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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I quite enjoyed this story about a week in the lives of three women learning how to live again in a world post WW1. They are all somehow connected - and I was curious to find out how which always keeps me more engaged - but even without that hook, I found the style, the characters, and the pace kept me engaged throughout the book. The ending is a little open ended, but considering the time frame (which seems a lot longer somehow), it was probably realistic while being hope-filled.
It just didn't grip while the text was beautifully written one cannot deny that however the characters just felt dull to me and I couldn't relate to them the story felt dull and never ending, and the characters felt boring. The only parts of the book I enjoyed was the italics part charting the story of the Unknown soldier directly which made it more intriguing and interesting.
J'ai énormément aimé. C'est un livre très bien écrit, sensible, émouvant. J'ai aimé suivre ces trois destins croisés, parfois entremêlés. Trois femmes marquées par la guerre, les morts et l'après, sur comment vivre, survivre, aimer, pardonner. C'est un très beau livre sur les séquelles de la guerre avec des personnages forts et touchants. Le seul petit bémol que je pourrais lui trouver est la fin un peu trop ouverte, notamment pour le personnage de Hattie.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, so thanks to Transworld Publishers for their generosity. I'm really not sure what rating to give this book. I found it interesting reading and I'm tossing up between 3 stars (which would actually be 3.5) and 4 stars. I think I might need to let it sit for a while before I can decide.
There are 2 angles to this book. One angle is the selection and transport back to Britain of the remains of a soldier from WWI, which becomes the Unknown Soldier - a memorial for all the soldiers whose bodies lie in foreign soil. The other angle follows the lives of 3 women for 5 days in a Britain which is struggling in the aftermath of the war to pick up the pieces and continue on. It was interesting to gain a bit more insight into what the men who fought in France went through - those who returned and those who didn't, how those who returned tried to somehow find ways to cope in the post-war world, and the wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters who were left behind - some never to see their loved ones again, some to have only broken shells of their husbands and sons returned to them - and how they found ways to cope with the changes.
The writing was well done, although I did find keeping the threads of the different characters a bit hard at first. It took me until page 150 to make a connection between a couple of the characters, although in retrospect, the clues were there before and I just missed them. I found the ending satisfying, with enough loose ends tied up to make me happy.
I think the title was clever - on one of the first pages, three definitions of the word "wake" are given and they are all applicable to this book - the waking of Britain to a new dawn post-war, the ceremony of the Unknown Soldier and the crowds lining the streets to observe the procession of the funeral cortege is the closest any of the men who died at the front had to any kind of ceremony like a wake, and it is in the wake of the first World War that Britain needs to carry on (the powers-that-be are hopeful that the ceremony and memorial of the Unknown Soldier will help in allowing the country to move on).
EDIT: I've decided on 3.5 stars (rounded down, since GR doesn't allow half-stars) because it hasn't really stuck with me (possibly more of a reflection on me than the book). It's still a good read, but if I'd been a bit haunted by one (or more) of the characters in the time since finishing it, I might have felt able to give it 4 stars.
There are 2 angles to this book. One angle is the selection and transport back to Britain of the remains of a soldier from WWI, which becomes the Unknown Soldier - a memorial for all the soldiers whose bodies lie in foreign soil. The other angle follows the lives of 3 women for 5 days in a Britain which is struggling in the aftermath of the war to pick up the pieces and continue on. It was interesting to gain a bit more insight into what the men who fought in France went through - those who returned and those who didn't, how those who returned tried to somehow find ways to cope in the post-war world, and the wives, girlfriends, mothers and sisters who were left behind - some never to see their loved ones again, some to have only broken shells of their husbands and sons returned to them - and how they found ways to cope with the changes.
The writing was well done, although I did find keeping the threads of the different characters a bit hard at first. It took me until page 150 to make a connection between a couple of the characters, although in retrospect, the clues were there before and I just missed them. I found the ending satisfying, with enough loose ends tied up to make me happy.
I think the title was clever - on one of the first pages, three definitions of the word "wake" are given and they are all applicable to this book - the waking of Britain to a new dawn post-war, the ceremony of the Unknown Soldier and the crowds lining the streets to observe the procession of the funeral cortege is the closest any of the men who died at the front had to any kind of ceremony like a wake, and it is in the wake of the first World War that Britain needs to carry on (the powers-that-be are hopeful that the ceremony and memorial of the Unknown Soldier will help in allowing the country to move on).
EDIT: I've decided on 3.5 stars (rounded down, since GR doesn't allow half-stars) because it hasn't really stuck with me (possibly more of a reflection on me than the book). It's still a good read, but if I'd been a bit haunted by one (or more) of the characters in the time since finishing it, I might have felt able to give it 4 stars.
Stunning
Such a beautiful, honest, raw novel. I appreciated all the different facets of the aftermath of the war that were illustrated in this novel. I also appreciated how different each of these women's lives were and how they crossed in such a natural, seamless way.
Such a beautiful, honest, raw novel. I appreciated all the different facets of the aftermath of the war that were illustrated in this novel. I also appreciated how different each of these women's lives were and how they crossed in such a natural, seamless way.
I quite enjoyed this story about a week in the lives of three women learning how to live again in a world post WW1. They are all somehow connected - and I was curious to find out how which always keeps me more engaged - but even without that hook, I found the style, the characters, and the pace kept me engaged throughout the book. The ending is a little open ended, but considering the time frame (which seems a lot longer somehow), it was probably realistic while being hope-filled.
It's difficult to read a novel in which three separate, non-connecting points of view are presented right from the start. None continues long enough for the reader to become comfortable with the character. At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book, but it didn't take long for me to want to follow to find out what would link three women in 1920, each mourning a loved one killed in WWI. The novel's form restricts the storytelling to five days running up to and including the delivery of an unknown warrior to London for burial. A fourth story describes the body's journey from its place in France's mud to its final resting place. I didn't enjoy this fourth narrative much, but I respected the need for it here as a requirement of the novel's structure. Each woman's grief-struck psychological journey resolves once the body itself is entombed.
There are many moments of truth described in the novel. Each woman is emotionally numb and each flirts with death and danger because they can't see the world as it is, they can't get past their longing for what and who will never return. It's an outstanding look at the aftermath of a war that
burned through all levels of British society.
As far as how heroism is presented here, it seems to me that the title says it all.
There are many moments of truth described in the novel. Each woman is emotionally numb and each flirts with death and danger because they can't see the world as it is, they can't get past their longing for what and who will never return. It's an outstanding look at the aftermath of a war that
burned through all levels of British society.
As far as how heroism is presented here, it seems to me that the title says it all.
I had heard only good things about Wake, and some of my very favourite book bloggers have absolutely loved it, which was reason enough for me to pick up the relatively hefty hardback when I spotted it in the library. I love historical fiction, but do not feel as though I've read much of it at late. It perhaps goes without saying that had high hopes for the novel.
Wake is set across five days in November 1920, beginning in Arras in northern France (a city which I'm very familiar with) and then following several characters in London (ditto). Its short span does not stop the novel from containing an awful lot. Hope's prose is so well structured, and I very much liked the way in which she drew protagonists from different places and walks of life. We follow a single woman, a dancer working in a Hammersmith hall, a mother whose son is dead but who does not quite believe it, and an ex-Army Captain. Each character has been broken in some way by the First World War, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally. Every single one changes, or is changed, over the course of the five day period; Hope has clearly put a lot of thought into the realistic emotional changes which could occur, given the situations which each has been put into, or scenes which they encounter during this time. Not quite knowing for the most part what would transpire for each protagonist, it made for a very rich, textured reading experience.
Wake is compelling. The way in which Hope approached the novel was both sympathetic and well researched; I found myself interested in every character, and every scene. As a debut novel, it is incredibly accomplished, and I come away feeling no surprise whatsoever that so many readers have raved about it. It did not quite reach the heady heights of a novel which I adored, but I very much admired Hope's effort, and will not hesitate to pick up another of her books in the near future.
Wake is set across five days in November 1920, beginning in Arras in northern France (a city which I'm very familiar with) and then following several characters in London (ditto). Its short span does not stop the novel from containing an awful lot. Hope's prose is so well structured, and I very much liked the way in which she drew protagonists from different places and walks of life. We follow a single woman, a dancer working in a Hammersmith hall, a mother whose son is dead but who does not quite believe it, and an ex-Army Captain. Each character has been broken in some way by the First World War, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally. Every single one changes, or is changed, over the course of the five day period; Hope has clearly put a lot of thought into the realistic emotional changes which could occur, given the situations which each has been put into, or scenes which they encounter during this time. Not quite knowing for the most part what would transpire for each protagonist, it made for a very rich, textured reading experience.
Wake is compelling. The way in which Hope approached the novel was both sympathetic and well researched; I found myself interested in every character, and every scene. As a debut novel, it is incredibly accomplished, and I come away feeling no surprise whatsoever that so many readers have raved about it. It did not quite reach the heady heights of a novel which I adored, but I very much admired Hope's effort, and will not hesitate to pick up another of her books in the near future.
I wanted to like this a lot more. Dealing with the after effects of WWI in 1920, Nettie, Evelyn and Ada have their loves woven together.
This book was perfectly lovely. Unlike other, recent books set during WWI (ahem, Daughters of Mars), it didn't attempt to be a sweeping epic; instead it focused on three women and their lives in the war's aftermath. Evelyn is embittered by the loss of her fiance and now spends her days working in the pensions office and handling claims from angry veterans, nineteen-year old Hettie lost her father to the Spanish flu and her brother is suffering from shell shock, but she is ready to enjoy life, and Ada's once-happy marriage is falling apart because of her inability to move on from her son's death and its mysterious circumstances. The women are all loosely connected and their stories play out against the larger frame of the armistice and the burial of the Unknown Warrior. Miniature snippets of others' perspectives (French and Irish soldiers, a little girl waiting with her father to view the procession) are interspersed as the coffin makes its way from France to England.
This is not a groundbreaking plot -- the stories were incredibly sad, but familiar to anyone who has read fiction set during the same time period. Still, that doesn't lessen the impact of how bleak and complicated their situations are. It did a lovely job of expressing the frustration these women felt - the war is over, but it has impacted every aspect of their lives. Many people are unable to move on, civilians from the loss of a husband, son, fiance, or friend, or because they themselves have served and are suffering from their horrible experiences. Hettie exemplifies the younger generation, keen to move on and frustrated that everyone else seems stuck in the past. Her frustration can come across as selfish -- she doesn't understand why she has to fork over half her wages while her brother, who suffers from shell shock, sits silently staring out the window -- but it is palpable. Her entire life is just beginning but she has no where to go and no way out. The war has ruined things for everyone.
My only issue is that everything is too neatly resolved for a book that raises such complicated issues, but still, it was nice to get a female perspective.
This is not a groundbreaking plot -- the stories were incredibly sad, but familiar to anyone who has read fiction set during the same time period. Still, that doesn't lessen the impact of how bleak and complicated their situations are. It did a lovely job of expressing the frustration these women felt - the war is over, but it has impacted every aspect of their lives. Many people are unable to move on, civilians from the loss of a husband, son, fiance, or friend, or because they themselves have served and are suffering from their horrible experiences. Hettie exemplifies the younger generation, keen to move on and frustrated that everyone else seems stuck in the past. Her frustration can come across as selfish -- she doesn't understand why she has to fork over half her wages while her brother, who suffers from shell shock, sits silently staring out the window -- but it is palpable. Her entire life is just beginning but she has no where to go and no way out. The war has ruined things for everyone.
My only issue is that everything is too neatly resolved for a book that raises such complicated issues, but still, it was nice to get a female perspective.