90 years of life, not really well fitting together glimpses, and very disturbing glimpses.
The book felt stitched together from different fragments and jumping back and forth in different periods of time was not smooth. I somehow felt that I just got a few glimpses of the old lady's 90 years of life, not really well fitting together glimpses, and very disturbing glimpses.