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A review by jenbsbooks
When the World Fell Silent by Donna Jones Alward
4.25
I liked this a lot. This was recommended in a FB group. I went ahead and put the Kindle copy on hold at the library (a bit of a wait) and the audio was on Hoopla.
There are SO many WW2 books out there, it's refreshing to get one before that time. While WW1 played a large part (with men shipping out, rations, etc), the disaster here wasn't war related, but an accident. It touches on the Spanish flu too. I appreciate historical fiction, where I can learn a little about history in a more easy to absorb fictional setting. There are author's notes (in the Kindle copy, which is just one reason why I always try to get that in addition to the audio) that expound on some of the facts and truth, and what was adjusted and what is complete fiction. There were discussion questions included too.
1st person/Past tense ... two POVs, Nora and Charlotte. Two narrators in the audio (as needed!) The Table of Contents in the audio listed the chronological chapter (32 of them) as well as the POV. In the text, the date (sometimes the location) was listed at the start of each chapter too. The Kindle TOC was bare bones though, neither POV nor date included there. Technically, I guess it 'could' be seen as a spoiler if one looked ahead ...
There was one of those "mystery prologues" ... not set before, but later in the book (here, Oct1918). We don't know who it is, no name given. It is revealed much later as the story catches up to that time in the book and recreates the scene. I don't know that this really added anything to the story though, having this set at the start like this.
No proFanity. Some slight sex, but not at all descriptive/explicit.
Other words I note: cacophony, snuck, ebullient, revivifying ... English (this takes place in Canada) spelling of words, ie manoeuvred.
Not sure the title really captured the book ...
There are SO many WW2 books out there, it's refreshing to get one before that time. While WW1 played a large part (with men shipping out, rations, etc), the disaster here wasn't war related, but an accident. It touches on the Spanish flu too. I appreciate historical fiction, where I can learn a little about history in a more easy to absorb fictional setting. There are author's notes (in the Kindle copy, which is just one reason why I always try to get that in addition to the audio) that expound on some of the facts and truth, and what was adjusted and what is complete fiction. There were discussion questions included too.
1st person/Past tense ... two POVs, Nora and Charlotte. Two narrators in the audio (as needed!) The Table of Contents in the audio listed the chronological chapter (32 of them) as well as the POV. In the text, the date (sometimes the location) was listed at the start of each chapter too. The Kindle TOC was bare bones though, neither POV nor date included there. Technically, I guess it 'could' be seen as a spoiler if one looked ahead ...
There was one of those "mystery prologues" ... not set before, but later in the book (here, Oct1918). We don't know who it is, no name given. It is revealed much later as the story catches up to that time in the book and recreates the scene. I don't know that this really added anything to the story though, having this set at the start like this.
No proFanity. Some slight sex, but not at all descriptive/explicit.
Other words I note: cacophony, snuck, ebullient, revivifying ... English (this takes place in Canada) spelling of words, ie manoeuvred.
Not sure the title really captured the book ...