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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good pace to start but the ending is a little too drawn out.
How very bleak and grim Spain was during it's civil war and WWII! Winter in Madrid is the story of Harry Brett, a man suffering hearing loss and a touch of shell shock after Dunkirk, who becomes a reluctant spy for the British Secret Service in Spain, 1940. I loved this book, the tension, intrigue, how people react to frightful situations. Another great read from C.J. Sansom.
After reading this excellent novel, I think the Spanish Civil War must be one of the most pointless wars in recent history. There were no winners at all, neither the extreme left nor the extreme right contributed anything to the future prosperity or political stability of this country and its people. I know nothing about the civil war really - thinking that Franco was the ultimate evil which he was, but also growing up believing that the Republicans/Communists were the good guys. People like Hemmingway both reporting and fictionalising his experience of the war. And yet despite their noble motivations they really were no better than the fascists, the two extremes in ideology both losers.
This novel is about that - the extremes in ideology, how there are no winners and those who lose the most are the civilians, the average worker, small business owner, the families, the middle and working classes, the old people, the young. Always the tragedy of any war. Into this appalling mess come four young English people. Harry, Sandy and Bernie first meet at school, an English public school. On leaving school their paths diverge. Harry becomes an academic, interrupted by his army stint resulting in evacuation from Dunkirk; Bernie is a communist and goes to Spain to fight for freedom; Sandy is out for himself, always looking for best way to make a quick buck, completely unethical. Then there is Barbara, a Red Cross nurse who is linked to all three. Her lover Bernie goes missing, she grieves for years until she sees a chance to find out what really happened to him. Harry is recruited to be a spy and is sent to Madrid to find out what his old school friend Sandy is up to. Sandy happens to be living with Barbara. Nothing is what it seems, and no one is who they seem. Classic spy stuff, with Harry the mild mannered slightly out of his depth sleuth attempting to make sense of all that is going on around him.
I loved this. It is an excellent story, with great characters facing many challenges. The history is fantastic, I learnt so much about a terrible time in our recent history, I admire the spirit and courage of the Spanish and this novel certainly shows this. It has been marketed as a thriller, but it moves too slowly to be a thriller. Don't let this stop you from reading it. If you have been to Spain, spent any time there, you will love this.
This novel is about that - the extremes in ideology, how there are no winners and those who lose the most are the civilians, the average worker, small business owner, the families, the middle and working classes, the old people, the young. Always the tragedy of any war. Into this appalling mess come four young English people. Harry, Sandy and Bernie first meet at school, an English public school. On leaving school their paths diverge. Harry becomes an academic, interrupted by his army stint resulting in evacuation from Dunkirk; Bernie is a communist and goes to Spain to fight for freedom; Sandy is out for himself, always looking for best way to make a quick buck, completely unethical. Then there is Barbara, a Red Cross nurse who is linked to all three. Her lover Bernie goes missing, she grieves for years until she sees a chance to find out what really happened to him. Harry is recruited to be a spy and is sent to Madrid to find out what his old school friend Sandy is up to. Sandy happens to be living with Barbara. Nothing is what it seems, and no one is who they seem. Classic spy stuff, with Harry the mild mannered slightly out of his depth sleuth attempting to make sense of all that is going on around him.
I loved this. It is an excellent story, with great characters facing many challenges. The history is fantastic, I learnt so much about a terrible time in our recent history, I admire the spirit and courage of the Spanish and this novel certainly shows this. It has been marketed as a thriller, but it moves too slowly to be a thriller. Don't let this stop you from reading it. If you have been to Spain, spent any time there, you will love this.
There's a good story in here somewhere, but up until the final third it's buried underneath pages of one-dimensional characters meeting each other in cafes. Even the main characters only have one personality trait each - Harry is honourable, Barbara is insecure, Bernie is a socialist. Sandy appears to be a much more complex character but this barely gets explored. In the final part, stuff finally happened but up until this point there was nothing that made me want to pick up this book, hence why it's taken me NINE MONTHS to read 500 pages!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Been so long since I read this that writing a review seem unfair. On the other hand, that distance reveals that I don't remember it much at all. I remember the main character going into lots of cafes. A family he paid the medical bills for? I have enjoyed C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series a lot, but whilst my memory say I didn't have any major issue with this book, it didn't leave an impression either.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A great story and an atmospheric read.
A little predictable in places and too schmaltzy for my tastes, but historically interesting. A generous four .
I hadn't realised I had missed reviewing this book.
Sansom moves from the legal world of Henry VIIIth to war torn Madrid. He evokes the era with extraordinary clarity and writes a thriller that grips and squeezes right until the end. Excellent writing and a great read.
Sansom moves from the legal world of Henry VIIIth to war torn Madrid. He evokes the era with extraordinary clarity and writes a thriller that grips and squeezes right until the end. Excellent writing and a great read.