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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I am bucking the trend by not rating this higher. Perhaps it was the posh accents all through the narrative and class snobbery that dampened my enthusiasm. The book picked up at the end though not enough to totally redeem it for me.
I also think I was influenced by a number of novels I read about World War I that took a much more serious tone such as [b:Testament of Youth|374388|Testament of Youth|Vera Brittain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390091385s/374388.jpg|364275] by Vera Brittain. That novel led me to read a series of other novels set in the period. As I was in my twenties, I don't recall the names of the others. I've yet to read Pat Barker's remarkable series nor Sebastian Barry's [b:A Long Long Way|379087|A Long Long Way|Sebastian Barry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388286097s/379087.jpg|368906]. I am going to read Barry's book soon and recently picked up the ebook of Testament of Youth.
3.5 stars
I also think I was influenced by a number of novels I read about World War I that took a much more serious tone such as [b:Testament of Youth|374388|Testament of Youth|Vera Brittain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390091385s/374388.jpg|364275] by Vera Brittain. That novel led me to read a series of other novels set in the period. As I was in my twenties, I don't recall the names of the others. I've yet to read Pat Barker's remarkable series nor Sebastian Barry's [b:A Long Long Way|379087|A Long Long Way|Sebastian Barry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388286097s/379087.jpg|368906]. I am going to read Barry's book soon and recently picked up the ebook of Testament of Youth.
3.5 stars
Before I begin, I must say I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
This book was such a lovely story, the characters were well developed in as much as I did indeed, dislike Mrs. Fothergill immensely and really enjoyed Beatrice and the rest of the characters in all their forms. The story flowed nicely and the details and imagery were great. I am not one for wartime stories as a general rule but this book had a bit of everything: fun characters, grouchy old people, humor and sadness. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fiction of any kind. I only hope the typos were fixed by the time it went to publication.
This book was such a lovely story, the characters were well developed in as much as I did indeed, dislike Mrs. Fothergill immensely and really enjoyed Beatrice and the rest of the characters in all their forms. The story flowed nicely and the details and imagery were great. I am not one for wartime stories as a general rule but this book had a bit of everything: fun characters, grouchy old people, humor and sadness. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fiction of any kind. I only hope the typos were fixed by the time it went to publication.
Holy shit, it took me a long time to read this book. It's typically everything I love in a book, being a helpless Anglophile. But I read it the same way I read A Very Long Engagement. Read a little. Put it down. Remember, "Oh yeah, I have to finish that book." Pick it up again, read some more, put it down. Remember, "Oh yeah, my book." I loved it while I was reading it, but when I put it down, I forgot I was reading it. I thought the writing was superb. The tone was all very proper and British and sedate. As it should've been. It never struck a bad note or wavered in pitch. Possibly a male friendship might've been a romance, but of course no one outright says so. Ostensibly those two eccentric women living in the cottage together are lovers but we don't address that. There maybe was a wartime rape, or, as we prefer to say, "a terrible misfortune, dear, but I simply can't receive her." We maintain standards until the last 15% of the book, when I felt Simonson must've rubbed her hands in glee and thought, "At my signal, unleash hell." WHOA!! The last 15% was like a metaphor for how the English institutions of Stiff Upper Lip, good manners, good breeding, pedigree, social class, keeping emotions to yourself, knowing your place, protecting your reputation and no sex, please, must have been completely BLOWN AWAY by the onset of WWI. The last 15% was fucking intense. The only emotion I'd really felt up until that time was anger at the second-class treatment of women. All of a sudden, like the soldiers in the trenches going over the top: horror, outrage, grief, sorrow, happiness, bittersweetness, love. A bombardment of feeling. Raw, gritty, bloody, tender. People in bed, for God's sake! So it was a lopsided read. And I don't know how to rate it, really. What the hell, four stars. Because fuck war.
Four and a half stars, I really enjoyed this book. I did the audio version because it was a recommendation from the Washington Post and I'm really glad I did. The narrator was wonderful and did a perfect job of affecting the correct and often subtle tone of the dialog. The slight ridicule of polite society in the early 20th century was just perfectly on point and just made it a great overall read.
emotional
hopeful
A sweet story of a small English town just before war. Great character personality. I enjoyed it.
There were a lot of things I really liked about this book - the language and tone are very much of the period, so it didn't feel at all like a contemporary novel. The characters were charming (or wonderfully dreadful!) and I particularly liked Beatrice and Hugh, and of course the wonderful Aunt Agatha. The first quarter of the book felt a little slow at times, and I think the book was probably about 50 or so pages too long. I did feel a bit emotionally manipulated towards the end as well, though it's very hard to pitch a war novel's emotional pull. I'd probably nudge this to a 3.5 star review if that were an option, overall a good story.
With thanks to Netgalley for the copy to read & review.
With thanks to Netgalley for the copy to read & review.
If you liked the Downton Abbey series on Masterpiece, you will probably like this book. If you are willing to overlook predictability for the sake of a satisfying read, you will probably like this book. There's nothing new here, but the author presents the characters with life and energy and humor. The editing could have been a bit tighter. No author should use the words "maudlin" and "hubris" multiple times in one book. Overall, a very pleasant read.
The story centres around life pre first world war, during the first world war, and afterwards. We meet a group of women from different social backgrounds who are tough and resilient especially during the war time. It showed that regardless of social standing war is a great leveller and doesn’t discriminate between classes. This story shows the initial excitement that gripped the men of the time to cause them to enlist only to discover that the reality is nothing like they were lead to believe it would be. The women had to step up and dig really deep within themselves to find the strength to continue without their men folk. It’s also a book about pushing boundaries set for the women of the day. Many of the women in this book were endearing. I particularly enjoyed the personality of Agatha. She was a lot of fun and nothing seemed to upset her, that is until tragedy hit her family. It’s also a romance story but that wasn’t its sole focus. Helen’s storytelling and writing style are both well executed and easy to understand. I found that I looked forward to picking up her book. I enjoyed the experience of reading this book considering that it’s about the war (not a favourite genre of mine). I would recommend her to others.
A very summer-y sort of novel that transports you back to the summer before WWI. I really liked the strong female characters in the novel, especially Beatrice and Agatha, even though both of them seemed a little anachronistic, but it was believable within the narrative, so that's all that matters. It seemed a bit too slowly paced in the first half and then sort of rushed in the end, but I like the epilogue, and I like the (relatively) happy ending for the characters I liked most.
(If anyone is doing follow-up, perhaps it's worth noting that I won an advance reader's copy through Goodreads, never received it, and never heard a response from RH when making an inquiry about it, so I had to make do and wait on the list for it from the library.)
(If anyone is doing follow-up, perhaps it's worth noting that I won an advance reader's copy through Goodreads, never received it, and never heard a response from RH when making an inquiry about it, so I had to make do and wait on the list for it from the library.)
This book is well written with good character development, but it seemed to drag at times and the story was too melancholy for my tastes.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.