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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
2-2.5 stars
Fun but by no means exceptional. The characters were one-dimensional and cliched, as was the setting. It had the same tone as the book of a Jane Austen fan who tried and failed to write like someone would have in the appropriate time period.
I could see this making a decent BBC miniseries!
Fun but by no means exceptional. The characters were one-dimensional and cliched, as was the setting. It had the same tone as the book of a Jane Austen fan who tried and failed to write like someone would have in the appropriate time period.
I could see this making a decent BBC miniseries!
I was very engaged with this book at the beginning; it was charming and funny and I was eager to see what would happen next. About a third of the way through I started being bogged down with too many uninteresting and interchangeable characters. The book seemed wordy and unfocused. By the end, I thought I was reading a different book than the one I had begun. I would read this author again because I liked the premise and the charm of the beginning.
Started strong--reminiscent of Austen. Middle was lazy and predictable. End was schmaltzy and sappy. But overall, enjoyable and not memorable.
I tried so hard to force myself to finish this book and even 300 pages in, I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I liked this story but found the characters a little one dimensional. Still very evocative storytelling of rural Sussex just before WW1. A great story with some unexpected twists. A great, relaxing beach book.
A nice story, likeable characters. However, it almost had too many happy endings. It was trying to be an Austen-like novel of society and class, but seemed to try to give modern ideals to the characters and story conclusions.
I listened to the audio book which was very well narrated! Descriptive writing which fit well with the time period and characters. I’ll admit that there were several times that my mind wandered but I didn’t seem to have missed any major parts of the story - just another long description, lol.
So many reminders of what it was to be a young woman or someone of the wrong social standing in the early 1900s. And heaven help you if you were suspected of being gay...they wouldn't even come out and say that's what they were talking about but social punishment was doled out just the same.
** mild spoiler**
Moving on to the war scenes, I don’t think I ever knew that a court martial in WW1 meant that you’d be shot at dawn by your own side! Shocking and very sad – it seemed like free reign for egomaniacs. The scene with sweet, lovable Snout brought me to tears with terror for him.
So many reminders of what it was to be a young woman or someone of the wrong social standing in the early 1900s. And heaven help you if you were suspected of being gay...they wouldn't even come out and say that's what they were talking about but social punishment was doled out just the same.
** mild spoiler**
Moving on to the war scenes, I don’t think I ever knew that a court martial in WW1 meant that you’d be shot at dawn by your own side! Shocking and very sad – it seemed like free reign for egomaniacs. The scene with sweet, lovable Snout brought me to tears with terror for him.
A story of women's roles, displaced persons and a touch of romance on the British homefront during the First World War.
The first half of the book was really slow. At just about mid-point it turned around and by the last 100 pages I found I couldn't put it down. Bearing in mind the book is almost 500 pages, that was about 250 pages of forced reading. Two things carried me on to complete it: 1. I was reading it for a challenge and didn't want to back out on my commitment 2. I had read her previous novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which I enjoyed so I had hope this would get better. Had the first half been as captivating as the last third, it would have earned 4 stars.
I loved this gentle novel of the small town of Rye in Sussex England at the outbreak of WWI. There is humor and sadness and many wonderful characters! I was a great fan of the author's first novel and while this novel shares the author's gentle humor and gift for making the reader care about the characters, it also adds a well researched historical element that makes for gripping reading. It is a long novel, but I wanted to go on for longer! Yay Beatrice and Hugh!