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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Beatrice Nash has just arrived in the small town of Rye, East Sussex, England. Her father passed away not long ago, leaving her on her own. She is young, prettier than had been anticipated, and determined to be independent. She is taken under the wing of Agatha Kent, the influential woman who sought after her to fill the open position of Latin teacher at the nearby school. Agatha’s two nephews, Hugh Grange, and Daniel Bookham are the first friends Beatrice makes in her new setting. She begins to settle in despite the local gossip and obstacles she encounters in a male dominated society. Soon refugees fleeing the invading Germans begin arriving in Rye. As WWI intensifies, the young men enlist to serve and the idyllic life the townspeople had been living comes to an end.
Like a romance straight out of a Jane Austen novel. I can picture it being made into a movie similar to Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. This one could be called Liberty and Love.
Like a romance straight out of a Jane Austen novel. I can picture it being made into a movie similar to Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. This one could be called Liberty and Love.
I am a sucker for an atmospheric historical fiction with tender and complicated love stories. This is Downton Abbey in book format, and it was made just for me.
Loved every minute, no notes, just bliss.
Loved every minute, no notes, just bliss.
Not as good as her debut, but mostly an enjoyable story.
I wanted to like this story, but all that comes to mind is "plodding". Maybe it's just me, but I need a plot to move on, past bucolic descriptions and this just didn't. So, I'm at the point in my life where, if a story isn't interesting, I close it down and find something else.
Having read Helen Simonson's Major Pettigrew's Last Stand I was looking forward to this, her second book, and it did not disappoint. Simonson's words are evocative of time and place, in this case the small town of Rye, England, just before the onset of World War I.
I gravitate to her strong women who work at standing up for themselves. I especially appreciate her depiction of the foibles and pettiness of those who presume themselves to be of higher standing than others. While some may seem like caricatures, the main female characters - Beatrice and Abagail - have a strong sense of self coupled with determination.
Rye being a small town, the story encompasses what seems like most of its inhabitants, and there is the requisite love story or two. Simonson's later chapters provide what feels like a realistic description of a small segment of the War in France. It is worth reading her Acknowledgements at the end.
I gravitate to her strong women who work at standing up for themselves. I especially appreciate her depiction of the foibles and pettiness of those who presume themselves to be of higher standing than others. While some may seem like caricatures, the main female characters - Beatrice and Abagail - have a strong sense of self coupled with determination.
Rye being a small town, the story encompasses what seems like most of its inhabitants, and there is the requisite love story or two. Simonson's later chapters provide what feels like a realistic description of a small segment of the War in France. It is worth reading her Acknowledgements at the end.
emotional
sad
slow-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:
No
I usually avoid war era fiction, but the cheery cover of this one made me ignore my own self-imposed rule. Unsurprisingly I finished it in tears, but it was a very immersive story filled with friendship, love, and drama in the very class divided era of pre WWI Britain.
I really wanted to love this novel, and kept waiting for it to just grab me and hold on tight. It never happened. I liked the author's style of writing and the alternating persons narrating. But there were so many unnecessary characters and rabbit-trail story lines that really went nowhere. Eventually I became very bogged down in all the details and the many, many words. It became tiring to try and sort through which characters and details were actually essential to the story and which were peripheral. Therefore, the novel just felt LONG, despite some enjoyable story lines. The Summer Before the War had the potential to be a really great novel, but I feel that it needed a lot more editing to achieve that goal.
I really enjoyed this story. It moves slowly and atmospherically. I really loved all of the characters and the emotion that is created one small step at a time. I also appreciated the view into women at this time. Given our current political climate it was a good reminder of how far women have come in the last century (and how far we still have to go).