attytheresa 's review for:

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

5.0

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It's the summer of 1914 in the town of Rye, UK along the English Channel coast. Beatrice, considered a spinster in her mid to late 20s, has just arrived for a confirmation interview for the job as Latin instructor at the local school, a controversial post as women were never hired to teach Latin, but candidates were few and far between. Beatrice's writer father, to whom she served as secretary, editor, and housekeeper, had died a year earlier, leaving her without the means for independence, but subject to a trust overseen by her cold disapproving aristocratic aunt. Talk is of war and the possible invasion of Belgium by the Kaiser and whether England will join the fight, but it's somewhat distant, with Rye more concerned with its parochial politics and social conventions. Of course, war comes to Rye albeit gradually via shortages, fundraisers, Belgian refugees, and, ultimately, its young men going to war.

This book is a gem. It's full of humor and pathos, portraying the innocence that WWI ultimately destroyed, the loss of a world, but done with great colorful characters and plenty of heartbreak. Multiple story lines occur side by side but it doesn't overwhelm because of course the link is Rye and its people. The author also portrays the limitations imposed on women, the betrayals of those men who are vested with their nurturing and protection. The revelations that come late in the book are not surprising because the author has laid out the clues so gently and fluidly that you wonder why some of the characters didn't figure it out sooner. Of course, one never sees what's right in front of one's eyes.