Scan barcode
kanejim57's review against another edition
4.0
In a recent article in the New York Times,William Boyd wrote,
"In 2014 it will be a hundred years since the First World War began, and yet its presence in novels, films and television has never been greater — in “Downton Abbey,” on television, in Steven Spielberg’s movie “War Horse,” in a mini-series of Sebastian Faulks’s “Birdsong” and, coming soon, in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End.”
And I would add to this list Louisa Young's memorable novel My Dear I Wanted to Tell You.
Boyd also makes clear that
"For us British, the memories, images and stories of 1914-18 seem to have a persistence and a power that eclipse those of the Second World War... in Britain, where almost a million servicemen died, it’s still images of the trenches of the Western Front that are shown and that resonate on Remembrance Day. One of the reasons for this is, paradoxically, the resonance of the poetry. The poets of the First World War — Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden, Isaac Rosenberg — are taught in almost all British schools."
Historical fiction is a new pursuit in my life as I have always prided myself on focusing on history's "facts." But it took the American Civil War series by Ken Burns back in the 1990's to create a desire for reading the first person narrative accounts of both Northern and Southern soldiers who were quoted throughout that series. And since then, having read a biography or autobiography of every American President and being delighted by the "autos" of Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, I have began reading more and more first person accounts, including some of the First World War, of persons in public service and the military.
And then I have made a step, perhaps a side step into historical fiction, and this past week to Louisa Young's award winning novel that introduces us to a character that I think will stay in our memories for a long time, Riley Purefoy and a group of characters who navigate the historical and horrific of the First World War, Nadine Waveney, madly in love with Riley and yet in social status far above him; Peter Locke, Purefoy's CO who battles the many demons that soldiers, and men, face; his wife Julia, whose inner angst and her emerging feminism is set against the back drop of the tragic war that sucks the blood and life from millions of men, and Rose Locke, Peter's cousin and a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse whose stiff upper lip is slowly beginning to weaken as she, too, like millions of other women (and men) are slowly being worn down with the physical, mental, and emotional strain of war.
Rich in scene, comprehensive in character arc, and even in plot My Dear I Wanted to Tell You spans an 11 year period in which begins the relationship between Purefoy and Waveney courtesy of a snow ball thrown by her cousin. And from there Young sketches the pre-war days when social class and structure meant a great deal: through the opening days of the 'Great War':on through the tense front-line and home front days when war was chewing an entire generation: up to the anti-climatic end and days up to Christmas time.
What I like about this novel is the engaging way Young has written which invites the reader into the journey back and forth between the front and the home front as well as into the hearts and thoughts of the characters in an italicized format that at times became confusing to follow. I also had trouble during the initial scenes of keeping Julia and Rose straight in my mind. I also like the attention to detail regarding the medical treatments that Young brings into the story (and which she cites at the end with supporting research materials). And she does so just enough to catch the horror of the battle wounds of that age without being maudlin or gory.
And finally, I like the ability of Young to capture, I believe, the essence of the mindset of that generation who suffered such loss when Riley thinks:
"We have been outside humanity, beyond the moral universe, where there is no reason and no ground beneath your feet. We have been in a parallel reality. We're going to have to come back."
And as to the end, which I will not give away, I see a second book that continues this story because I do not think that it is finished!
I give this book a 'Great' read.
Note: I purchased an e-copy of this book via Amazon Kindle for my own personal enjoyment.
"In 2014 it will be a hundred years since the First World War began, and yet its presence in novels, films and television has never been greater — in “Downton Abbey,” on television, in Steven Spielberg’s movie “War Horse,” in a mini-series of Sebastian Faulks’s “Birdsong” and, coming soon, in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End.”
And I would add to this list Louisa Young's memorable novel My Dear I Wanted to Tell You.
Boyd also makes clear that
"For us British, the memories, images and stories of 1914-18 seem to have a persistence and a power that eclipse those of the Second World War... in Britain, where almost a million servicemen died, it’s still images of the trenches of the Western Front that are shown and that resonate on Remembrance Day. One of the reasons for this is, paradoxically, the resonance of the poetry. The poets of the First World War — Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden, Isaac Rosenberg — are taught in almost all British schools."
Historical fiction is a new pursuit in my life as I have always prided myself on focusing on history's "facts." But it took the American Civil War series by Ken Burns back in the 1990's to create a desire for reading the first person narrative accounts of both Northern and Southern soldiers who were quoted throughout that series. And since then, having read a biography or autobiography of every American President and being delighted by the "autos" of Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, I have began reading more and more first person accounts, including some of the First World War, of persons in public service and the military.
And then I have made a step, perhaps a side step into historical fiction, and this past week to Louisa Young's award winning novel that introduces us to a character that I think will stay in our memories for a long time, Riley Purefoy and a group of characters who navigate the historical and horrific of the First World War, Nadine Waveney, madly in love with Riley and yet in social status far above him; Peter Locke, Purefoy's CO who battles the many demons that soldiers, and men, face; his wife Julia, whose inner angst and her emerging feminism is set against the back drop of the tragic war that sucks the blood and life from millions of men, and Rose Locke, Peter's cousin and a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse whose stiff upper lip is slowly beginning to weaken as she, too, like millions of other women (and men) are slowly being worn down with the physical, mental, and emotional strain of war.
Rich in scene, comprehensive in character arc, and even in plot My Dear I Wanted to Tell You spans an 11 year period in which begins the relationship between Purefoy and Waveney courtesy of a snow ball thrown by her cousin. And from there Young sketches the pre-war days when social class and structure meant a great deal: through the opening days of the 'Great War':on through the tense front-line and home front days when war was chewing an entire generation: up to the anti-climatic end and days up to Christmas time.
What I like about this novel is the engaging way Young has written which invites the reader into the journey back and forth between the front and the home front as well as into the hearts and thoughts of the characters in an italicized format that at times became confusing to follow. I also had trouble during the initial scenes of keeping Julia and Rose straight in my mind. I also like the attention to detail regarding the medical treatments that Young brings into the story (and which she cites at the end with supporting research materials). And she does so just enough to catch the horror of the battle wounds of that age without being maudlin or gory.
And finally, I like the ability of Young to capture, I believe, the essence of the mindset of that generation who suffered such loss when Riley thinks:
"We have been outside humanity, beyond the moral universe, where there is no reason and no ground beneath your feet. We have been in a parallel reality. We're going to have to come back."
And as to the end, which I will not give away, I see a second book that continues this story because I do not think that it is finished!
I give this book a 'Great' read.
Note: I purchased an e-copy of this book via Amazon Kindle for my own personal enjoyment.
kanejim57's review against another edition
4.0
In a recent article in the New York Times,William Boyd wrote,
"In 2014 it will be a hundred years since the First World War began, and yet its presence in novels, films and television has never been greater — in “Downton Abbey,” on television, in Steven Spielberg’s movie “War Horse,” in a mini-series of Sebastian Faulks’s “Birdsong” and, coming soon, in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End.”
And I would add to this list Louisa Young's memorable novel My Dear I Wanted to Tell You.
Boyd also makes clear that
"For us British, the memories, images and stories of 1914-18 seem to have a persistence and a power that eclipse those of the Second World War... in Britain, where almost a million servicemen died, it’s still images of the trenches of the Western Front that are shown and that resonate on Remembrance Day. One of the reasons for this is, paradoxically, the resonance of the poetry. The poets of the First World War — Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden, Isaac Rosenberg — are taught in almost all British schools."
Historical fiction is a new pursuit in my life as I have always prided myself on focusing on history's "facts." But it took the American Civil War series by Ken Burns back in the 1990's to create a desire for reading the first person narrative accounts of both Northern and Southern soldiers who were quoted throughout that series. And since then, having read a biography or autobiography of every American President and being delighted by the "autos" of Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, I have began reading more and more first person accounts, including some of the First World War, of persons in public service and the military.
And then I have made a step, perhaps a side step into historical fiction, and this past week to Louisa Young's award winning novel that introduces us to a character that I think will stay in our memories for a long time, Riley Purefoy and a group of characters who navigate the historical and horrific of the First World War, Nadine Waveney, madly in love with Riley and yet in social status far above him; Peter Locke, Purefoy's CO who battles the many demons that soldiers, and men, face; his wife Julia, whose inner angst and her emerging feminism is set against the back drop of the tragic war that sucks the blood and life from millions of men, and Rose Locke, Peter's cousin and a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse whose stiff upper lip is slowly beginning to weaken as she, too, like millions of other women (and men) are slowly being worn down with the physical, mental, and emotional strain of war.
Rich in scene, comprehensive in character arc, and even in plot My Dear I Wanted to Tell You spans an 11 year period in which begins the relationship between Purefoy and Waveney courtesy of a snow ball thrown by her cousin. And from there Young sketches the pre-war days when social class and structure meant a great deal: through the opening days of the 'Great War':on through the tense front-line and home front days when war was chewing an entire generation: up to the anti-climatic end and days up to Christmas time.
What I like about this novel is the engaging way Young has written which invites the reader into the journey back and forth between the front and the home front as well as into the hearts and thoughts of the characters in an italicized format that at times became confusing to follow. I also had trouble during the initial scenes of keeping Julia and Rose straight in my mind. I also like the attention to detail regarding the medical treatments that Young brings into the story (and which she cites at the end with supporting research materials). And she does so just enough to catch the horror of the battle wounds of that age without being maudlin or gory.
And finally, I like the ability of Young to capture, I believe, the essence of the mindset of that generation who suffered such loss when Riley thinks:
"We have been outside humanity, beyond the moral universe, where there is no reason and no ground beneath your feet. We have been in a parallel reality. We're going to have to come back."
And as to the end, which I will not give away, I see a second book that continues this story because I do not think that it is finished!
I give this book a 'Great' read.
Note: I purchased an e-copy of this book via Amazon Kindle for my own personal enjoyment.
"In 2014 it will be a hundred years since the First World War began, and yet its presence in novels, films and television has never been greater — in “Downton Abbey,” on television, in Steven Spielberg’s movie “War Horse,” in a mini-series of Sebastian Faulks’s “Birdsong” and, coming soon, in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End.”
And I would add to this list Louisa Young's memorable novel My Dear I Wanted to Tell You.
Boyd also makes clear that
"For us British, the memories, images and stories of 1914-18 seem to have a persistence and a power that eclipse those of the Second World War... in Britain, where almost a million servicemen died, it’s still images of the trenches of the Western Front that are shown and that resonate on Remembrance Day. One of the reasons for this is, paradoxically, the resonance of the poetry. The poets of the First World War — Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden, Isaac Rosenberg — are taught in almost all British schools."
Historical fiction is a new pursuit in my life as I have always prided myself on focusing on history's "facts." But it took the American Civil War series by Ken Burns back in the 1990's to create a desire for reading the first person narrative accounts of both Northern and Southern soldiers who were quoted throughout that series. And since then, having read a biography or autobiography of every American President and being delighted by the "autos" of Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, I have began reading more and more first person accounts, including some of the First World War, of persons in public service and the military.
And then I have made a step, perhaps a side step into historical fiction, and this past week to Louisa Young's award winning novel that introduces us to a character that I think will stay in our memories for a long time, Riley Purefoy and a group of characters who navigate the historical and horrific of the First World War, Nadine Waveney, madly in love with Riley and yet in social status far above him; Peter Locke, Purefoy's CO who battles the many demons that soldiers, and men, face; his wife Julia, whose inner angst and her emerging feminism is set against the back drop of the tragic war that sucks the blood and life from millions of men, and Rose Locke, Peter's cousin and a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse whose stiff upper lip is slowly beginning to weaken as she, too, like millions of other women (and men) are slowly being worn down with the physical, mental, and emotional strain of war.
Rich in scene, comprehensive in character arc, and even in plot My Dear I Wanted to Tell You spans an 11 year period in which begins the relationship between Purefoy and Waveney courtesy of a snow ball thrown by her cousin. And from there Young sketches the pre-war days when social class and structure meant a great deal: through the opening days of the 'Great War':on through the tense front-line and home front days when war was chewing an entire generation: up to the anti-climatic end and days up to Christmas time.
What I like about this novel is the engaging way Young has written which invites the reader into the journey back and forth between the front and the home front as well as into the hearts and thoughts of the characters in an italicized format that at times became confusing to follow. I also had trouble during the initial scenes of keeping Julia and Rose straight in my mind. I also like the attention to detail regarding the medical treatments that Young brings into the story (and which she cites at the end with supporting research materials). And she does so just enough to catch the horror of the battle wounds of that age without being maudlin or gory.
And finally, I like the ability of Young to capture, I believe, the essence of the mindset of that generation who suffered such loss when Riley thinks:
"We have been outside humanity, beyond the moral universe, where there is no reason and no ground beneath your feet. We have been in a parallel reality. We're going to have to come back."
And as to the end, which I will not give away, I see a second book that continues this story because I do not think that it is finished!
I give this book a 'Great' read.
Note: I purchased an e-copy of this book via Amazon Kindle for my own personal enjoyment.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
I had no real desire to read a WWI novel but this was a book club choice so I did... Well, the bits that I did find interesting were the ones most to do with war. Descriptions of the men at the front, VAD nursing in France or England, the facial reconstruction surgery hospital in Sidcup (just as fascinating although I had already read about it in Pat Barker's Toby's Room, it really was rather remarkable what they were able to do to rebuild faces). What I could have done without was the romance. Didn't care for it (or for them, I have to brutally add) in the story.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story about two soldiers during World War 1 and the women left behind in England who love them. There are five main characters. Riley Purefoy, from a working class background, loves upper class Nadine Waverney despite her mother's disapproval. He volunteers as a soldier at the start of World War 1 - given the choice between volunteering for a year or for the duration of the war, he chooses the latter, because he doesn't want to spend an entire year in the army. His commanding officer will be Peter Locke, who has left his wife Julia and cousin Rose behind in England. While Julia pines for her husband, Rose signs up as a nurse in a hospital specialising in facial reconstructions.
The first half of the book is about the experiences that the five have adapting to the realities of war and the shifts it brings about in their relationships. In the second half, Riley suffers a serious injury which will affect all of the characters in different ways.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It did a very good job of conveying the various facets of war, the experience for those in the trenches, in the hospitals and stranded at home. There were parts that were beautifully written but at other times the choppiness of the narrative became hard to take. I didn't really feel caught up in it until the second half, when it settles down and became (for me) far more involving and moving. The ending is somewhat contrived, but also genuinely satisfying.
The characters could have been better developed. Riley and Nadine's relationship is the central thread, but too often we were told about how they felt for one another rather than feeling it. Rose is a wonderful character, but she is frequently sidelined. Peter is nice enough but less than interesting and his wife Julia is a vapid and tedious character on whom far too much time is wasted. Clearly that couple were included to show a broader canvas of reactions to the war, but they didn't develop in any significant way or add much to the book. Another review here mentions how you can see the author's "workings" as she constructed the story, and that's how I felt also.
The first half of the book is about the experiences that the five have adapting to the realities of war and the shifts it brings about in their relationships. In the second half, Riley suffers a serious injury which will affect all of the characters in different ways.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It did a very good job of conveying the various facets of war, the experience for those in the trenches, in the hospitals and stranded at home. There were parts that were beautifully written but at other times the choppiness of the narrative became hard to take. I didn't really feel caught up in it until the second half, when it settles down and became (for me) far more involving and moving. The ending is somewhat contrived, but also genuinely satisfying.
The characters could have been better developed. Riley and Nadine's relationship is the central thread, but too often we were told about how they felt for one another rather than feeling it. Rose is a wonderful character, but she is frequently sidelined. Peter is nice enough but less than interesting and his wife Julia is a vapid and tedious character on whom far too much time is wasted. Clearly that couple were included to show a broader canvas of reactions to the war, but they didn't develop in any significant way or add much to the book. Another review here mentions how you can see the author's "workings" as she constructed the story, and that's how I felt also.
daniellewalsh's review against another edition
3.0
It took me quite a few chapters to get into it, however, the last half was easier and more enjoyable to read and I was able to read it in one sitting.
At times I was frustrated with the style that Young writes in, with the constant thoughts written as they appear in the characters head - however, it did add to the personality of the characters, I just found it a bit repetitive.
The story focuses on five main characters, however, personally I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters apart from Rose. I think the inspiration for the novel was really nice and personal to the author. It was an easy read and a moving story, although, I don’t agree with Tatler’s review that it is ‘Birdsong for the new millennium.’
My favourite quote from the book:
‘Dismember: to take to bits.
Remember: to put back together.’
🌹✉️📜❤️
At times I was frustrated with the style that Young writes in, with the constant thoughts written as they appear in the characters head - however, it did add to the personality of the characters, I just found it a bit repetitive.
The story focuses on five main characters, however, personally I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters apart from Rose. I think the inspiration for the novel was really nice and personal to the author. It was an easy read and a moving story, although, I don’t agree with Tatler’s review that it is ‘Birdsong for the new millennium.’
My favourite quote from the book:
‘Dismember: to take to bits.
Remember: to put back together.’
🌹✉️📜❤️
annetjeberg's review against another edition
3.0
Because I read this book months ago, I had a hard time remembering what it was about. And now I do, it seems to me it was an okay read, 2,5 rounded up above.
Well-written, an okay story. Some interesting details for those that love the specific topics it covers.
Well-written, an okay story. Some interesting details for those that love the specific topics it covers.
kelbi's review against another edition
5.0
Superb. Harrowing. I’ve read many novels set during the Great War. This is amongst the best. I read it slowly at first but towards the end I could not put it down
clareswindlehurst's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this one. A new perspective on the atrocities of WW1. I confess to skipping over a few pages here and there as it was too gruesome for my pregnant stomach, but among the horrors of war were stories of endearing love and friendship.