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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I liked it very much. It was a relatively happy war book which is very unusual. The characters were very well written and I enjoyed their banter. Very good if you want a historical book that may make you tear up but won't leave you a blubbering mess.
Wish I could've liked this one more than I did, but I found it to be extremely bland. The Summer Before the War closely follows the small coastal community of Rye both prior to and during WWI. Rich in detail, there was a multitude of characters who gave life to the tension, struggles, mourning as well as love during war. Read like a period drama I found myself relating this book to episodes of Downton Abbey in which society changes but the people try so hard to hold onto their traditions.
An extremely well written book but not enough action to hold my attention. I would've preferred more accounts of the war which came towards the very end of the book, but that's not what the book was about. Highly recommended for those who enjoy period dramas about British society but if you're looking for a more detailed account of the war especially in France this isn't the one for you.
An extremely well written book but not enough action to hold my attention. I would've preferred more accounts of the war which came towards the very end of the book, but that's not what the book was about. Highly recommended for those who enjoy period dramas about British society but if you're looking for a more detailed account of the war especially in France this isn't the one for you.
A story about how lives were changed and uprooted at the beginning of WWI. Based in the small town of Rye (England), this story follows the lives of several families as the war begins to affect their day-to-day lives. My biggest complaint about this novel was the amount of unnecessary words and characters. There were so many characters that I couldn't keep them straight. Some of the descriptions of the places, people, etc went on for paragraphs and paragraphs and I found myself skipping forward to the "action". I probably wouldn't read it again, but it was a good, clean read.
I can’t believe it took me so long to pick this up and read it. It was so much better, rich and layered, than other similar books I’ve read.
I rate books on how I enjoy them. I do take into consideration the writing of the book. That being said this book was pretty boring to me. I listened to via audiobook and honestly I didn’t know what was happening half the time. I’m glad I didn’t buy this book. Enough with the negativity now. The characters were enjoyable and the story. . . What was the story. It seems we just followed the protagonist, Beatrice, as she becomes the Latin teacher at a school in England. The daily struggles of a small town. I’d give it 2.5, but for this I’ll round up.
Book was obnoxiously long, too many characters to keep track of, and superfluous in nature. I enjoyed Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, but did not have the same experience with this novel.
I thought this was wonderful. Rich characters with whom I connected, good dialogue, nice pace, and engaging plot. 4++!
This book starts out slow and a bit confusing. There are several older women in the small town that kind of melt together. After the first few chapters I got a better sense of the characters, their background and who's who in the small English village. The characters are delightfully and quintessentially English. I especially enjoyed the older ladies always trying to out do each other in regards to supporting the war effort and assisting the refugees that are 'assigned' to their village in the early years of the WWI. As the story progresses and the harshness and realities of war come to light, the absurdity of everything that came before is realized and I think the book gives a good idea of what things were like in a small English town during WWI. Everyone is putting their best foot forward with a 'stiff upper lip'. It was a bit of a slow read but a pleasant story. I passed it on to my 85 year old mother-in-law and she loved it. I picked up the author's earlier novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and it is on my giant pile of books to read :-)
I listened to this book and probably would have given up on it if I had been reading it. I was bored. It was just too "quiet" of a book for me. All of the action happened in the last part and it didn't match the tone of the rest of the book. Disappointed.
This is a wonderful portrayal of a small town sleepwalking towards the horrors of WWI. The book is funny, sweet and romantic on the whole, which makes the final chapters even more of a sucker punch. (I listened to the audiobook, and the wonderful narration by Lucy Scott made the experience even more of a pleasure.)