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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beatrice Nash is a fiercely independent young woman who arrives in the small town of Rye to fill the post of Latin teacher. She is taken in by Agatha Kent, a formidable woman in the community, who has two charming nephews - Hugh and Daniel. The town is resistant to change (a female Latin teacher!), but change is coming - the nation is on the brink of war with Germany.
What an absolute delight! Simonson’s writing reminds me of Jane Austen's novels.
Like she did in [b:Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|6643090|Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|Helen Simonson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320539020s/6643090.jpg|6837577], Simonson sets her story in a small English village, whose residents would prefer that time stand still notwithstanding major outside influences. In this case it is 1914, and World War I will forever change the social structure of Britain. Women are demonstrating for suffrage, and taking on roles outside the home and “club” environment to which they’ve previously been restricted. The scions and heirs of many of the landed gentry are going off to war, and many will be killed. The tenant farmers and villagers are also going to war, and will return very different men.
While the reader knows the changes to come, the villagers of Simonson’s Rye do not. They are left reacting to changes that make them very uncomfortable. Even the most forward-thinking person has to tread carefully, negotiating small changes and even “tricking” opponents into agreement.
Against these global events, however, is the very personal story of these characters – Beatrice, Hugh, Daniel, Agatha, Snout, et al. This is where Simonson’s writing shines. She has a great gift for dialogue and for creating a social structure that draws the reader into the small dramas of life that give her work universal appeal. I fell in love with the characters - even the busy-body self-important Bettina Fothergill - and was invested in their story.
What an absolute delight! Simonson’s writing reminds me of Jane Austen's novels.
Like she did in [b:Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|6643090|Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|Helen Simonson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320539020s/6643090.jpg|6837577], Simonson sets her story in a small English village, whose residents would prefer that time stand still notwithstanding major outside influences. In this case it is 1914, and World War I will forever change the social structure of Britain. Women are demonstrating for suffrage, and taking on roles outside the home and “club” environment to which they’ve previously been restricted. The scions and heirs of many of the landed gentry are going off to war, and many will be killed. The tenant farmers and villagers are also going to war, and will return very different men.
While the reader knows the changes to come, the villagers of Simonson’s Rye do not. They are left reacting to changes that make them very uncomfortable. Even the most forward-thinking person has to tread carefully, negotiating small changes and even “tricking” opponents into agreement.
Against these global events, however, is the very personal story of these characters – Beatrice, Hugh, Daniel, Agatha, Snout, et al. This is where Simonson’s writing shines. She has a great gift for dialogue and for creating a social structure that draws the reader into the small dramas of life that give her work universal appeal. I fell in love with the characters - even the busy-body self-important Bettina Fothergill - and was invested in their story.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Rape, Medical content, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail
The author of [b:Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|6643090|Major Pettigrew's Last Stand|Helen Simonson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320539020s/6643090.jpg|6837577] has done it again. A perfect 5 star read.
Lord North doesn't like me much. I think he's suspicious of people who read.
And she had never had patience with those more literary heroines who solved their problems with a knife or an oncoming train.
They would pick the man over her, but she would make sure they knew, in their hearts, that she was the better candidate.
Mr. Poot, I believe we have only barely been introduced. I do not wish to be rude, but it is not quite nice for you to accost me in the street.
We shall remain modest about our contribution and silent on our methods.
I shall ask dear Mrs. Fothergill to recommend a selection from the many she is now enjoying.
Well, not beyond the obvious disappointment that she is, in fact, a complete horse.
But I will attempt to remain upright, at least in my chair.
By claiming a small space for ourselves, we can perhaps return to the innocence of our childhood. And through the lens of innocence we can begin to glimpse something true.
Or if drinking in the afternoon-
I assure you, dear Miss Nash, that champagne is quite the muse if approached with the proper air of worship.
People who say they are not suspicious are fooling no one but themselves.
One wishes to allow room for the flourishing of personal conscience. The dread hand of authority can instill fear, but it cannot build character.
Agatha held it to be the greatest of all John's many qualities as a husband that he always stood shoulder to shoulder with her; or rather, did exactly as he was told.
Youth's lost companion may be the measured friend of old age, I hope.
He of the ancient wisdom and sour face.
Gossip is only corrosive to the spirit of one entertains it. Do as I do and let it roll off you like water of a duck's back.
She had long maintained no interest in marriage, but perhaps she had not properly considered the full implications of the spinster life.
Why does everyone burden me with their secrets? It's an unfair slur in my character to always be considered dependable.
God would not be so cruel as to taunt us with sunshine. Grief begs for dark skies.
She is not my Beatrice.
Make her so, Hugh said Daniel. She is so obviously meant to put up with you.
You are half my life too said Daniel. Live for both of us, Hugh. Love for both of us. And for goodness' sake try to be a little less stuffy.
Yes, dear Hugh. It is the unexpected note that makes the poem. You, Hugh, are the unexpected note.
I'm coming said Agatha. No forth on Earth will keep me from those docks.
He was my son said Snout's father. He was a scholar and a soldier and a good son to his mother.
But the stone was found and the sound of her single sob carried down the rows to where they stood together.
It's always the mothers said the gardener.
Lord North doesn't like me much. I think he's suspicious of people who read.
And she had never had patience with those more literary heroines who solved their problems with a knife or an oncoming train.
They would pick the man over her, but she would make sure they knew, in their hearts, that she was the better candidate.
Mr. Poot, I believe we have only barely been introduced. I do not wish to be rude, but it is not quite nice for you to accost me in the street.
We shall remain modest about our contribution and silent on our methods.
I shall ask dear Mrs. Fothergill to recommend a selection from the many she is now enjoying.
Well, not beyond the obvious disappointment that she is, in fact, a complete horse.
But I will attempt to remain upright, at least in my chair.
By claiming a small space for ourselves, we can perhaps return to the innocence of our childhood. And through the lens of innocence we can begin to glimpse something true.
Or if drinking in the afternoon-
I assure you, dear Miss Nash, that champagne is quite the muse if approached with the proper air of worship.
People who say they are not suspicious are fooling no one but themselves.
One wishes to allow room for the flourishing of personal conscience. The dread hand of authority can instill fear, but it cannot build character.
Agatha held it to be the greatest of all John's many qualities as a husband that he always stood shoulder to shoulder with her; or rather, did exactly as he was told.
Youth's lost companion may be the measured friend of old age, I hope.
He of the ancient wisdom and sour face.
Gossip is only corrosive to the spirit of one entertains it. Do as I do and let it roll off you like water of a duck's back.
She had long maintained no interest in marriage, but perhaps she had not properly considered the full implications of the spinster life.
Why does everyone burden me with their secrets? It's an unfair slur in my character to always be considered dependable.
God would not be so cruel as to taunt us with sunshine. Grief begs for dark skies.
She is not my Beatrice.
Make her so, Hugh said Daniel. She is so obviously meant to put up with you.
You are half my life too said Daniel. Live for both of us, Hugh. Love for both of us. And for goodness' sake try to be a little less stuffy.
Yes, dear Hugh. It is the unexpected note that makes the poem. You, Hugh, are the unexpected note.
I'm coming said Agatha. No forth on Earth will keep me from those docks.
He was my son said Snout's father. He was a scholar and a soldier and a good son to his mother.
But the stone was found and the sound of her single sob carried down the rows to where they stood together.
It's always the mothers said the gardener.
There are so many novels that focus on that last summer before the Great War, the glorious, idyllic summer of 1914. Helen Simonson sets her novel then as well, but the small town of Rye is already facing some shaking up in the form of the first female Latin teacher the school has had. That young woman, Beatrice Rush, has one foot in the world of the past and the other firmly in the future. Her scholar father left her with little and what little she has must be managed by a man, but she is striding into a world that will have more females in the classroom. She is anxious about succeeding in an environment that is new to women, but she's been taken under Agatha Kent's wing, and with her natural diplomacy, common sense and humor, Agatha is someone who makes things come out right for everyone.
But will she this time? The war is rattling their small city and ideas and philosophies are getting a good shaking up. What happens to each of the characters is fully believable and organic, and the war's psychological reverberations hit them hard. You will be fully engaged and satisfied with "The Summer Before the War."
But will she this time? The war is rattling their small city and ideas and philosophies are getting a good shaking up. What happens to each of the characters is fully believable and organic, and the war's psychological reverberations hit them hard. You will be fully engaged and satisfied with "The Summer Before the War."
This book wasn’t what I expected. Beatrice wasn’t quite the main character, I’d say Hugh shares that title with her. There’s a lot more going on than her struggling with the gender norms of the time. I think I preferred those parts best, that is, when Beatrice was standing up for herself or teaching. The romance isn’t bad, a little slow but that was not unexpected. To me it felt Austen-esque, which I liked.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hilarious and haunting - made me laugh out loud, but also shudder at an innocent time and patriotism, sometimes making me wonder about our own time.