A review by abookishaffair
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

3.0

This is a story of a family coming back together after spending many years apart during World War II. During the war, Jan was a part of the Polish regiment of English forces. He spends part of his time in France where he falls in love with Helene, a young French woman. Meanwhile, Jan's wife, Silvana, is trying to escape the converging forces in Poland. She's also hiding a secret of her own. Neither of the main characters actions are really excusable but you can definitely see their methods for doing what they do.


I liked this book because a lot of books do not cover the time after World War II. There is a plethora of books that cover life during World War II but there are very few that cover everything that Europeans had to go through after the war.


This is a story about trying to find your way after going through a great trauma, a difficult thing for anyone to do. I'm not sure that anyone in the book handles things as well as they could have but 'tis human nature, I suppose.


Bottom line: Great historical fiction with a lot of sadness mixed in.