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literarylover37 's review for:
The Summer Before the War
by Helen Simonson
I received an ARC of this book from Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
In the interest of full disclosure I will first state that I did not read Helen Simonson's previous book Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I even owned a copy at one point and for whatever reason never got around to reading it. I think this puts me in a unique place because I was able to come in to this book with no ideas about Simonson's writing or what I wanted by way of a "second" book from her.
All that being said, I was not overwhelmed by this book. The more I read, the harder it became. While most books pick up steam for me as they go this one seemed to get further and further entrenched in the myriad of characters and plot lines. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a romance, historical piece, period drama, war novel, or all of the above. The trouble with books that are all of the above is they can quickly get out of hand. I began to feel like a running back in football trying to get across the line as more and more characters piled on me, dragging me down until finally I began to skim the last bit (from about 70% to 90%) hoping to just get some resolution.
However, I loved the dialogue between Beatrice and Hugh. I loved Beatrice as a character. Having her be a unique woman who was not of her time: educated, holding a job, not married at 23 *gasp*, living on her own and still having to handle all of the social awkwardness this brought about with grace, charm and wit was wonderful. I laughed out loud at some points and I very much enjoyed and rooted for the core group of characters, Beatrice, Hugh, Daniel, and Aunt Agatha (who was another favorite of mine). I wish somehow that their worlds had been tighter or something though because like I said, I began to lose interest as the story went on. Perhaps at 500+ pages it was just too long? I don't know. If you want a thick book to while away the hours with and really get engrossed in a time. This is the one for you. Just know that this is not a book to be casually read. Be sure that you have the time to sit down and stick with it!
In the interest of full disclosure I will first state that I did not read Helen Simonson's previous book Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I even owned a copy at one point and for whatever reason never got around to reading it. I think this puts me in a unique place because I was able to come in to this book with no ideas about Simonson's writing or what I wanted by way of a "second" book from her.
All that being said, I was not overwhelmed by this book. The more I read, the harder it became. While most books pick up steam for me as they go this one seemed to get further and further entrenched in the myriad of characters and plot lines. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a romance, historical piece, period drama, war novel, or all of the above. The trouble with books that are all of the above is they can quickly get out of hand. I began to feel like a running back in football trying to get across the line as more and more characters piled on me, dragging me down until finally I began to skim the last bit (from about 70% to 90%) hoping to just get some resolution.
However, I loved the dialogue between Beatrice and Hugh. I loved Beatrice as a character. Having her be a unique woman who was not of her time: educated, holding a job, not married at 23 *gasp*, living on her own and still having to handle all of the social awkwardness this brought about with grace, charm and wit was wonderful. I laughed out loud at some points and I very much enjoyed and rooted for the core group of characters, Beatrice, Hugh, Daniel, and Aunt Agatha (who was another favorite of mine). I wish somehow that their worlds had been tighter or something though because like I said, I began to lose interest as the story went on. Perhaps at 500+ pages it was just too long? I don't know. If you want a thick book to while away the hours with and really get engrossed in a time. This is the one for you. Just know that this is not a book to be casually read. Be sure that you have the time to sit down and stick with it!