Take a photo of a barcode or cover
krismcd59 's review for:
The Summer Before the War
by Helen Simonson
A charming novel, due chiefly to its warm and sensible main character and its appealing character portraits of Edwardian rural England. The last third of the novel, when the war actually begins, seems hurriedly told and unfortunately diminishes the social comedy of the first two-thirds, as Simonson falls back on easy sentiment in describing the horror and grief of war. She is much more successful with the Austenian style of her descriptions of provincial class-consciousness, education, food, and rural traditions. But this is a satisfying read for Downton Abbey fans who want to revisit the beloved pre-WWI English manor house world.