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A review by smcleish
No Bed for Bacon by S.J. Simon, Caryl Brahms
2.0
Originally published on my blog here in June 2000.
Unusual though a book written to a large extent in the second person might be, You Were There fails for one major reason - I wasn't. Since the "there" in question is London in the twenties, you would now need to be at least eighty to remember the incidents the book mentions.
Apart from the second person gimmick, the style of the novel is like the far better known - and greatly superior - [b:No Bed for Bacon|749399|No Bed for Bacon|Caryl Brahms|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178005101s/749399.jpg|735539] and [b:Don't, Mr Disraeli!|2065141|Don't, Mr Disraeli!|Caryl Brahms|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|2070361]. It is a humorous, 1066 and All That style take on historical events combined with a romantic plot. Here, however, the history is less amusing and the romance less interesting, and it is hardly surprising that You Were There is even frequently omitted from lists of Brahms and Simon novels at the front of reprints of others.
Unusual though a book written to a large extent in the second person might be, You Were There fails for one major reason - I wasn't. Since the "there" in question is London in the twenties, you would now need to be at least eighty to remember the incidents the book mentions.
Apart from the second person gimmick, the style of the novel is like the far better known - and greatly superior - [b:No Bed for Bacon|749399|No Bed for Bacon|Caryl Brahms|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178005101s/749399.jpg|735539] and [b:Don't, Mr Disraeli!|2065141|Don't, Mr Disraeli!|Caryl Brahms|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|2070361]. It is a humorous, 1066 and All That style take on historical events combined with a romantic plot. Here, however, the history is less amusing and the romance less interesting, and it is hardly surprising that You Were There is even frequently omitted from lists of Brahms and Simon novels at the front of reprints of others.