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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
Excerpt from 'Fall the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
I wasn't sure about this to start with as there didn't feel like there was going to be much of a story to it, but I persevered with reading and listening to the audio version on my walk to work and really enjoyed it. Part love story, part family saga I found it to be very moving in places. It had a feel of the excellent South Riding by Winifred Holtby about it - perhaps not quite as entralling as that novel, but still a good read/listen.
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
Excerpt from 'Fall the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
I wasn't sure about this to start with as there didn't feel like there was going to be much of a story to it, but I persevered with reading and listening to the audio version on my walk to work and really enjoyed it. Part love story, part family saga I found it to be very moving in places. It had a feel of the excellent South Riding by Winifred Holtby about it - perhaps not quite as entralling as that novel, but still a good read/listen.
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow 🤩 and then some ! What a fantastic book I’m bereft to get the end and it’s nearly 600 pages I just wanted it to go on and on , the ending the last few chapters my heart was in my mouth ! Who would survive Ypres. My great grandad was a stretcher bearer a suicide job but he survived & what a wonderful man he was. Anyhow , gunning for Beatrice right from the beginning she’s up there with Elizabeth bennet , and Hugh how I loved Hugh and Daniel. & little snout just a boy but the army then turned a blind eye. The injustice to women omg it made my blood boil and the poor treated with so much disgust & humiliation, we may now think the world has gone to shit but look back at history in some things (thank goodness) we really have moved forward, the sexism the racism the homophobia! Let’s pray to god the world doesn’t keep voting for totalitarianism governments so we keep our freedom and rights , fight for Ukraine 🇺🇦 and fight for Palestine 🇵🇸 what governments are allowing to happen there is just not acceptable we hold the power we can vote 🗳️ which the ladies in this time period couldn’t / shocking isn’t it
It did get slow in the middle. I almost gave up but rallied. And I really enjoyed the story.
I enjoyed this book, but it was a little slow in the middle. The setting is pre-WWII in England.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Perhaps I should have DNF’d this book, but I was drawn in at the start by the charming premise: in the summer before WW1, a young woman, who is a determined spinster, who arrives in a small English countryside village to teach after the death of her father. There is all sorts small town politics and characters that all seemed typecast. The best part of this book was the way the war slowly creeps into the town, and the excitement felt despite the real realities of war presented. The part of the book that made me want to throw it across the room was the end, though. Emotionally manipulative, which is truly my kryptonite. I said “you’ve got to be kidding me” aloud several times - and it wasn’t just that WW1 was awful, it was how this all went down. Oof, I’m still raging a bit writing this. Anyway, not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, War
Moderate: Gaslighting
It's summer 1914 in Sussex, England, and Beatrice Nash has been hired as the new Latin teacher in Rye (a position formerly held only by men). Go Beatrice!
Beatrice is a very free-thinking woman. She is strong willed and intelligent. She definitely walks her own path and bucks the establishment. Beatrice totally reminded me of a Jane Austen protagonist.
I did enjoy this book but not nearly as much as I had Simonson's first novel, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand.
Beatrice is a very free-thinking woman. She is strong willed and intelligent. She definitely walks her own path and bucks the establishment. Beatrice totally reminded me of a Jane Austen protagonist.
I did enjoy this book but not nearly as much as I had Simonson's first novel, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand.
This book made me ugly cry, a wail that came uncontrolled out of my heart and frightened me with how little I could control it. This is a book about limitations, about losses, about trying to get by in a world that isn't usually accommodating. Parts of the book are funny, most of it is charming, but what I take away from it is the aching heart of it, the love and the sorrow and the deep humanity. This is a wonderful book, a treasure.